Masco won big over Beverly, 28-7, and will compete next Friday for the Northeast Conference championship.
Despite what the score may look like, this game was a dogfight for the entirety of the first half and stayed close throughout the third quarter.
Masco junior running back Jack Fabiano kicked off the scoring in the first quarter with a one-yard touchdown after a nice drive led by quarterback Drew Gustafson. Gustafson shoveled it to Fabiano for the two-point conversion giving Masco an 8-0 lead.
That would be only one of Fabiano’s three scores on the night, getting him to 15 touchdowns through seven games. Fabiano took 24 carries in this game for 164 yards. His second score came on Masco’s best drive of the night right out of the half. Fabiano capped off the long drive with a one-yard touchdown run and then deep into the fourth quarter, Fabiano put the game to bed with a 44-yard touchdown.
Both teams were solid defensively, but the Chieftains never took their foot off the gas as Beverly got a little tired in the fourth quarter, causing Masco to pull away.
“We woke up in the second half. All credit to Beverly, they played tough and didn’t back down. It was a good wake-up call and we responded well,” said head coach Patrick Sheehan.
Masco junior middle linebackers Alex Cantalupo and Connor Mitchell both had huge games and were wreaking havoc with their blitzing. Cantalupo was among the best run-stuffers on the field, meeting the ball carrier hard in the hole.
“The coaches had us blitzing the whole game and it really helped us out on defense. The D-line (defensive linemen) did great hitting hard and creating holes for us to come in and make the plays,” said Cantalupo.
Mitchell had two nice sacks, ruining Beverly junior quarterback Danny Pierce’s time in the pocket.
“The defensive ends, Cash Kornusky and Lucas Magnifico, did their jobs on the edge making it easy for me and Lupo [Cantanlupo] to come in and do ours. Those guys deserve a lot of the credit,” said Mitchell.
When Pierce decided to take a shot on third down and long, Masco junior cornerback Cal Weidman tracked the ball over his shoulder and made a miraculous catch, ending a promising drive for the Panthers and completely swinging the momentum to the Chieftains.
Gustafson then led the Chieftains down the field and Weidman finished what he started by catching a two-yard slant for a touchdown, giving Masco a comfortable 21-7 lead.
Weidman’s two big plays on both sides of the ball were the real game-changers in this contest.
“I knew we were winning the game after those two plays. I didn’t have a great first half, but second half the team and I started rolling,” said Weidman. “Gus [Gustafson] gave me a shot in the red zone and I made a play.”
Gustafson had another great game Friday night throwing the ball. He spread it around nicely hitting receivers senior Devin O’Brien, and juniors Weidman, Liam Ginley, and Ryan Richardson. Ginley was the leading receiver and Gustafson’s number-one target for the game.
Gustafson has made great strides this season as a quarterback and even more so as a leader. He is looking comfortable in the pocket and his decision-making has been on point, never trying to do too much and finding the open man. He had few incompletions against the Panthers and seems to be getting hot at the perfect time for the Chieftains.
“Our wide receivers played great tonight,” said Gustafson. “Heading into Marblehead, we have to stay locked in and do our thing.”
Masco’s rushing attack strengthened as the game went on and credit is due to the offensive line. The O-line was stagnant to start the game but met at halftime and figured out the issues so they could go into the second half moving bodies.
Masco’s biggest lineman, junior offensive guard Cam Bucchiere, has been a phenomenal addition for the Chieftains this year. He has done a great job opening up holes for Fabiano to run through and has already developed chemistry with his fellow trenchman.
“The first half was horrible. We didn’t hit our assignments very well, we weren’t locked in all the way, and we did not move Beverly back,” said Bucchiere. “In the second half, Coach Sheehan talked to us and told us to get our assignments down, lead with more power, and be the ones hitting them not getting hit. After that, we figured it out and blocked nicely.”
In the postgame speech, Sheehan told his players this is exactly what he’d been preparing them for since the weight room in February, the NEC championship.
When asked about how Masco would prepare for Marblehead, Sheehan had two words, “Very hard.”
“Marblehead over the last ten years has won many leagues and championships and I don’t think Masco has beaten them. This is a tall task but this is the team to do it.”
Masco and Marblehead, both undefeated in the conference, square off at Marblehead High School at seven in what should be a defining game for both squads.