The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School varsity football team claimed their first league win with a 33-14, hard-fought victory over the Monomoy Regional High School Sharks on Friday night at the Island’s McCarthy stadium.
The Vineyard had to claw back from a half-time deficit, but the defense came up with some big stops and the offense capitalized on a couple of Monomoy miscues.
The win puts the Vineyarders at 4-3-1 for the season.
There was a good crowd for the Friday night game, which was USA themed. Fans were encouraged to wear red white and blue; veterans and first responders both active and retired were honored and welcomed onto Vineyard teams’ sidelines prior to kickoff.
The game started off with a strong defensive stand on Monomoy’s first possession, which set the tone for the game. The Vineyarders then led a commanding march down the field, and on a first-and-goal, Guillerme Oliveira (No. 1) ran the ball into the endzone for the game’s first touchdown.
The Vineyard defense kept the pressure on, breaking up three consecutive Monomoy passes, but the energy shifted when Jordan Souza (No. 26) was ejected for a targeting foul after a hard hit on a Monomoy receiver. The player would be taken off the field by ambulance (Announced later in the game that “he was doing well and his parents were thankful for the Islands support.”)
Monomoy proceeded to capitalize on the shift in momentum. With eight minutes left in the second quarter, the Sharks scored a touchdown and an extra point to knot the game at 7-7. Soon after, Monomoy then followed with a subsequent touchdown, making it 14-7.
Just before halftime, on the Vineyard’s last drive of the second quarter, Monomoy intercepted a pass, sending the Vineyard boys into the locker room still behind.
After the cheerleader and dance teams anticipated halftime performances, the Vineyard boys came out fired up, eager to claw their way back from the seven point deficit.
With three minutes left in the third quarter, Quarterback William Nicholson (No. 10) rushed the ball in for the first touchdown of the half, with Victor DeSouza (No. 70) successfully kicking the extra point to tie the game at 14-14.
Shortly after, Caio Guimaraes (No. 33) intercepted a Monomoy pass for a game-defining play with 40 seconds remaining in the third. At the start of the fourth quarter, the Vineyard wasted no time, scoring quickly from Monomoy’s 20-yard line to take a 20-14 lead.
Soon after, Mathew Macmillen (No. 17) ran the ball in to extend the lead to 26-14 before Oliveira broke away for a 44-yard touchdown run, capping the game at 33-14 with two minutes remaining. DeSouza’s extra point was good, and the Vineyard team celebrated at center field after the final whistle.
“The first half we were just really sloppy and were having trouble getting into a rhythm, but during halftime, we challenged the kids a little bit,” said head coach Tony Mottola. “We knew we could come out and play a lot better and the kids responded. They came out and wanted to play 24 minutes really aggressively and I am proud of them for being able to respond like that.”
Players were pumped for the first league win as well.
“It was a rough but great week of practice. We came into the league with enough effort to pull off our first win and we did it with full energy,” said running back Oliveira.
“I think we showed a lot of resilience when we came back and kept them scoreless in the second half,” said quarterback Nicholson.
Mottola was also honored to have the veterans represented at Friday’s game.
“We don’t do enough for those guys and we wish we could’ve done more,” he said. “Saluting them and having a tribute to them is something they should have everyday and I am proud of our kids and glad we had a good crowd.”
With two games remaining in the Football season, the boys football team is preparing to face Saint John Paul II High School on Thursday Oct. 31. The coveted Island Cup against the Nantucket Whalers will be held on Nov. 26 at Fenway Park.
Next week is Spirit Week for the Islands sports teams, and the weekend brings homecoming. Boys varsity soccer plays Barnstable High School on the McCarthy stadium field on Monday at 3 pm, and Nantucket on Saturday Oct. 26 at 3 pm. The girls varsity soccer team also has two home games this week, facing Monomoy High School on Wednesday at 3 pm after our print deadline, and Nantucket on Saturday at 1 pm.
