Successful Start to Wolverines' Second Season

Week one of the Windham Wolverines 2012 season could not have gone better. The program’s five teams played on the road in games against Bedford, Hollis-Brookline and Laconia. They ended their weekend undefeated.

“We are pleased that all of our players continue to make progress,” said Kyle McInnis, football director and seventh grade coach. “We still have a lot of work to do across all grade levels.” President Jim Williams, commented, “This is a terrific start, but it’s a long season. We don’t judge our program simply by wins and losses. Making sure the kids are learning the game and having a positive experience is our ultimate goal.” 

RESULTS

Second and Third grade combined vs. Bedford

Patrick Furtado started the match-up with a great kick that set the tone for the rest of the game. Early on, Christian Spinazola and Mason Rice made defensive tackles that turned the ball over to the Wolverines. Aidan Arinello had a big gain for a first down, followed by an awesome block by Cole Peterson that led to a touchdown by Brett Boucher and the extra point by Cole Peterson. Later in the first half, the Wolverines recovered a fumble resulting in a touchdown by Adam Koza and an extra point by Mason Rice. Keegan Parke and Arinello made defensive tackles that gave the ball back to the Wolverines. Windham took full advantage with a long touchdown run by Christian Spinazola just before the half.

Early in the second half, the Wolverines flexed their defensive muscle with outstanding tackles by Koza and Jacob Micciche. Despite Bedford’s great effort in the fourth quarter by marching the ball to the one-yard line, the Wolverines made a strong goal line stand. Both the returning third grade players and the first year second graders showed an incredible effort throughout the game. After the game, Coach Arinello said, “The coaches could not be any more proud of the team and their first game victory.”

Fourth grade vs. Hollis-Brookline

The fourth grade Wolverines football team traveled to Hollis Sunday to open the season against Hollis-Brookline Cavaliers. The first quarter was a defensive battle, headed up by Bradley Valo and Michael Depamphilis, resulting in each team turning the ball over on downs and a score of 0-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Windham’s offense started to click in the second quarter, behind the running of Curtis Shattuck. They moved the ball down to the fifteen yard line and Joey DaSilva ran it in on a quarterback keeper to put the Wolverines up 6-0. With less than three minutes remaining in the half, Hollis-Brookline broke off a long touchdown run. The Cavaliers converted on their extra point attempt which made the score 7-6 at halftime.

  The Wolverines started the third quarter receiving the ball and wasted no time getting to work. They held the ball for most of the quarter behind the running of Rocky Heres and Westin Lippold. As the third quarter came to a close, Lippold crossed the goal line giving the wolverines the lead again, 13-7.

  The defense knew they needed to step up and protect the 13-7 lead and that’s just what they did. The Wolverines’ efforts were led by Stephen Mague and Nicholas Palmer, who recovered a crucial fumble with only minutes remaining. Windham was able to run the clock out and come away with a victory in their first game of the regular season with a final score of 13-7.

Fifth grade vs. Laconia

The fifth grade Wolverines football team kicked off their season Sunday against the Chiefs in Laconia. The coaches, boys and cheerleaders were excited to get the game started as they marched on the field at 11 am. Windham got on the board early in the first quarter when Kyle Keenan had an amazing 45 yard run for a touchdown. Later in the first quarter, Tommy Doe recovered a fumble and tore 58 yards down the field for a touchdown.  Matt Logue scored the extra point making it 13-0. Later in the first half, an incredible interception caught by Dylan Field set up a 24 yard touchdown run by Jake Dunlap aided by Jack Potter’s amazing block. The first half  ended with a score of 19-0 with the Wolverines on top.

After a lively halftime show by the Windham cheerleaders, the Wolverines marched back on the field. To start the half, Riley Desmarais continued with his consistent, solid kick-offs. After allowing a 33 yard run by the Chiefs, the Wolverines ripped through Laconia’s offense, keeping them from scoring a touchdown. Windham continued to dominate throughout the second half highlighted by a fumble recovery by Luke Schramm and another touchdown run by Dunlap. The final score was 31-0 and a great start to the season for the fifth grade Windham Wolverines.

Sixth Grade vs. Hollis-Brookline

The sixth grade Wolverines had a balanced offensive attack backed up by a “shut-down” defense in their game against the Hollis-Brookline Cavaliers. Windham wasted no time launching their air attack when Jonny “Mac” MacLean hooked up with Hunter Delaney for a 15-yard pass to start the game. Cam Burns then ran a lightning fast sweep for a nine yard gain followed up by an explosive Thomas Hebert 35-yard touchdown run. Hebert picked up terrific blocking from JP Pallaria, Chris Redard and Coddy Potter. Later in the half, MacLean also connected with Ray Galasso and Jeffrey Andon for lengthy pass plays. Troy Pothier led the defense with an amazing twelve tackles. His stand-out teammates Ryan Marrotta, Nick Gaiero and Galasso also chipped with lock-down defensive plays to protect a 6-0 half-time lead.

Nick Mueller, Jacob Wallace and Gannon Fast fired up the defense in the second-half and put the Wolverines in good field position. QB MacLean rolled right and zipped a pass to Robbie Furman who broke two tackles and ran 33 yards down to the Cavaliers one-yard line. Hebert made his second visit to the end-zone with a punishing run up the middle putting Windham up by a dozen. Hollis-Brookline tried to make a late game drive only to face the “deny defense” of Rourke Curtin, Sean Carter and Nick Kasprzak. Final Score: Windham 12, Hollis-Brookline 0.

Seventh Grade vs. Bedford

 The Wolverines Junior Varsity 7th Grade Football Team put on a show under the lights in Bedford Saturday night! The evening started with a team chant, led by Joe Dunlap getting the team pumped up to hit the field for the first time in eight months.

Reality hit hard for Bedford when Dunlap maneuvered around their line and ran the field for a 60-yard touchdown midway through the first quarter.  Nolan Cunningham scored the extra point to give the Wolverines a 7-0 lead. Success came quickly again late in the first quarter, as Jake Aleksa ran the ball down the field, setting up another score. QB Jake Byers threw a pass to Jack Swarbrick who ran in another impressive TD in the second quarter. Running back Max Faro got on the board as well before the half, running wide and racing past the Bedford defense making the score 19-0 at the break

Windham came back just as strong in the 2nd half with more excitement and took control of the game. QB Jake Byers added more points to the scoreboard when he airmailed a TD pass to Faro. Bedford managed to put up a TD in the third quarter when their kick-off team hit pay-dirt, making the score 25-6. The Wolverines were unfazed. Brian Murdza capped off a sustained drive by Windham midway through the fourth quarter with a pounding three-yard run into the end zone. Other game highlights included several impressive punts, tackles and runs by Jon Saklad, Zach Cunha, Royce Belsky, Justin Gelinas, Tyler Folsom, Tommy Costa, Cam Matthews, Zack German, and Joe Micciche. The final score:  44-12, WOLVERINES.

For more information on the Windham Wolverines Football and Cheer program, go to windhamwolverines.org.

Lou Zollo, Karin Gelinas, Chris Gallo and  Kelley Stewart contributed to this article.