Vineyard harpoons Whalers, 48-6
BY STEVE SHEPPARD INDEPENDENT SPORTS EDITOR
The sun peeked through high clouds and a steady breeze blew toward the Nantucket side of the field. The weather was crisp, but not intolerable. Fans flew or took an early morning boat, and many cars in the Vineyard's high school parking lot were decorated in blue and white. Conditions, all in all, weren't bad for the 61st meeting between the Vineyarders and Whalers.

MICHAEL GALVIN/The Independent David Loveberry (11) is off and running to score the Whalers' lone touchdown of the game. Looking to block is Jordan Ferreira (24).

Both teams entered the game with three straight wins, with the Vineyard's three victories all shutouts. Sporting an 8-2 record, Martha's Vineyard was the clear favorite, but records have often meant little through the years in the annual inter-island affair.

But the Vineyard's size and ability was just too much for the smaller Whaler squad to overcome as the home team rolled to a 48-6 victory.

There was consolation in the game's final minutes. As time ran out on the season, the plucky Whalers mounted one final drive. With their passing game thwarted for most of the contest, junior quarterback Chris Welch connected with Delroy Lawrence for Nantucket's only first down of the second half, bringing the ball to the Vineyard 44 yard line. From there, sophomore running back David Loveberry left nothing to chance as he took the handoff and ran into the end zone for the Whalers only points of the day. With 2:36 remaining, the touchdown was a moral victory, denying the Vineyarders their sixth shutout of the year.

The Island Cup, however, remained on the other island for the fifth straight year and for the ninth time in eleven years.

Nantucket fought valiantly in the game's opening quarter, forcing a Vineyard fumble during the home team's opening possession. After Chris Getman recovered the football, the Whalers drove to the Vineyard 23-yard line, thanks to a 20-yard pass play from Welch to Lawrence for their first hookup of the day. Nantucket lost the ball on a second down sweep, unfortunately, and the Vineyard drove the other way for the game's first touchdown.

Undaunted, the Whalers bounced back to mount a drive late in the period.

It began when senior linebacker Tomas Smaliorius - who, as he has all season, put in a stellar day on defense - forced a second Vineyard fumble on a quarterback keeper play. Nantucket was stalled on the ensuing offensive series, but a further Vineyard miscue kept the drive alive when the purple team was called for a roughing the kicker call on the fourth down punt. The 15-yard penalty gave the Whalers possession near midfield. Welch went to the air on second down and found Lawrence down the sideline, who made a beautiful one-handed, Randy Moss-like catch to complete the 21- yard pass play.

Nantucket had momentum, just as it had earlier in the quarter when Getman recovered the first Vineyard fumble. That momentum stalled when the ensuing second down, play action pass was intercepted. The quarter ended with the Vineyard in possession of the ball and a 7-0 lead.

Although the Nantucket defense bore down and landed some good hits, the wheels came off the bus quickly. Due to a combination of Vineyard ball control and Whaler inexperience, the Vineyard reeled off 21 points in 74 seconds, and racked up 28 points total in the quarter. Nantucket picked up two first downs in the period, one on a nice, 20-yard pass play from Welch to Jordan Ferreira, but the Vineyard capitalized on three Nantucket turnovers in the quarter to go up 35-0 at halftime.

The Vineyard scored to open the third quarter, putting the game out of reach and leaving Nantucket little to cheer about until their last, late touchdown.

"We had our chances early in the ballgame," coach Vito Capizzo said afterwards. "We just kept turning the ball over." Nantucket had eight turnovers in the contest.

"We did our share of turning the ball over," Vineyard coach Don Herman said. "Both teams had opportunities in the first quarter."

The Vineyard finishes the season 9-2, but will not play in the post season because an 8-6 loss to Blue Hills earlier in the year gives Blue Hills the advantage in every tiebreaker possibility. "This became our playoff game," Herman said.

Although the Vineyard has held the decided edge in recent matchups, Nantucket still holds the overall Island Cup advantage with a 17-13 record. Nantucket's record against the other island is 35-23-3 in games going back to 1953. Nantucket's record this year is 3- 6, 3-2 in league play.

The seniors who played in their final Whaler football game were Evan Hourihan, Brian Reis, Blair Jannelle, Jordan Ferreira, Anthony Valero, Erik Hughes, Andrew Clark, Danny Kurash, Keith Clemens, Nigel Koester, Matt Fry, Chris Getman,

Jeremy Schneider, Tomas Smaliorius. I