Second half comeback fuels 14-10 win, Raiders now 8-0
Published in the November 3, 2017 edition
CHARLIE STANTON hands off to junior running back Isaac Seide, who scored both touchdowns for Melrose in their 14-10 win over Dracut in their playoff opener. Melrose remains undefeated at 8-0 and play tonight at home against N. Reading. (Donna Larsson photo)
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—Round one goes to Melrose.
The Melrose Red Raider football team improved to 8-0 after a 14-10 comeback win over Dracut last Friday night in the opening round of the Div. 4 North playoffs at Fred Green Field in Melrose. The top seeded Red Raiders overcame a 10-0 deficit at the half to clinch victory over a surprisingly tough #8 seeded Dracut squad.
Melrose (8-0) now advances to face North Reading (6-2) in D4 North Semifinals this Friday, Nov. 3 at 7:00 p.m at Fred Green Field in Melrose.
Melrose junior Isaac Seide has been doing a workman’s load for Melrose, and on Friday he didn’t fail again, scoring twice for Melrose in the second half, including a lights-out 70 yard punt return.
Seide spoke after the game about the collaborative effort. “It feels great winning it with the boys,” he said. “We worked hard and played with heart. We got punched in the mouth coming out, but the coaches instill a mentality in us that even when we’re down, even when we bend, we don’t break. So we came out and did what we had to do.”
His coach,Tim Morris, credited #4 for carrying the team on his back once again. “Just like Isaac said, ‘this team has heart.’ He has heart and ability. We never knew how much we’d use him, but he stepped up, even though he was a little banged up this week at practice.”
Melrose came out slow, forced to punt on several drives. Meanwhile, Dracut put points on the board first, with an 18-yard field goal kick by Kyle Durkin. Melrose fans were soon silenced when Middie quarterback Devin Lambert found Cam McCullough on a 60 yard bomb into the end zone that gave Dracut a 10-0 lead at the half.
“We only ran 17 plays in the first half,” says Morris. “We definitely came out a little bit flat and tentative. Not taking anything away from Dracut, because they’re a tough team and came out flying. There were a couple of mistakes that led to their scores.”
As they have proven all season, the Raiders are a strong second half team, and they came out of halftime refocused. They took advantage of generous yards on kickoff that launched a 9 play drive beginning with Charlie Stanton’s QB keeper and gains by Colin Keirnan and Isaac Seide on the ground. From the Dracut 25, Seide needed only two plays to find the end zone for a touchdown and a good point after by Mike Calvert put Melrose back in the game, 10-7 with 7:00 minutes to go in the 3rd.
Thanks to some solid defense by Colin Keirnan and a dominating all-around effort by Melrose’s Kevin Peete, the Raiders forced the punt and received the ball on the the Middle’s 42 but was stalled. Dracut took over on their own 34 but Melrose defense stopped them. And then the game changer for Melrose. Isaac Seide, in the backfield, received the ball on a punt and appeared to be swarmed by three tacklers but he broke through all of them, took off sharp right to the outside and proceeded to outrun everyone down field into the end zone for anther touchdown. A Calvert kick was good and Melrose took a 14-0 lead. Seide drew notice from trainers as he remained on the ground in the end zone, but eventually stood and proved mobile. He was was briefly sidelined but later returned to the game.
“That second half run on that kick was amazing, [Isaac] can do that anytime,” said Morris. “Even when he wasn’t getting the yardage at the beginning of the game, you got to keep feeding him, because he can break one at anytime. He’s got great speed.”
Melrose defense did the rest of the work for the Red Raiders. After a long drive spearheaded by QB Jack Sullivan, Colin Keirnan and Kevin Peete, Melrose attempted a field goal at the 17 but missed. Melrose shut down Dracut’s next drive behind defensive efforts from Keirnan and Chris Cusolito. Finally, an expired clock preserved Melrose’s 14-10 win.
After the game, Morris spoke of Melrose’s readjustment at halftime. “The first half took the wind out of our sails a little, but we were able to regroup at halftime. The defense played better and (we were) moving the ball, that was a big thing.”
Next up, Melrose hosts North Reading this Friday at 7:00 p.m for the D4N Semifinals. The winner will advance to the Div. 4 North finals to face either Marblehead or Wilmington (see accompanying story).
Says Morris about North Reading, “I don’t know anything about them, but they’ll have to be a quick study. It will be great to play at home again.”
