The Revenge Tour Continues: Whaler Football Blows Out Nauset, Remains Undefeated

The Whaler football team earned themselves a dominant 37-8 victory under the lights at Vito Capizzo Stadium Friday night against the Nauset Warriors to remain undefeated at 5-0. Despite a slow start, Nantucket still found themselves with a 14-0 lead at halftime thanks to a 25 yard touchdown pass from Burke Lombardi to Arann Hanlon with 8:46 to go in the first quarter and a Canton Jenkinson touchdown with 2:09 to go in the first quarter.

"For some strange reason, we've been a second half team but we're trying to adjust that," Whaler head coach Reese Everett said. "We want to get fired up and ready to go in the first quarter, but that comes with time. We have a lot of young guys on the field, and you know, I wouldn't say inexperienced, but a lot of guys have to shake their shells off and get ready to go. So that's something we're trying to overcome, but we have a great group. I'm going to say it over and over again, we have a special group right now and we're going to try to utilize them and play to our potential.”

Junior running back David Guillen-Taveras extended the lead to 21-0 with a 70 yard touchdown catch with 9:55 to go in the third quarter, which was also his team-leading ninth touchdown of the year. Hanlon scored for a second time in the game on a 34 yard rushing touchdown to make it 29-0 with 7:25 to go in the third.

"David has been trying to prove to us in practice that he's not only a running back and he can catch the ball too," Everett said laughing.

The Whalers made it 31-0 following a Nauset safety with 5:09 to go in the third, and Lombardi showed off his wheels on the following possession scampering into the end zone for a 21 yard rushing touchdown to make it 37-0. Nauset would score their first and only touchdown of the game with five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Everett continues to be impressed with Hanlon and Lombardi for not only their excellent play on the field, but their leadership as well.

"Arann is a warrior in any sport that he plays," Everett said. "No matter what, even if he's hurting, he's going to be at 100 percent. Then Burke Lombardi, he has a great arm, but he's trying to prove that he can do a little something on his feet as well. A lot of us on the sidelines were biting our nails making sure he didn't get hurt but he's trying to prove something to the Cape & Islands. We're proud of him."

The Whalers have not been to the state tournament since 2021, and in the past three years they accumulated a record of 7-23. Last year, in Everett’s first as the head coach, the Whalers finished 4-8 but capped the season off with an overtime thriller at Fenway Park against Martha’s Vineyard, taking back the Island Cup following a 22-14 victory.

Nantucket has carried the momentum from last season into the fall of 2025, and has soundly beaten opponents who had their way with the Whalers in recent seasons while the program was in the midst of an overhaul and a retool - making this season somewhat of a revenge tour.

Nantucket began their season with a 49-0 victory on the road against Cardinal Spellman. The last time these two teams played, the Cardinals beat the Whalers in Cardinal Spellman 12-0 in 2022. It was the first game of what ended up being an 0-8 regular season.

The Whalers second victory this season came against the Carver Crusaders 35-8, getting revenge on the Crusaders after they beat Nantucket 40-6 on the island in 2023 and then in Carver 26-15 last fall.

Nantucket beat Blackstone Valley 41-6 in their third game, and followed it up with a 33-14 win over the Falmouth Clippers in Falmouth last week – getting more revenge after Falmouth had won 40-0 on the island in 2022 and then 14-10 last fall on the island again.

Now, Nantucket has another convincing win over a familiar opponent who has come out on top against the Whalers in recent history – beating them 36-6 in 2022 and 28-14 last fall.

The Whalers have outscored their opponents 195-36 through five games and are just one of two teams who currently hold the maximum 14 point margin of victory in the MIAA’s power ranking formula among teams in Division 6 with Tri-County RVT also having the maximum margin of victory.

Nantucket was ranked #6 in the Division 6 MIAA State Tournament power rankings before Friday’s win (top 16 teams make the postseason). They will try to remain undefeated and improve to 6-0 on Friday, October 17th when they travel to Dennis-Yarmouth to play the Dolphins at 4 p.m.

You can view more photos from this game here. You can view the Division 6 football power rankings here.