SHS Football Opens Fall Campaign With A Win Over Bourne

By: Dan Crowley
Published: 09/14/12

 The Sandwich Blue Knights opened the 2012 football season on a winning note with a 34-12 victory over the defending Division 3A Super Bowl champion Bourne Canalmen last Friday night.

After fumbling on the opening drive and surrendering a touchdown to Bourne, the Knights regrouped and took control of the game, cruising to a 20-12 halftime lead.

The highlight of the night for Sandwich was the performance of senior quarterback Zach Wagner who scored four of the five Blue Knight touchdowns.

“Zach has really grown from last year, throwing, running and making his checks,” Head Coach Bill Luette said.

Wagner ran for just under 125 yards and passed for 118 yards. One of Wagner’s favorite targets proved to be senior receiver Tim Sullivan who caught 10 passes for 85 yards.

The Canalmen posted a quick six with a 21-yard run but missed the two-point conversion attempt. Sandwich answered with a 7-yard run to the right by Sean Reardon. The point after missed, knotting the game at 6-all. Wagner then ran the ball in from 4 yards and again from 3 yards and Patrick Kane tacked on the extra point.

In the second half Wagner again had two running TDs from inside the five with Kane adding the PAT.

But it proved to be the front line of the Knights that gave Bourne fits. Bigger, more physical, and quick, Sandwich controlled the line of scrimmage and held the Canalmen to under 200 yards of total offense. Senior captain Nick Tierney led the way in the trenches with two sacks.

“Our kids were really pumped,” Luette said after the game. “Practice (a day earlier) was awesome; everyone was motivated. I’m so happy for our kids and fans. It seems we always have our backs against the wall. We wanted to turn that around and we did. Beating a defending Super Bowl champion is big. The kids proved they’re a little bit faster and stronger this year.”

The Blue Knights will host Diman Voc tonight at 7 PM at the Pop Warner Field off Quaker Meetinghouse Road. The Bengals are coming off a one-sided loss to Case last Saturday, falling to the Cardinals by a score of 24-0. Case held Diman to just nine offensive plays in the second half.

Last year Sandwich faced Diman in their second game of the season in Fall River, defeating the Bengals, 28-6. Diman went on to finish the year with a record of 7-4, taking third place in the Division 4A Mayflower League Large behind Tri-County and league winner Blue Hills.

This season the Bengals return seven letter winners, led by two senior running backs, Alex Medeiros, at 6 feet and 190 pounds, who led the team last weekend with seven carries for 30 yards, and Mike Ferreira, at 5’ 7”, 165 pounds, and junior Johnny Padilla. Last year the 6-foot, 195-pound Padilla earned Boston Globe Player of the Week honors, carrying the ball 27 times for 181 yards in the team’s 20-6 victory on October 21 over Bristol-Plymouth. Looking to open holes for the running game will be 6’ 3”, 240-pound senior offensive tackle Nate Levesque.

Junior quarterback Aaron Soares will be calling the signals for the Bengals. In the opening drive on Saturday, Soares was intercepted, with the ball going the other way for 80 yards and a TD. During the spring Soares is the top 400-meter hurdler on the Bengal track team and ranked fifth in the Mayflower League.

Diman is coached by Richard Vickrey, now in his seventh season, who looks to his skill position players to put points on the scoreboard. The Bengals are a young team this season without much depth.

“We know they run the Wing T and last year they were throwing the ball,” Coach Luette explained. “We’ve seen teams that show a lot like Mashpee, Hull and Scituate, and Bourne even threw the kitchen sink at us and we’ve dealt with them and got our jobs done. We’ll be prepared for Diman.”

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