35-7 rout serves as perfect Super Bowl appetizer
Published December 6, 2019
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—Melrose football fans had even more to be thankful for this week after a 35-7 thumping over Wakefield on Thanksgiving Day last Thursday, Nov. 28 at Fred Green Field.
A 420-yard ground attack was all Melrose needed to top Wakefield (6-5) in Melrose’s 8th straight Thanksgiving win since Wakefield’s 3-0 victory in 2011. Melrose leads the overall series, 58-40-6, and since the creation of the Thanksgiving rivalry (now in its 60th year) Wakefield holds a 29-28-3 edge that will surely be flipped in the coming seasons.
Melrose goes into the Super Bowl at a perfect 11-0 and has clinched the Middlesex Freedom League title outright. The Red Raiders will face Plymouth South in the Div. 4 State Finals at Gillette Stadium this Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
Melrose played without league MVP running back Chris Cusolito (out with a leg injury sustained in the Revere game) so the Red Raiders counted on their other talented backs and, sure enough, junior Matt Hickey rose to the occasion with a statement game. He scored three touchdowns and ran for 131 yards on 12 carries, unstoppable for Warrior defense.
“We’ve got some young backs that just keep improving,” said Melrose coach Tim Morris after the win. “We’ve spread the ball around all year long. Obviously, Chris [Cusolito] has done most of the work, but today it was one less guy to share the ball with. Billy [Pesce] and Hick [Matt Hickey] came up big for us.”
FOR THE 8th straight Thanksgiving, Melrose has prevailed over Wakefield. This time, a 35-7 drubbing last Thursday at Fred Green Field. (Steve Karampalas photo)
Melrose was prepared for a revived Warrior team, but Red Raider defense was merciless against Wakefield, allowing only one score while Melrose was playing mostly reserves on the field. Said Morris, “Our defense did the job against a team that really has surged the last 5 or 6 weeks. It was important to stop some of their young backs.”
The skies opened up at halftime with Melrose leading 28-0 and only looking to add insult to injury. Wakefield’s crowd thinned and left mainly hometown diehards who watched the Red Raiders score again on their first possession in the third.
Matt Hickey and senior captains William Pesce (6 carries, 106 yards, touchdown) and Sean Hebert (3 carries, 51 yards, touchdown) led a strong ground attack that compiled 421 yards.
Now, Melrose has just one opponent left to finish a season of perfection: Plymouth South. The Panthers come into the game with a 10-2 record and beat Milton and Tantasqua to get there. But on Thanksgiving, Plymouth South suffered a big defeat against rival North Plymouth while choosing to play only reserves. Melrose goes into the Super Bowl having outscored opponents, 455-105 over the season and can earn their second Super Bowl title in three years with a victory at Gillette Stadium. They are widely ranked #5 in the state in polls.
MELROSE DEFENSE made life miserable for the Warrior’s running backs during the Red Raiders’ 35-7 win over Wakefield. (Steve Karampalas photo)
But on Thursday, the only rivalry that mattered was the one between Melrose and their rivals to the north. The Red Raiders scored first with 5:00 left in the first quarter on a 9 yard touchdown run by Hickey set up by a series of passes and runs by Brendan Fennell (4-8 passing, 60 yard rushing). In the second, Hickey would score again on a 50-yard touchdown run. Zach Federico (5-5 in PATs) kicked a good point after and it was 14-0 with 10:00 let in the half. On Melrose’s next possession, Billy Pesce hoofed a 60 yard touchdown run that had fans on their feet and gave Melrose a 21-0 lead. Wakefield’s star running back Aiden Sweeney was limited to 78 yards and teammate Wesley Pierre to a mere 28 yards thanks to tackles from Mical Duntin, Micye Duntin and Billy Pesce, while Wakefield quarterback Joe Alden found most of his passes broken up by Melrose’s Charlie Haggerty. The Warriors closest scoring opportunity came before the half when Alden found Pierre for a 40-yard gain but Haggery broke up a critical pass in the end zone and Melrose defense slammed the door on the Warrior run game which resulted in the ball turned over on downs.
Sean Herbert had an impressive 40-yard run that set up his own 5-yard touchdown with a minute to go in the half which made it a 28-0 game at the break. Hickey hit his trifecta after the half by driving the ball 45 yards into the end zone on a series of carries that gave Melrose a lopsided 35-0 lead.
Melrose’s Chris Allen and Jake Rowe resumed the running game in the latter part of the game, with Jessie Gardner manning QB duties, and a late-game highlight was a fake punt by Alex Brincheiro, who gained first down for Melrose on a 20 yard run. That officially took the air out of the Warrior game, though they scored with Melrose’s reserves in, an Aiden Sweeney touchdown that prevented the shutout, 35-7.
