Wildcats best Whalers
BY STEVE SHEPPARD
Anyone who still needed to know why high school football captures our attention in the fall had only take a short trip to West Bridgewater last Saturday, where two small-school teams with each having something to prove met once again on the gridiron. On a glorious mid-October afternoon, the Wildcats exorcised 30 years of disappointment in outlasting a determined Whalers team to hold on, in the end, by a 20-14 score. It was the first West Bridgewater win over Nantucket since 1976 and as the clock would down and the home fans chanted, "His-to-ry," the Whalers left the field with the realization that time was not on their side in this one.

A potential game-tying pass from Geddes Paulsen to Delroy Lawrence in the waning seconds of Saturday's game fell incomplete as West Bridgewater hung on to win.

For the second straight week, the Whalers took part in a fast-paced nail biter featuring big offensive plays and defensive gems; it ended with a valiant last ditch effort by Nantucket to grab the victory. With twenty seconds left, a Geddes Paulsen endzone pass to Delroy Lawrence was deflected - and so was the Whaler comeback.

Andriques Farmer returns a kickoff before being brought down by a Wildcat defender. Farmer scored the Whalers' second touchdown on a 28 yard pass play.

West Bridgewater came into the game having lost just one contest on the season, and that to a strong Blue Hills team the week before. After playing out of its division the first half of the year, meanwhile, Nantucket was looking to begin its schedule against league opponents with a victory.

Near the end of the first quarter, the Wildcats struck first. Mired deep in his own territory, West Bridgewater quarterback Matt Nunes pumped and let one fly to Jose Gurley who ran down the left sideline to complete the 85-yard scoring play. A fake point after kick was run in for the conversion and the first quarter ended 8-0, advantage Wildcats.

As they did against North Shore Tech the week before, the Whalers, led by the running of Paulsen, came right back to start the second quarter. Nantucket picked up four first downs on the drive, among them an important, fourth down QB keeper by Paulsen at midfield. From there, Paulsen led the charge downfield until John O'Mara took it in from the two-yard-line. The conversion toss to Andriques Farmer was good, and the game was tied at 8.

The defense swarmed over West Bridgewater on the next series, with Mark Dwyer and Eric Rogers nailing W. B. quarterback Nunes for a huge loss of yardage, but Dwyer fumbled on Nantucket's next possession and the Wildcats quickly got the ball back. On West Bridgewater's next play from scrimmage, there were two turnovers in succession, with the Wildcats finally gaining control as Blair Janelle intercepted a pass but fumbled on the play and West Bridgewater recovered. Nantucket kept the pressure on, however, and the half ended tied.

West Bridgewater would score twice in the second half before Nantucket got untracked. Showing new wrinkles in their offensive game, the Wildcats were able to run it in from the six-yard-line halfway through the third quarter. The conversion was no good, and it was 14-8. Another Nantucket fumble gave West Bridgewater the ball back in good field position. In a near mirror image of the Wildcats' first touchdown, Nunes again pump-faked and found a wide open Gurley for a 59-yard scoring play, and a 20-8 lead.

The Whalers, however, were still in this one.

Starting on their own 34-yard-line, the Whalers, led by Dwyer, O'Mara and Paulsen mounted a steady drive, picking up four first downs in the process, including a reaching quarterback keeper on fourth down by Paulsen. The drive was capped with a 28-yard pass play from Paulsen to Farmer, but the conversion pass to Farmer was no good and it was 20-14. As former coach Dick Herman might say, "And now we have a ballgame!"

Clock management was now a factor and West Bridgewater had the ball.

The Wildcats picked up three first downs and chewed up time (and Nantucket timeouts) until Dwyer came up big to stop a fourth down pass play and give Nantucket the ball back on its own 29 yard line with a little over two minutes remaining in the game.

A second down option pass from Farmer to Dwyer was just incomplete, but Lawrence came up with two nice catches to give Nantucket the ball on the Wildcat 35-yard line with thirtyfive seconds left. Paulsen spiked the ball to stop the clock. A pass to Lawrence was high. With forty-six seconds to go, a play-action pass to Farmer brought the ball to the 12. Another spike. A pass to Farmer fell incomplete. Twenty seconds to go, and Paulsen's pass to Lawrence was deflected out of the endzone.

For West Bridgewater, the outcome ended years of frustration. "I've been here 21 years and we've never beaten Nantucket," Wildcat head coach Bill Panos said afterwards. "I've been scouting them and I knew they had a good team."

Make that two good teams. The old rivalry is renewed.

Between the lines . . . It was not only a good game, but a quick one as well. There were few penalties in the well-played contest. . . . Lots of Nantucket fans at the game . . . . Wildcat coach Panos's son, Kevin, a former W. B. quarterback, jumped on his father at midfield after the game. "He played here four years and always wanted to beat Nantucket." . . . Coach Capizzo said the Whalers had "our best week of practice" leading up to the game. . . . The Whalers had three turnovers, but only one led to a Wildcat score . . . West Bridgewater's 4-1 start is its best since 1999. . . . Nantucket finally gets a home game this week against Holbrook/Avon (or is it Avon/Holbrook?). The Bulldogs beat Tri-County 26-21 Saturday and are 3-2 on the year.

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