Wolverines Home Openers Were Action-Packed

The five Wolverines' youth football teams went head-to-head with the Nashua Elks' Crusaders last weekend at Windham High School. The hometown teams made several trips to the end-zone giving their fans a highlight reel of action.

RESULTS 

Second and Third grade combined

The Wolverines 2/3 team won in their home opener against the Nashua Crusaders, bringing their record to 2-1. Ryan Garcia, Christian Spinazola, Anthony Gaiero, Brett Boucher, Keegan Parke, Aidan Arinello, and Kolby Kurto all made outstanding defensive tackles in the first quarter. Joseph Hero and Hayden Kushman showed great effort by making solid blocks on the offensive line throughout the first half. The game became a defensive back-and-forth battle. Colby Lynch made a key tackle to keep the game scoreless going into the second quarter. Despite a long run by Jacob Micciche and a key offensive block by Nicholas LaRoche, Windham was unable to score in the first half. The Crusaders put an unexpected TD on the board near the end of the second quarter by returning a punt even though Charlie Palmer made an incredible effort to stop the play.

During the Wolverines' first possession of the second half, Cole Peterson and Garcia combined forces and ran the ball for several first downs. Their gritty, hard-nose running paid off with a Peterson touchdown and Garcia's extra point conversion. The Wolverines would go on to play shut-down defense. Brody Waldron and Adam Koza made numerous tackles. Lukasz Rondeau stripped the ball from the Crusaders and Nathan Campbell recovered the fumble. In the fourth quarter, Garcia scored the second Wolverines' touchdown by running the ball 70 yards. He was powered by several blocks from Joshua Sweeney, Mason Rice, Spinazola, Waldron, Parke, and Koza. The game ended on a high-note for the Wolverines with long runs by the Peterson and Garcia duo as the game clock wound down. The coaches were clearly proud of the team as they noted that the boys worked hard all week and were well-prepared for the game. 

Fourth grade

The fourth grade Windham Wolverines started with both teams turning the ball over on downs. Windham wracked up several tackles with a defense led by Nolan Paquette, Alessandro Oliveira, Connor Logue, Jacob George and Joey Pallaria. Then the offense started to click with great blocking by Bradley Valo, Saku Kulesza, Jack Hamill, and Shane McInnis. They set up a Curtis Shattuck touchdown run with one minute left in the first quarter. The Wolverines were able to convert the extra point and the score was 7-0. The second quarter featured great runs by Aiden Carter and Stephen Mague but the offense was unable to convert those into points. The defense, bolstered by the intensity of Ethan Chicklis and Tyler Mueller, managed to keep Nashua out of the endzone. Windham held onto their 7-0 lead going into half-time.

Nashua received the second half kickoff and still couldn't move the ball effectively against the stingy Wolverines' defense. Joey DaSilva led the third quarter defense with an interception and a fumble recovery. Neither team scored in the third quarter and Windham hung on to its 7-0 lead. The fourth quarter began and both offenses started to get into a rhythm. Nashua was the first to score with eight minutes left in the game but didn't get the extra point. It was now 7-6, Wolverines. Windham responded with a Rocky Heres touchdown at the four-minute mark, making the score 13-6. Nashua answered with a trip to the endzone but was again unable to convert their extra point. The Wolverines led 13-12. To protect the one point lead, Braydon DeCotis came up huge on defense. The offense then was able to run out the clock with the hard-nose running of Westin Lippold. The fourth grade Wolverines keep their undefeated record in place with a final score of 13-12. They will be home again next week to play Derry.

Fifth grade

The Wolverines' fifth grade team started the game with CJ Giardino kicking off. The first half was a back-and-forth effort with both teams unable to move the ball. Jake Dunlap, Tommy Doe, and Mason Belsky made several nice tackles for the Windham defense.  A fumble recovery by Parker Rice put a stop to a Nashua drive in the second quarter. The Crusaders offense eventually broke through the Windham D-line and scored on a long run. Nashua's on-sides kick was recovered by the Wolverines' JoJo Gallo but his offense was unable to put points on the board. The half ended with the score 6-0 in favor of the Crusaders. 

