The Masconomet Chieftains and the Malden Catholic Lancers shook the rust off in a defensive-driven scrimmage hosted by the Chieftains.
This was the first scrimmage of the year, and the Chieftains were eager to finally give the new system a run-through.
Each team got 40 plays on offense and 40 plays on defense.
There were referees for this scrimmage, but it wasn’t run like a traditional football game — it was more a chance to learn and experiment against a new team.
After 10 plays on offense, the teams would switch. There were no first downs, as the offense just tried to drive the ball down the field as much as possible in their plays.
If a touchdown was scored, the offense would reset around their 40-yard line.
Malden Catholic (MC) started on offense. Through the first half of their plays, they took it to the Masco defense, quickly getting the ball inside the red zone.
The Chieftains’ middle linebacker, junior Alex Cantelupo, was delivering some big hits on the opening drive, and junior defensive end Lucas Magnifico had a nice tackle for loss.
After a slow defensive start, in a drive that looked like it was going to be a score, Masco made a nice stand with goal to go and gained possession.
Masco’s offense took a little time to get going, but a nice 20-yard run from senior Arbri Halilaj and catch from junior Cal Weidman pointed the offense in the right direction.
Junior quarterback Drew Gustafson had some nice reads on the first few plays. They should turn into catches once the season starts and chemistry develops.
With both teams not finding the end zone on their first of four drives, Malden Catholic scored a 50-yard touchdown on a dime when the quarterback hit his receiver in the end zone.
Malden Catholic’s starting quarterback delivered beautiful throws all day.
Later in the drive, after a short pass to the right, Halilaj came up and made a textbook tackle for Chieftains, helping slow down MC’s momentum.
Halilaj then had the play of the day for both teams as he caught a ball near the right sideline from sophomore quarterback Cruz Zizza at the line of scrimmage, juked out three defenders, and burnt the defensive backs into the end zone for a 55-yard score.
“If I’m being honest, I wasn’t sure if I ran the right route. I ran an arrow route, which turned out to be a lucky guess,” said Halilaj, who followed up this statement with a thorough description of where his head was at just then.
“I caught it, and I saw two people right there. So when I made the first move, I made a juke and closed my eyes. Then I heard the sideline erupt, so I opened my eyes. I see green grass, so I run as fast as I can down the sideline. Then I see a safety come in, but I made a cut. Once I got to the 10-yard line, I was gassed but told myself, ‘Please, don’t get caught — you run track.’”
For the Chieftains’ quarterbacks, Gustafson took the first 15 plays, followed by Zizza taking the next 15. Freshman Trip Weidman finished off the last drive with 10 plays.
Masco had many solid offensive and defensive plays later in the game as well, including a really nice run from junior receiver Liam Ginley and a nice catch on the ground from senior receiver John Crispo.
On the defensive side, junior Connor Mitchell had a nice tackle, junior defensive tackle Cam Bucchieree busted through the line for an excellent tackle for loss, and senior Robby Connelly had a great sack.
In the last 15 plays, Masco let a lot of young guys get some chances to make plays — and they didn’t disappoint.
Trip Weidman had many solid runs at quarterback and had some fundamental completions to sophomore receivers Ben Richardson and Kieran Kilmer.
Sophomore running back Jack Engel showed his strength with a handful of powerful runs, and sophomore safety Andrew Kelly had an interception off a tip on the final drive.
“We played pretty well today,” said Gustafson. “Everything was there. but we just have to start connecting and let it click.”
He continued, “We need to work on the little things, like throwing and catching. Our playbook is there. We have the plays and will continue to put everything together.”
Masco wasn’t tearing it up on either side of the ball, per se, but definitely showed many good flashes as well as things that need to be tuned up before week one.
“It was a decent start,” said head coach Patrick Sheehan. “Right now, we are right where I expected us to be. We need to find a way to play as a team and use some enthusiasm and energy.”
He added, “Now that our guys have had some game speed experience, we need to start playing confidently.”
The Chieftains’ home opener is right around the corner, and they’ll continue to prepare for Newburyport on September 6.