Melrose shuts out Wilmington 28-0 with playoffs on horizon
By JENNIFER GENTILE
COLBY ANDREWS caught two touchdown passes for the 4-2 (3-1) Red Raider football team during their 28-0 shutout over Wilmington last Friday night. Melrose is set to travel to Stoneham this Friday, Oct. 24 for their last regular season game before playoffs. (Donna Larsson photo)
MELROSE — The Melrose Red Raider football team secured their fourth win of the year with a 28-0 blanking of Wilmington on Friday, Oct. 17 at Fred Green Field in Melrose. Senior captain Jack Hickey had two rushing touchdowns and Melrose quarterback Jake Karelas threw for two touchdowns in a win that keeps Melrose 4-2 overall and 3-1 in the Middlesex Freedom League.
Firmly in second place in the league, Melrose remains near the top tier in power ratings in Div. 3 Northwest, ranked fourth among 11 teams with a 13.0 rating, including Wakefield, whom Melrose beat earlier in the season.
It hasn’t been an easy two weeks for the Wilmington Wildcats. Just a week after suffering a 21-0 loss against Wakefield, the Wildcats (3-3, 2-2 league) were shutout again against Melrose with 28 unanswered points over the night.
Melrose wasted no time in the their opening possession, marching over 50 yards with passes to Will Caffey and Colby Andrews that culminated in a six yard Jack Hickey touchdown run with 7:37 left in the first. A good kick by Mike Cusolito made it a 7-0 game. Cusolito overall went 4-4 for the night in PATs. Hickey struck again for Melrose with his second touchdown of the night when he found the end zone on a 10 yard rushing touchdown to make it 14-0 with 8:49 left in the first half. Wilmington turned the ball over on downs in their next possession, leading to Karelas to sprint a 21 yard keeper then connect with Brian McLaughlin on a 15 yard pass. A “catch-of-the-year” completion was made by Melrose receiver Christian Pizzotti who gripped a 40 yard Karelas toss, setting Melrose up downfield where Colby Andrews caught a five yard end zone pass for Melrose’s third touchdown of the night. With just 1:42 left in the half Wilmington trailed 21-0. Pizzotti, Caffey and Andrews helped Karelas in his air attack, deftly handling tosses that resulted in numerous first downs. Alex Slabacheski, Mike Doucette and Kevin Mercer held the fort defensively for Melrose on tackle while Brian McLaughlin proved to be one of the most reliable ball handlers on the team, providing a 1-2 punch with Hickey in rushing.
Wilmington showed promise with a 17 play drive that killed nine minutes off the clock in the opening drive in the third quarter led by a strong running from Matthew Penney and Jomikeson Beray but Melrose forced the punt and then scored with eight minutes to go on a 12 yard Karelas pass to Colby Andrews; both their second touchdowns of the night.
The Wildcats tried to capitalize on a 45 yard bomb to receiver Ryan Colangelo that had them knocking on Melrose’s door poised for a touchdown on the Melrose 1 yard line. However, calamity struck when Wilmington fumbled the ball, turning possession over and spoiling their last chance of putting numbers on the board.
After the game Morris spoke of the team’s effort after last week’s disappointing loss to Watertown.
“It’s nice to be back on track, we needed that [win],” he said. “We did a lot of good things on offense, Jake had a nice night and we played a little more consistent defense. We still have a ways to go cleaning things up on defense but I was glad we were able to run the ball and throw tonight. The games we lost this season we weren’t running as much as we should. If we can get both going it opens a world of other things to do.”
Melrose is wrapping up their regular season schedule this Friday, Oct. 24 when they hit the road to Stoneham (2-4, 0-4). The Spartans have struggled this season, not yet earning a league win. “The next game is the most important game,” comments Morris. “We can help our standings in the playoffs if we do what we’re supposed to do which is to win.”
MIAA power rankings (see this section) suggest a probable Melrose postseason contest against Wayland (4-2), either on the road or at home. But that will not be announced until this Sunday, Oct. 26 when the MIAA releases tournament seedings and Melrose learns their competition as they begin their Div. 3 Northwest play.
Playoffs are expected to begin Oct. 31 or Nov. 1. Fans are encouraged to visit www.miaa.net for all updated game information.
Middlesex Freedom League Standings
Watertown 4-0
Melrose 3-1
Wakefield 2-2
Wilmington 2-2
Burlington 1-3
Stoneham 0-4
