Page 16 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, OCTObEr 27, 2023 Splish splash and a victory: Football Sachems snap three-game skid with win over Falmouth By Dom Nicastro J ust about every element was not in the Saugus High School football team’s favor against Falmouth last week: a two-hour drive, a downpour during the game, some injuries. None of it mattered. Saugus persevered. The Sachems beat Falmouth, 20-12, and it wasn’t as close as it seems. Saugus, which led, 20-0, in the fourth quarter, broke its three-game losing streak and improved to 4-3 with the victory. Saugus is now ranked No. 25 in the MIAA power rankings for Division 5. They need to be in the top 16 after this week, the final regular-season game. There is one more game to go – against Winthrop Friday, Oct. 27, at home at 6:30 p.m. Saugus needs to win to at least have a chance to get into the postseason. The good news is four teams in front of Saugus have only two wins and must win their third game or face elimination. Another team, Pembroke, has one win and can’t make it. With a win over Winthrop, Saugus at least has a fighting chance. But that will be easier said than done. The Vikings are coming off a comefrom-behind 20-19 win over Salem, handing the Witches their first loss. Winthrop is 4-3 and ranked No. 9 in Division 6. “That team’s got fight,” Saugus coach Steve Cummings said of Winthrop. “I know they were down 13-0 to Salem; they [came] back and [won]. Earlier this year, they were at Swampscott and fell down, 14-0, came back and won. Coach Cad [Jonathan Cadigan]; he’s one of the best coaches in the area. He does a great job with his kids buying into that system with that Wing-T, and that’s just who they are. It’s in their DNA, and then…they just stay in it. It’s almost like they are just waiting for you to make that mistake. And then they got guys that have home run potential.” Saugus has guys like that, too, particularly Tommy DeSimone. He added two more touchdowns – a 1-yard run and a 38-yarder that gave Saugus a 13-0 lead over Falmouth last Saturday heading into the fourth quarter. He rushed for 185 yards and had another two TDs called back for penalties. Saugus quarterback Jordan Rodriquez found Ameen Taboubi for a 19-yard touchdown pass. “But we left some out there that we wish we could have executed a little bit better on the back end of some drives,” Cummings said. “But defensively we were solid all day. … We just kind of seemed to be in the right spot at the right time. The kids worked hard and put in a good week of practice, and it was the outcome that we wanted to get.” Cummings cited the growth of sophomore quarterback Rodriguez. “Jordan was solid, just orchestrating and moving the ball down the field,” Cumming said. “He was making some good reads with the football. The ball was so waterlogged it had to weigh 15 pounds so it was like you were shot-putting down the field. So he was able to get a decent drive down the middle of the field. … I think for Jordan just being a quarterback and being Sachems Capt. Tommy DeSimone is shown on the carry for Saugus in recent action against Lynn Tech. (Advocate file photo) a sophomore and being able to go into a difficult environment where, again, it’s a twohour bus ride against a team that we know nothing about. We’ve never played them before. And just to be able to go out be nice and calm and composed, get us into situations where we could finish drives. For him to get his first win as a starting quarterback was good. He just does a little more and more each game. It’s impressive how quick he’s picking everything up.” ~ SHS Sachems Sports roundup ~ SAUGUS FIELD HOCKEY TEAM SHINES ON SENIOR NIGHT Oh, what a (Senior) Night, late October back in ‘23. The Saugus High School field hockey team did just about everything right in a 6-0 win over Revere on Senior Night – Friday, Oct. 20. The Sachems led, 4-0, in the first quarter. Senior Bella Natalucci started off the scoring two minutes into the game. Natalucci scored twice in this game. “Bella has been working hard on her shots on net and it paid off,” Saugus coach Barbara Guarente said. “She has also been working hard on her dodging and lifting skills to go around defenders.” Sydney Ferreira scored the next two goals in the first quarter. “Sydney has just recently transitioned from a midfielder to a forward,” Guarente said. “Sydney has a strong push. The first goal was a deflection off of the goalie’s pads from a shot from senior captain Jessica Bremberg.” The fourth goal was from forward and eighth-grader Mia Shawdee. Teaghan Arsenault, also an eighth-grader, started the Sachems off in the second quarter. “Jessica Bremberg is the heart and soul of our team,” Guarente said. “She plays midfield/all over the field intercepting passes, setting up her teammates. She is on both offensive and defensive corners.” Senior captain Grace Fiore is the backbone of the defense. “Her ability to read the offense is the reason why she keeps the ball out of our area,” Guarente said. “She has been working on her lifts. We shall see if she implements that skill in the [next] game.” Senior Sam Murray is also one of the best defenders.“No one gets by Sam,” Guarente said. “Her stick is always on the ground, and she attacks the offense with confidence and pushes the ball out to her offense.” SAUGUS GIRLS’ SOCCER TEAM TOPS MYSTIC VALLEY ON SENIOR NIGHT Saugus is now 11-3-0 after a pair of wins. On Senior Night, the team topped Mystic Valley, 4-0. Shawn Sewell assisted Madi Femino for the first goal of the night. Femino added another unassisted for a 2-0 halftime lead. The Sachems finished off the scoring in the latter half with Madison Botta assisting Femino to conclude her hat trick. Veronica Ortega found Shay Sewell for the last goal. Saugus edged Northeastern Conference rival Swampscott, 2-1. Botta took a feed from Shawn Sewell and scored, and Femino pounced on Shawn Sewell’s shot for a goal. Violet Hawley had a huge game on defense. Tori Carter in net came off her line a ton, which was huge. “Shay Sewell was amazing both on the wing and when we moved her to the middle,” Saugus assistant coach Brianna Alimonti said. “Shay and Shawn create a dynamic that is hard to disrupt – the best part is that they get the whole team in on it.” SAUGUS VOLLEYBALL TEAM NETS HISTORIC TOURNAMENT BERTH Saugus picked up a 3-0 victory over Winthrop. The team also had its Breast Cancer Awareness game against Everett and won in five sets. The team carried a 10-6 record into this week and clinched a spot in the postseason. Coach Mikayla Niles said it will be the first postseason appearance for Saugus in its history. “I couldn’t be happier and prouder of the way everyone played against Everett,” Niles said. “They all came together so well and played so well. Everyone contributed so much and so many different aspects there’s not one person that I would say did better or more than someone else. They all just played so well. They came to life; they had so much energy. They were having so much fun with it. It was a really hard-fought game.” Niles noted she has 10 seniors on the team who can say they were part of an historic run. “I’m looking forward to how everything will play out,” Niles said. “I am so proud of each and every one of them, and I couldn’t be happier that it is this group of girls to be the first girls to ever do this. No one deserves it more than them.” DEAN NETS GOAL IN SAUGUS BOYS SOCCER LOSS Saugus fell to Swampscott, 3-1. Christian Dean from the junior varsity scored the goal. “We played so much better in the second half,” Saugus coach Guillermo Sepulveda said. “We kept them on their heels. We are down so many players. To see us play this well gives me great confidence for the future.” Box Score Saugus 20, Falmouth 12 1st Quarter: S – Tommy DeSimone 1 yd. run (Connor Bloom kick) 7-0 3rd Quarter: S – Tommy DeSimone 38 yd. run (kick failed) 13-0 4th Quarter: S – Jordan Rodriquez 19 yd. TD pass to Ameen Taboubi (Bloom kick) 20-0 F – Tre’Chaun Days 86 yd. kickoff return (rush failed) 20-6 F – Collin Govoni 12 yd. run (rush failed) 20-12
17 Publizr Home