Nantucket Wins Island Cup In Overtime Thriller At Fenway Park

The dream of every Nantucket football player dating back decades has been to hoist the Island Cup trophy over their heads. Many have accomplished that feat over the years, but the 2024 Whaler football team separated themselves from the pack Tuesday evening by beating Martha’s Vineyard in overtime at Fenway Park – eternalizing their names in island lore after authoring the latest chapter in this historic rivalry’s history.

“This feels great man. We haven’t had this Cup in ages,” junior wide receiver Arann Hanlon, who scored the game-winning touchdown, said after the game. “It is going to be a great time now. It was a hard-fought battle that went to overtime. We couldn’t have asked for this game to go any other way. It just feels amazing man.”

Nantucket's 22-14 victory on a cold, brisk evening was a once in a lifetime opportunity in front of over 4,000 fans, and it was a moment this group of players has been working towards since training camp in August.

“We played a hard schedule all year with this game in mind the entire way,” Hanlon said. “We wanted to play a hard schedule so when we got to this game, it could be easy for us. It definitely wasn’t easy. It was a struggle. The Vineyard played their a**es off, but we did too. We played disciplined, we have worked hard all week, and we just couldn’t ask for anything more.”

For three quarters, it felt like Nantucket was in firm control despite neither side generating much offense. The Whalers won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half – giving Martha’s Vineyard the first crack on offense.

The Vineyarders didn’t do much with the drive and kicked it back to Nantucket. The Whalers made a statement by running it over and over as they slowly, and methodically, made their way down the field. Senior running back Brady Tilton earned a couple of touches, and freshman quarterback Burke Lombardi made his presence felt with a pair of scrambles and a nice first down conversion to Hanlon on a pass outside the right hash marks.

But on a cold November night, it is never a bad idea to hand the ball off to your biggest, most bruising running back. Sophomore David Guillen-Taveras has emerged as that guy for Nantucket this season. He handled a bulk of the carries on the Whaler's first drive and throughout the course of the night. DGT scampered his way into the end zone to cap off the 10-plus play opening drive with a three-yard score to make it 7-0 Whalers with 2:36 to go in the first quarter.

The Vineyard didn’t do much with their second drive and were forced to punt the ball back to Nantucket with 1:02 remaining in the first quarter.

Nantucket, leading 7-0 after one quarter, was unable to do anything with their ensuing drive and the game quickly became a defensive chess match for the next two quarters.

The Current ran into Nantucket assistant head coach Mark Willett before the game and he said he felt they needed to do two things in order to walk out of Fenway Park with a victory.

• Run the football effectively.

• Play great defense and contain the Vineyard’s most dynamic offensive playmaker, junior running back/quarterback/wide receiver/whatever his team needs him to be – Guillerme Oliviera.

Willett felt confident about his team’s defensive game plan entering Tuesday night despite losing some key players such as senior linebacker and captain Owen Sullivan and senior linebacker/defensive end David Cirillo to injuries in the back half of the season. For much of the game, they were up to the task and able to contain the Vineyard attack outside of an occasional chunk play.

With Nantucket’s offense stalling on a pair of drives to end the first quarter and to begin the second, it felt like the unit could use a spark. Junior middle linebacker Jeremy Jenkinson provided them with it when he recovered a fumble at the Vineyard 31-yard line, giving the Whalers excellent field position inside of enemy territory with 4:51 to go in the first half.

But the Vineyard’s defense came up large for their team and didn’t allow Nantucket to add to their lead – keeping it a 7-0 game going into halftime.

For most of the third, the teams exchanged punts. Not much offense was on display despite the occasional Oliviera splash play. But with 1:59 to go in the third quarter, junior quarterback William Nicholson ran it in from 12 yards out to make it a 7-6 game, which it remained after a failed extra point.

Just 15 seconds later, Nantucket responded. Junior Canton Jenkinson returned the ball into Vineyard territory, and Lombardi wasted no time capitalizing on the favorable field position. He connected with sophomore wide receiver Eli MacIver for a 45-yard touchdown strike to make it a 14-6 game with 1:44 to go in the third quarter.

Suddenly, the offenses for both teams sprung to life. The Vineyard responded with another strong drive led by Oliviera. They scored to make it 14-12 with 8:16 to go in the fourth quarter and then on the two-point conversion, Oliviera went under center, pretended to scramble up the middle, and executed a jump pass perfectly to hit junior fullback Syius Rivera in the end zone to tie the game at 14 apiece.

The Vineyard had the final possession of regulation and drove the ball down the field inside the Whaler 10-yard line with two seconds to go – setting up the Vineyarders for a game-winning field goal attempt. Nantucket, down to their last breath, survived as the ball sailed right and the attempt was no good.

To overtime these two teams went.

Overtime rules were as followed: Teams begin their drives at the opponent's 10-yard line and get four plays (unless there is a defensive penalty) to score. Nantucket earned the first offensive possession and Hanlon dashed in from eight-yards out on the second play to make it 20-14. Nantucket attempted the two-point conversion and Hanlon converted to make it 22-14.

The Vineyard offense was up next, but a pair of penalties including a costly holding penalty on the outside that negated a touchdown, set the team back. They eventually marched their way to the five-yard line and were down to their final down. Nicholson took the snap, rolled to his right, and lofted a pass into the end zone that failed to connect with his intended receiver.

Nantucket, for the first time since 2021, sailed home with the Island Cup as the winners of the annual game between these two rivals. The win solidified their final record at 4-8 this season.

“A lot of pressure on them and that pressure is gone,” Willett said after the game. “Win at Fenway and get the Cup back home on the right island. Mission accomplished. Now the juniors soon to be seniors need to keep it.”