THE MELROSE High football team celebrated Senior Night last Friday. Pictured from left (front row) are seniors: Rowan Smith, Kojee Khang, Brady Pitcher, capt. Shea Fogarty, Rob Colozzo, capt. Trevor Botto, capt. Justin Camelio and Luke Maher. Back row: Tommy Foley, Zach Federico, Jamie Haggerty, Liam Maher and Pat Lucien. (Raj Das www.edphotos.com)

 


Loss puts Red Raiders out of playoff contention

By BEN PAINCHAUD

MELROSE—A victory was on the horizon for Melrose last Friday night after senior Trevor Botto scored from three yards out on a quarterback keep with 3:33 left in the game. Senior Zach Federico converted the PAT, giving Melrose a 23-20 lead over Watertown. The Red Raiders then pinned Watertown at their opponent’s sixteen-yard line on the ensuing kickoff.

Victory again loomed on the horizon for Melrose when it forced Watertown to go for a new set of downs at the Red Raider twenty-four-yard line with under thirty seconds left. However, Watertown quarterback Johnny Cacace completed a short pass to Billy McHugh for enough yardage to move the sticks. Two plays later, kicker Rafael Magalhaes booted the ball through the uprights as time expired to tie the game at 23 apiece, forcing overtime.

In overtime, the ball was placed at the ten-yard line and Watertown went on offense first. Mason Andrade took a handoff from the nine-yard line on the second play of the drive and burst into the end zone to hand Watertown a 29-23 lead. Watertown’s two-point conversion failed. Melrose, having to score a touchdown to stay in the game, was not able to respond. On the last play of the game, Trevor Botto’s pass fell incomplete after being tipped by a Watertown defender, and Watertown hung on for a 29-23 win.

Melrose had strode into halftime with momentum, having scored on a Botto-to-Liam Maher connection in the end zone with seventeen seconds left to cut Watertown’s lead from 14-0 to 14-7. The Red Raiders then went eleven plays downfield on the opening drive of the second half and scored again, getting a seven-yard touchdown rush from Maher. The PAT was blocked, leaving Melrose trailing 14-13.

Though the blocked PAT felt deflating, Melrose jumped right back into the driver’s seat when it recovered a fumble on the following kickoff, giving them excellent field position at the Melrose twenty-three. The Red Raiders did not let it go to waste, converting a thirty-yard field goal thanks to the powerful leg of Zach Federico, making the score 16-14, Melrose.

Every time it felt like Melrose missed out on an opportunity, the team willed itself right back into the game, such as with the fumble recovery following the blocked PAT. Later, early in the fourth quarter, Andrade exploded for a seventy-two-yard touchdown run to give Watertown a 20-16 lead. It felt as if momentum had shifted, but Melrose then responded with an impressive seven-and-a-half-minute drive that culminated in Botto’s touchdown run with 3:33 left.

“I don’t think there was ever a time in the game when we didn’t feel like we could move the ball on them,” said Melrose head coach Tim Morris after the game, “but you got to put a team like that away and tackle better and not let up the big plays. I thought our offense was pretty balanced.”

The Red Raider offense was pass-happy throughout the night. Aside from one interception on a throw to Liam Maher, Botto showed good poise and confidence in his arm, going 8-18 through the air and throwing for one passing touchdown, the connection to Maher late in the first half.

“I think he’s really grown into the position and as a leader and running the offense,” said Morris. “It’s just unfortunate that we had to go through so many tough games like this. It’s tough running the ball against them. They’re big up front, and we’ve certainly been there before, kind of being outmatched up front. You just do what you got to do, which meant pass this week. We were able to move the ball a little bit doing that and sprinkling in the run.”

In addition to completions by Botto to Maher, Brady Pitcher and Rob Colozzo, the Red Raiders got hard running from Shea Fogarty, who ripped off a fifty-one-yard gain in the first quarter to give Melrose life following Watertown’s opening scoring drive. On the defensive side of the ball, Braden Marceau-Olayinka continued to fly around up front, as did Zach Federico and junior Ben Cassavoy, who notched a sack in the second quarter to force a turnover on downs. Rowan Smith and Dom Delgado held down the linebacking corps, and the secondary got solid play from Botto, Jamie Haggerty, Brady Pitcher, Josh Madden and others.

A big bowling ball of a running back, Mason Andrade was a lot for the Melrose defense to handle, contributing three rushing touchdowns to Watertown’s cause. The Red Raiders had done a good job limited the big back in the second half before his seventy-two-yard burst on third down early in the fourth quarter.

“We stopped them a good amount of time, but we let up a big play there [at the beginning of the fourth quarter],” said Morris. “That was a big, easy touchdown they got there.”

Needing three wins to qualify for the playoffs, the loss last Friday night puts the Red Raiders out of postseason contention. Melrose will play in a consolation bracket to finish out the season before its annual Thanksgiving Day game against Wakefield, which is on the road.

“If we’re playing football, we’re playing to win, just like this week,” said Morris, when asked about his message for the team following the loss. “You’re playing for Melrose. You’re playing football. It doesn’t matter what we’re playing for. We’re still playing football.”

Melrose will host Lynn English this Friday evening in a consolation game at Fred Green Field. Kick off time is 7:00 p.m.