October 12, 2o23 By Kevin Riordan
The key measurement that separates good football teams from the pack is the strength, and depth, of the offensive and defensive lines which the 7thGrade Raiders dominated both on Sunday. On the first series (RB) Evan Tomasello took a handoff and followed mega blocks from Denny Costello, Will Berkeley and Teddy Lovendale for a 28 yard gain. (QB) Hudson Garrity dropped back behind the protection from Frank Cavagnaro and John Peterson throwing a 21 yard pass to a leaping Shamus Devine for the touchdown and a 6-0 lead just two plays into the game. On defense Costello and Cavagnaro penetrated the gaps for consecutive sacks and (LB) Cam Forger tackled the running back for a loss to force a quick punt. On the second series (QB) Garrity took the snap from John Peterson rolled to his right and threw a deep pass to Brayden Huber for a first down into the red zone. But on the run and under pressure Hudson threw a rare interception halting the drive. Defensively (LB) Daniel Lovendale and Devine sacked the QB forcing Milton to punt.
Having another 100+ yard rushing game (RB) Evan Tomasello stiff armed his way for a 32 yard gain setting up a first and goal at the two. Lineman Ryan Crespi and Andy Gerlach opened a big hole for Hudson Garrity to run for the TD and the 12-0 lead. Frank Cavagnaro had a monster game on defense with 3 sacks and a blocked punt which set up a short field for the Raiders to work with on offense. One play later (RB) Johnny Heller continued his streak of consecutive game touchdowns by slashing his way upfield for a 31 yard touchdown run. Center Grant Riordan hiked the ball to (QB) Neil Deininger who handed off to (RB) Coen Melgoza for the extra point run to go up 19-0. The Raiders defense relentlessly penetrated the Milton backfield with Ryan Crespi, Shamus Devine and Andy Gerlach stuffing the run to force another punt.
(QB) Garrity from the shotgun threw a dart pass to Jack Hart for a first down, then connected with Daniel Lovendale for another first down before finding his big target Shamus Devine in the corner of the end zone who made a sensational NFL style catch by dragging his two feet in the corner of the end zone for the touchdown. (RB) Marco Giannaros capped off the drive running for the extra point and a 26-0 lead in the 2nd quarter. Defensively (LB) Andy Gerlach made a TD saving tackle and safety Garrity broke up a key pass forcing a quick turnover on downs. Grasping the short field opportunity (QB) Garrity threw a short pass to Daniel Lovendale who juked and stiff armed his way for a 28 yard touchdown. (RB) Coen Melgoza capped off the scoring with the extra point run and a dominating 33-0 lead at halftime.
Preserving the shutout the Raiders kept the ball on the ground with (QB) Matty Palermo, (RB)’s Sam Godfrey, Emmett McCarthy, Marco Giannaros, Cam Forger and Ryan Fernquist sharing the workload behind the blocks upfront from Will Taylor, Mickey Syp, Mason Devine, Grant Riordan, Wes Govoni, Andrew Nolan, Chris Donegan and Preston Kurley to earn the 5th shutout win in a row this season
The 7th Graders go on the road one more time to face Wellesley next Sunday.