Sports Roundup: Stout Defense Leads Whaler Football To Opening Game Victory

This Whaler sports roundup includes a recap of the Whaler football team’s season opening victory over Cardinal Spellman on the back of their stout defense, which finished the day with three interceptions. It also includes updates on the field hockey team and the boys soccer team.

Whaler Football Begins Season With 14-7 Home Victory

The Whaler football team kicked off the Reese Everett era with a gutsy 14-7 win over Cardinal Spellman at Vito Capizzo Stadium. Cardinal Spellman QB Gil Nabstedt and his offense had their hands full with middle linebacker Jeremy Jenkinson and the Whaler defense all afternoon.

"We have a lot of dogs on defense, and we have a defensive coordinator (Mark Willett) that is very, very hungry on defense,” Everett, the Whaler’s head coach, said.

The game was 0-0 at halftime, and while Cardinal Spellman scored a touchdown late with under two minutes to go in the fourth to make it a 14-7 game, the Whalers made them earn every yard while recording three interceptions (Canton Jenkinson, Arann Hanlon, and Eli MacIver).

"This game told me exactly what I knew coming into the game which is that we have some dogs that need a fight," Everett said. "But again, the execution piece and finishing from start to finish is very, very important. We need to continue to practice that.”

The Whaler’s offense, led by junior quarterback Brock Beamish, had a strong second half. They were able to cap off two long drives with touchdowns. The first was a score by senior running back Owen Sullivan on a one-yard run and the second score was a five-yard run by junior wide receiver Arann Hanlon, who led last year’s squad with seven touchdowns.

“Coming into this game, I knew we were going to have a strong defensive run," Everett said. "These past two years, as I mentioned before, we needed to take a deep dive into our offense. It did come together towards the end, but we do have a lot of work to get on. Brock is getting comfortable compared to the past year, and I'm liking where he's at right now.”

"I definitely want to spread the ball out as much as possible to all of our skilled guys," Everett added. "When your opportunity comes and your number is called, you need to be ready. I think all of our guys just need to remain humble and hungry, and when their opportunity comes, they're going to take full advantage."

The defense was suffocating when it came to stopping Cardinal Spellman’s run game with strong play from three first year varsity players including the Jenkinson brothers (Canton and Jeremy) as well as linebacker/edge David Cirillo.

“I didn't mention anything about David Cirillo yet, but he is also another guy to look out for all season," Everett said. "He came in very hungry. He's a senior right now, and I think he just wants to end off on a good note his senior year.”

The big guys up front on the offensive and defensive lines were also very impressive. Had it not been for some mental errors, the Whalers could have had a much larger margin of victory - something Everett said they will address moving forward.

“Both of my bigs groups, they've been going above and beyond each and every day," Everett said. "Just their mindset this year, on offense they really want to protect the quarterback and on defense they want to get that ball out. So we're going to do whatever it takes every day."

Nantucket’s next game is scheduled for Saturday, September 14 on the road against Carver at 11:30 am.

Field Hockey Splits Weekend Slate Of Games

The Whaler field hockey team’s weekend didn’t get off to the best start – losing 7-0 to one of Div. 4’s top teams; the Monomoy Sharks. But on Saturday Nantucket had a chance to bounce back on the road against Whitman-Hanson and did just that in the form of a 3-0 victory.

"I just think that on Friday, it was as simple as we just didn't play very well and they're very, very good," head coach Dan Weber said of Friday's loss to Monomoy. "I think it's good that it happened in the second game of the season and not like game 15. I think it was good in a sense it gave us some things to work on, and then it was really good to have a game right away (Saturday). The girls did a great job of bouncing back and improving on the things that we didn't do so well on Friday. Both Elizabeth (Weber, co-head coach) and I were really proud of them for how they bounced back both in their physical play but also just the ability to bounce back mentally after a really tough game like that on Friday is encouraging to see. It's a sign of a good, experienced team.”

Junior Sadie Paterson, senior captain Suz Peraner, and senior Sam Zadroga each scored one goal in the bounce back game on Saturday. The Whalers now have four different goal scorers responsible for their five goals tallied to date – an early indicator of the scoring depth across the roster.

"I think that we have a lot of capable players up front, but I'm also not surprised that Suz is the one with two through the first three games," Weber said. "She had a really strong year (last season). I think that'll be a pretty consistent theme throughout the year. I think that it'll be spread out but just off of the year she had last year, I think Suz will get her fair share as well.”

Weber said senior captain Maddie Lombardi was “amazing” in Saturday’s game in the midfield. He said that he felt as a team captain she took it upon herself to lead the team in their bounce back performance.

“I think that she went out there and after a tough game, and the rest of the team as well, but I think as a captain, she was leading it to make the adjustments she needed to make and played with some really good intent and purpose and aggressiveness,” Weber said. “It allowed us to bounce back strong after Friday, which was really good.”

Nantucket is now 2-1 this season and will attempt to improve to 3-1 on Tuesday, September 10 when they travel to Falmouth for a 3:15 p.m. matchup with the Clippers.

Boys Soccer Ties Falmouth

The Whaler boys soccer team earned another tie on Saturday, this time against the Falmouth Clippers 1-1 on the road. Nantucket is now 0-0-2 through two games and will try to earn their first win of the season on Wednesday, September 11 at 4 p.m. when they welcome the Sturgis West Navigators to the island for their home opener.

SCHEDULE AHEAD:

Monday, September 9:

The golf team will be on the road to face the Dennis-Yarmouth Dolphins at 3:30 p.m.

The volleyball team will be on the road facing the Sturgis West Navigators at 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday, September 10:

The cross-country team will be at home facing Sturgis West at 3:30 p.m.

The field hockey team will be on the road facing Falmouth at 3:15 p.m.

The girls soccer team will be on the road facing the Sturgis East Storm at 4 p.m.

For more updates on Whaler sports throughout the year, you can follow Nantucket Current Sports on Instagram here or follow Sports Editor David Creed on X here.