Whalers defeat Old Colony
BY JACK MOLLOY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Junior quarterback Chris Welch threw a pair of touchdown passes to senior wide receiver Jordan Ferreira and junior tailback Hunter Day rushed for 179 yards and a touchdown to lead Nantucket High School to a 19-8 Mayflower Small League victory over Old Colony Saturday. The win was the first of the year for the Whalers and the second win in a row over Old Colony.

PHOTOS BY MICHAEL GALVIN/The Independent Jamison Viera breaks free, above; Christopher Getman makes a diving grab.

"We've got the monkey off of our back," said Whalers coach Vito Capizzo. "I've done a poor job of putting the pieces of the puzzle together this year, trying to get the right kids in the right positions. The kids finally played together as a team. We only have 19 or 20 kids but they are now playing with confidence both offensively and defensively and the defense did a great job with that goal line stand. I'm real happy for the kids, they've worked hard all year and really earned that win."

Welch was 8 for 14 with one interception and 144 yards passing to go with his two touchdown tosses. Day had a career high 170 yards on 35 carries in the game. Ferreira led the Whalers with 72 yards on three receptions. Senior linebacker Tomas Smaliorius led the Whalers defense which allowed Old Colony just a total of 68 yards offense.

Day put the Whalers on the board in the first quarter when he followed sophomore fullback Jamison Viera's blocking and ran it in from six yards out. Junior Josh Butler kicked the extra point. Old Colony then scored its lone touchdown of the day when Ryan Milwood returned the kickoff 75 yards and then added the conversion rush to lead 8-7 after one quarter of play.

The Whalers went ahead for good when Welch hit Ferreira from nine yards out in the second quarter. Welch then closed out the scoring by connecting with Ferreira again for a 57 yard pass that put the Whalers up 19-8 heading into the half.

Old Colony recovered a fumble on a punt return and took over on the Whalrs six yard line midway thru the fourth quarter. The Nantucket defense held strong for four downs and kept Old Colony out of the end zone. The Whaler offense took over on downs and on fourth down punter Viera threw a pass back to quarterback Welch for a first down, which allowed the Whalers to keep the ball and run out the clock.

Nantucket will host its final home game of the season and will be looking to even its Mayflower Small record at 2-2 when it hosts Tri-County Regional on Friday at 4 p.m. as part of

Homecoming weekend. I