Whalers defeat Avon/Holbrook
BY STEVE SHEPPARD
After a long month of away games, the Whalers returned to the green, green grass of home Saturday afternoon to turn in a dominant,

26-6, victory over Avon/Holbrook.

Nantucket was able to overcome 7 penalties in the contest, thanks to a tenacious defensive effort and the stellar play of quarterback Geddes Paulsen who accounted for 183 of the team's 229 total yards. The senior threw for 103 yards and 2 touchdowns and added another 80 yards rushing, including two running touchdowns.

After going 1-3 on the road, Nantucket was ready to play its first home game since September 16. Avon/Holbrook came into the game with a 3-0 league record and the league's leading touchdown passer in Josh Savoy who had thrown for 11 of them.

As it turned out, he wouldn't throw any in this contest.

The rough boat ride over didn't help the visitors and the Whalers struck quickly, scoring on their first possession as Paulsen scampered into the endzone from 30 yards out. John O'Mara swept in for the conversion and Nantucket had all the points it would need, 8-0.

It didn't seem that way at the time, however. Even though the Whalers would score on their next possession, it took some effort to find the goal line.

The Whalers gave the Bulldogs all they could handle Saturday. Top: Delroy Lawrence sets up Nantucket's fourth touchdown with a nice catch. Bottom: John O'Mara (3) put in another stellar effort, while Geddes Paulsen (7) accounted for 183 yards of offense.

The hesitant drive began with a Bulldog fourth down play, as a lateral screen pass fell incomplete. While several members of both teams assumed the play was over and headed towards the sidelines, Anthony Valero picked up the live football but didn't being running immediately. That little bit of caution allowed Holbrook to catch him downfield at the 20. A fourth down illegal procedure call against the Whalers made it fourth and very long, but Paulsen found Delroy Lawrence who picked up a fresh first down at the five yard line. Two plays later, another penalty against Nantucket (this time for holding) brought the ball back to the twelve yard line. Andriques Farmer picked up 8 yards on a sweep, but soon the Whalers were faced with another fourth down situation. No problem. Geddes made a nice over the middle pass to Farmer in the endzone, and it was 14-0.

Stymied by a swarming Whaler defense, Avon/Holbrook was unable to get untracked and Nantucket scored again to open the second half, picking up four first downs on the drive before Farmer ran left on an option for a 20-0 tally.

Avon/Holbrook finally got on the board on its next series of plays, capped by a long fade pass play that was followed by an off-tackle run into the endzone.

Nantucket put the game away in the fourth quarter. Lawrence kept the drive alive with a nice catch off a quick slant to bring the ball to the one yard line on a 22 yard pass play. From there, Paulsen bookended the Whalers scoring by taking the ball in on a keeper. Evan Hourihan caught the conversion pass for the 28-6 score.

And when Joe Bopp intercepted a Bulldog pass in the game's final seconds it was officially over.

"They played as a team," a pleased coach Vito Capizzo said afterwards. "We'd been playing well in spurts, but today we played forty minutes of football."

BETWEEN THE LINES

The Whalers are now 3-4 on the season, 1-1 in Mayflower Small play. Holbrook fell to 3-3 overall, 3-1 in league play. . . Nantucket hits the road again for the next two weeks, with games against Old Colony and Tri-County. Both game times are at 1 p.m. Two home games remain: November 11

against Diman and November 18 versus Martha's Vineyard. . . . Paulsen almost had three running touchdowns on the afternoon, but his last run was nullified by a holding call. Nantucket's 7 penalties totaled 54 yards, while Avon/Holbrook drew 2 flags for a total of 10 yards . . . John O' Mara put in another good effort and picked up 23 yards rushing . . . Lawrence and Eric Hughes combined for a nice sack of quarterback Josh Savoy, and Lawrence later stripped the ball from the quarterback and Eric Rogers recovered the fumble . . . Jordan Beans caught a screen pass near the end of the first half, but he was deemed an ineligible receiver . . . . High school principal George Kelly filled in admirably as announcer . . . Nice to see former schools superintendent Dr. John O'Neill at the game . . . . Special thanks to Will Ferreira.

I