Windham’s first possession of the second half was highlighted with a nice run by Jack Potter, but the Nashua defense stopped the Wolverines' drive. The Crusaders took over on downs. Bobby DiCicco, Belsky, and Giardino made some nice defensive plays for Windham.  Riley Desmarais and Dylan Field followed up with several great stops near the Wolverines' goal line but Nashua eventually scored again. Later in the half, a Luke Schramm fumble recovery and run-back for a touchdown was negated due to a penalty. Although the Windham offense was unable to gain much traction on Sunday afternoon, the team never gave up!  They kept on fighting until the very end. Final score: Nashua,18 and Windham, 0. 

Sixth grade

The sixth grade Wolvernies' team played a hard fought battle against a tough Nashua Crusaders' team. Windham's Troy Pothier, JP Pallaria and Ryan Marotta of the Wolverines' led the defensive effort to begin the game. The trio wracked up 16 tackles in the first half alone. On offense, QB Jonny "Mac" MacLean marched the Wolvernines down the field early in the second quarter. He hooked up with receiver, Robbie Furman, for a 22-yard pass play to put the ball at Nashua's 35 yard-line. Two plays later, MacLean launched a bomb to tight end, Sean Carter. Carter reeled in a circus catch and brought the ball down to the two yard line. Windham, however, did not score on the drive. The Crusaders, on the other hand, made good on three of their possessions and ended the first half ahead, 20-0.

The Wolverines came out fired up in the third quarter. Nick Mueller, Cody Potter and Michael Vitale were defensive stand-outs. Windham's Thomas Hebert and Hunter Delaney also helped anchor the D. Hebert recovered a fumble and the two combined for nine second-half tackles. Meanwhile, on the offensive side of the ball, Jeffrey Andon, had the highlight run of the game. The running back showed off his blazing speed, slicing through the defense down the left sideline for 43 yards. Windham did not capitalize and turned the ball over on downs. Nashua managed one more score in the second half and went on to win the game 28-0. 

Seventh grade JV

The 2-0 Windham Wolverines' JV seventh grade team opened their first home season game with a bang! The game started with a Max Faro long first down run and a pass from QB Jake Byers to Royce Belsky who barreled his way into the the endzone for six. Windham's Zach Cunha kicked off but a Nashua fumbled return was recovered by Jack Swarbrick. The Wolverines didn't capitalize and turned the ball over to the Crusader's offense. Windham's defense locked it down. Belsky batted down a pass.  Tommy Costa came up with a big tackle and Cuhna blasted a Nashua running back for a loss. Windham's offense went right back to work. QB Jake Byers aired out a rocket to Max Faro in stride that resulted in a big league touchdown play. It was 13-0 in favor of Windham. The Wolverines quickly got the ball back. Runs by Joe Dunlap, Belsky and Donovan Hopkins put Windham within striking distance of another score. Running back, Brian Murdza, took over and ran the ball up the middle and over the goal line. The score was 19-0 after the first quarter. Byers and Tyler Folsom remained impressive at the quarterback position and their teammates Dunlap, Swarbrick, and Jake Aleksa helped the Wolverines' offense dominate time of possession. As the clock ticked down, the Crusaders tried to punt from their own five-yard line. Cunha stuck out his big paw and blocked it. His speedy teammate,Thomas Splagounias, recovered the ball in the end-zone for another Windham TD. Score at the half,  26-0.

The second half was more of the same. Zack German and Folsom made some terrific defensive plays and Hopkins and Swabrick anchored the dominating running game. QB Byers threw another rope to Faro who exploded down the field for 50 yards and his second TD. Nashua scored a touchdown and a two point conversion in the closing minutes. Final score 34-8, Windham.

If you want more information about the Windham Wolverines' Football and Cheer Program, go to our Facebook page or log onto windhamwolverines.org.

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