Ticket punched in D4 field, will travel to Scituate tonight
MELROSE SENIORS were celebrated prior to their final home game against Wilmington last Friday, and they were key to Melrose’s big win that officially landed them a playoff spot. (photo by Raj Das edphotos.com)
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—The Melrose High football team is playoff bound after securing the No. 15 spot in the Div. 4 playoff field and will travel to Scituate (8-0) to play the No. 2 seed Sailors at 7:00 p.m. this Friday evening, Nov. 8.
Melrose (4-4) saw a difficult regular season schedule pay off this fall and has been within playoff position in Power Rankings all year. But getting a season finale win over traveling Wilmington last Friday night was critical for Melrose to lock in that playoff spot. And it was mission accomplished with Melrose thumping the Wilmington Wildcats 48-7 at home at Fred Green Field.
Quarterback Jack Feeney led Melrose to victory with three scoring touchdown tosses, for another fantastic night (8-9 in passing, 155 yards, 3TDs, 1 rushing TD) and he had plenty of weapons to work with including Max Lanciani, Keegan Moloney, Marco Albanese, Nick Hitchman, Rich Harrison, and Matt Beshel who all found the end zone over the night.
Melrose started the scoring bonanza early when Feeney connected with Rich Harrison for a 10-yard touchdown pass. A good kick by Pat Buggy had Melrose up 7-0. Then, Max Lanciani tore it up with a 60-yard touchdown run that was capped off with another Buggy boot to give Melrose a 14-0 lead. Feeney would connect with a favorite target Nick Hitchman, who came up with yet another touchdown reception to add to his growing list. And a clean point after kick made it a 21-0 game.
According to coach Tim Morris, this core group is executing at the right time, and the running backs and receivers are a compliment to quarterback Feeney’s game. “Guys like Marco [Albanese] and Hitch [Nick Hitchman] they don’t come off the field. Feeney can really be the quarterback he is in part because of these guys. Jack is a gamer. He’s had a great season. He runs, passes and has real command of the offense now.”
Albanese would score again for Melrose in the second off a 17-yard pass from Feeney to give Melrose a 27-0 lead going into halftime.
Melrose didn’t release the gas petal in the next half and continued with a running game that saw them score two touchdowns on foot. The first was Keegan Maloney who scored on a 60-yard touchdown run and, shortly after, a 5-yard Jack Feeney keeper into the end zone that put Melrose up 41-0. Coach Morris utilized underclassmen and the result was a Matt Beshel 27-yard touchdown reception to cap things off.
Wilmington found the end zone once in the waning minutes of the game with a 40-yard touchdown pass thrown by quarterback Mark Halloren.
While Melrose seniors were honored on Senior Night that evening, some of Morris’s younger players had commanding roles. That includes Max Lanciani and Rich Harrison, who both earned touchdowns. “The two are a 1-2 punch as running backs,” confirms Morris.
The coach also points to the dynamic work of defensemen Keegan Moloney and Jack Casey. “Keegan has had a good year as linebacker. And Jack has been getting the job done, really standing out. He’s all over the field, picking off balls, tackling. We love the development of him,” he said. “Overall, I think our defense has grown and gotten better and showed signs of that even in the losses we’ve had.”
The return of players Sam Madden and Charlie Finocchiaro to the lineup is another promising development for Melrose. “Having them back is a big advantage for us,” says Morris.
Tonight, they will travel to Scituate to face an unbeaten Sailor team.
“Scituate will be good,” says Morris. “They are physical and well coached with good speed. We are going to focus more on our game on both sides of the ball, keep working on those fundamentals.”
It’s worth noting as Junior Varsity wraps up that the unbeaten squad, coached by John Babula, Mike Mabee, Carl Stoffer and Charlie Femino, is a great indicator of the talent in the current reserves.
Says Morris of his unbeaten JV team. “We take our freshman and junior varsity teams seriously. They are learning our defense and offense. And they are winning so the future looks bright.”
