Bourne/UCT Football Rolls Over Fairhaven

By: Dan Crowley
Published: 11/19/10

Bourne/UCT scored in every quarter Friday night as they dealt the winless Blue Devils a 34-0 defeat. Fairhaven drops to 0-9 on the season, while the Canalmen improve to 5-5 overall and 3-3 in the South Coast Conference. Next up for BHS is the annual Thanksgiving morning game with Wareham. This year the game will be played at Wareham beginning at 10 AM.

John Page broke free going 50 yards in the first quarter and scoring the first of his two touchdowns of the night. Page carried the ball 12 times for the Canalmen for 220 yards.

In the second half it was Joe Epps’ turn. The junior running back scampered 30 yards into the end zone and quarterback Jimmy Halliday hit Page for the two-point conversion, giving BHS a 14-0 lead at halftime.

The Canalmen put it away in the second half scoring twice, once by Page on a 46-yard run and once by Epps on a 25-yard run. BHS capped the scoring in the fourth quarter on a seven-yard run by Ryan Sweeney.

Page ran wild for the Canalmen rushing for 212 yards. Epps added 79 yards to the Bourne tally and Sweeney picked up another 50 in the dominating effort by the Canalmen.

It began in the heat and humidity of August, carrying through to the cold, late autumn Friday nights under the gridiron lights. Football is a long season, but since that first summer day when the players assembled for the first time, they have looked forward to Thanksgiving Day and suiting up to represent their school and town in the annual holiday game with Wareham. This year Bourne/UCT will face the Wareham Vikings at Wareham on Thanksgiving morning at 10 AM.

Last year the Vikings were victorious, as they have been throughout the football careers of the Bourne/UCT seniors today.

“We haven’t beaten Wareham since I’ve been here,” four-year veteran and senior captain Zach Chick said. “To beat those guys will mean a lot. We’re at .500 for the first time in a while. If we can beat them we’ll finish above .500 for the first time since I’ve played.”

“It’s a revenge game,” four-year veteran and senior captain Jesse Burgess added. “It’s revenge for last year and every year since 2004. We’re going to play hard and we’re not letting up.”

Many of the current Canalmen have yet to lay eyes on the game trophy.

“I’ve never seen it,” four-year veteran and senior captain John Page pointed out. “This is a big game. If we win, we get to bring the trophy home. So, I guess I’ll see it then.”

Wareham will enter the Thanksgiving Day game with a record of 1-9 overall and 1-5 in the SCC. The Vikings dropped their last game on November 12 to Apponequet by a score of 34-16. Their lone victory came back in September, a 26-14 win over Fairhaven.

“We have a good opportunity to beat them this year,” Page continued. “It will happen. We just have to play our game. I usually go home after the Thanksgiving game upset that we lost to Wareham. This year is going to be different. This year my class will leave their mark by beating Wareham.”

“This game is huge; it’s the last hurrah for all of us this year,” three-season veteran and junior captain Drew Girouard pointed out. “It’s a chance for us to show everyone how far we’ve come as a team. Records don’t matter. The fact that they are 1-9 means nothing. They might be a really good team. We can’t go in there thinking they’re weak. If we do we’re going to lose.”

Last year the Vikings posted an 8-3 record and won the Thanksgiving Day contest at Bourne by a score of 38-14.

Wareham entered the season young and inexperienced. Running backs (sophomore) Darien Fernandez (7 touchdowns) and (senior) Matt Pimental (6 touchdowns) have combined for the bulk of the scoring. Sophomore running back Charles Tranfaglia has four TDs on the season with two coming in the Viking’s recent loss to Apponequet.

Wareham will throw the ball. Quarterback Ian Searles stunned Sandwich back on October 22 when the Vikings threw on their first play from scrimmage just over a minute into the game with Searles hitting Pimental for 53 yards over the middle for a touchdown.

However, in a game this big, Bourne/UCT isn’t about to let that happen.

“This game has been on our minds since the season started,” Chick said. “It’s a rivalry. It will be the last football game I’ll play and it’s an honor for me to be a captain in this game.”

“It will be the last game for most of the seniors,” Page added. “It’s the last time we’ll get to play with our teammates. This is our super bowl. We want that trophy.”

“It will be the best feeling,” Girouard said, of walking onto the field in a Bourne/UCT uniform Thanksgiving morning. “It makes you feel like it all means something, to the school and the town. It makes me proud.”

“I’m very proud to wear this uniform,” Burgess added. “We’re proud of how we’ve pulled it all together this year as a team and I proud to play for Bourne.”

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