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Photo Michael Iacuessa
Nauset senior Matt Hossfeld makes a monster open field tackle. |
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Photo Michael Iacuessa
Nauset quarterback Connor Seymour scrambles out of the hands of D-Y defender Nick Xiarhos. |
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No Chowder for Nauset this holiday
By Michael Iacuessa
BANNER CORRESPONDENT
It was not long into Thanksgiving’s annual Chowder Bowl that Dennis-Yarmouth assistant coaches in the box above the playing field realized that just about any offensive play they chose was going to be a good call.
The D-Y offensive line was pushing the Nauset defense backward. On outside runs, the Dolphin runners found daylight when they turned the corner. And on inside runs, their backs bounced around like pinballs instead of going down when hit.
“They held all the cards,” said Nauset coach Stu Fyfe. “There wasn’t a single matchup that we had the advantage on.”
It took the Dolphins just three plays to go 65 yards and get in the end zone left. They led 19-0 after the first quarter, behind 160 yards of total offense. Nauset managed just 123 yards for the entire game.
The D-Y defense, meanwhile, pitched a shutout as it wound up giving its home crowd a 39-0 victory to celebrate.
For Nauset, which finished at 0-10 for the year, answers were hard to come by, being overmatched at every facet of the game.
“When you are 0-9 it’s awful difficult for kids to come out and play with abandon at full speed,” admitted Fyfe afterward. “It’s hard to overcome adversity.”
Under cold, wet, muddy conditions, the Warriors did not help themselves much. Although they played a penalty-free game, they did lose three fumbles. The first came after their initial first down in the first quarter. The second came on their next possession.
“We hoped to play some ball control but we didn’t hold onto the football,” said Fyfe.
The Warriors did have a few defensive highlights of their own, however. They recovered two fumbles, including one by senior Matt Burns as D-Y was on Nauset’s five-yard line. Junior TyErik Green also blocked an extra point.
The Warriors, which featured just a few key seniors this season, also started four freshmen and saw some signs of a promising future.
Ninth-grader Joe Madden led the Warriors with 36 yards on 10 carries in his varsity debut.
Freshman kicker Michael Quill also saw some action at quarterback, filling in at moments for sophomore Connor Seymour. Quill led a drive in the closing minutes of the game, including hitting Madden on a 19-yard pass on fourth-and-long play. Despite eventually getting into a first-and-goal situation, however, Nauset was unable to reach paydirt.
“We will be better next year,” promised Fyfe. “We’ll be better, faster, stronger.”
While it proved one of Nauset’s toughest defeats of the seasons, D-Y’s 5-5-1 record may have been misleading. The Dolphins lost three of those games by a touchdown and another by two points.
Also a young team, the Dolphins were led on the ground by Mike Pena, a sophomore, who had 122 yards on nine carries and one touchdown. Sophomore quarterback Nick Montaldo also threw a 23-yard scoring pass to junior Bobby Ewing and added a six-yard touchdown run of his own.
D-Y’s other scores came on a 35-yard run by junior Ross Desmairas and a 76-yard run by junior Adam Holmes.
The Dolphins true standouts may have the front five, however.
“The most important thing on our team is the offensive line,” said D-Y coach Paul Funk, who gave his starting guard Eric Clifford, a senior, some carries at the end as a reward.
After 10 years since Nauset began playing football, the two schools are now even at 5-5 in the Chowder Bowl. D-Y has won the past three contests.
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PHS Sports
Nauset Sports |
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Dec 1st, 2005