Melrose Defeats Sachems in Home Opener

An aggressive and physical Melrose ground attack spoiled as coach of the , as the visiting Red Raiders rushed for close to 300 yards Friday to beat the Sachems 31-6 at Knowlton Stadium.

Melrose’s senior running backs Spencer Walsh (11 carries, 93 yards) and C.J. Hanson (10 carries, 87 yards) did most of the damage. At times, the co-captains, combined with the efforts of their offensive linemen, appeared to overpower Winchester’s smaller front seven.

“Right now, we’re facing teams that are physically stronger than us, and they’re running through us,” said Dembowski, who is in his first year with the Sachems. “And technically, we’ve got to be absolutely perfect or what happened today is going to continue to happen.”

Winchester (0-2) lost 24-0 at Cardinal Spellman, a Catholic school in Brockton, in its first game of the season. Next Friday, the team will face another tough Middlesex League test, in Wakefield, at 7 p.m. on the road.

Melrose (2-0), on the other hand, has had a very different start to the season, routing Belmont 28-7 a week before Friday’s lopsided win. They will also be on the road at 7 p.m. Friday, in Woburn.

“I saw areas where we took a step forward from last week to this week,” Melrose coach Tim Morris said, “but we need to continue to keep improving.”

On Friday, with Winchester coming out of the break down 17-6, receiver Joe Ntege took the team’s first play from scrimmage down 63 yards to Melrose’s 10-yard line, breathing some life back into his team. However, four plays later, with Winchester still at the 10, quarterback Tommy Pine threw a jump ball to Seamus Cassidy in the end zone, which was picked off by Melrose cornerback Matthew DeSimone.

Earlier in the game, with eight minutes left in the second quarter, Winchester’s other quarterback, Tim Mangano, connected with Cassidy on a jump ball over DeSimone for a touchdown, as the Sachems took a 6-3 lead. The touchdown drive was set up by an interception by Colin Martin, which gave Winchester the ball at Melrose’s 37-yard line.

After Pine’s third-quarter interception, the Red Raiders had a quick three-and-out from their own 20, and then a high snap on their punt attempt gave Winchester the ball right back just 25 yards from paydirt. After a first down and then a couple costly penalties, Winchester converted on third-and-30, as Mangano found sophomore Stefan Zandbergs on a 33-yard completion to bring the ball to Melrose’s eight-yard line. However, on third-and-goal from the one, Mangano fumbled the snap, and Melrose recovered.

Melrose then put the game away with an eight-play, 80-yard drive, which was capped off by quarterback Bryan Reale’s 11-yard touchdown run. Reale’s scamper put Melrose up 24-6 heading into the fourth quarter. Sophomore Malik Garrett would add Melrose’s fourth touchdown with less than four minutes left in the game to make the final 31-6.

DeSimone hit a 31-yard field goal to give Melrose a 3-0 lead late in the first quarter. After Mangano found Cassidy in the second, Reale connected with Walsh on a nine-yard screen pass for a touchdown, and Walsh later ran it in from 11 yards out to make the halftime score 17-6.

Reale, a junior, split time with senior quarterback Brett Barbati running the Red Raiders’ option offense. The team’s offensive line is tackles Brendan McGonagle and C.J. Leach, guards Matthew Devir and Jon Babula and center Jacob Pezzini.

Juniors John Costello and Connor Campbell took the majority of carries for Winchester, while Dembowski said he was pleased with senior Joe D’Amico’s ability to fill in at wide receiver. D’Amico had two catches for 33 yards on Winchester’s drive to start the fourth quarter before leaving with an ankle injury.