MELROSE FOOTBALL honored their outgoing seniors at the start of their Watertown rout last week. Pictured from left: Paul Sqautrito, Sam Noel, Marley Hamilton, Kyle Homberg, Andrew Marciano, Ben Cassavoy, Nick Chiulli, Kimani Reid, Connor Brophy, Paul Nault, Jake Skane, Nick Bjork and Will Ryan. (photo by Raj Das edphotos.com)
Update post publication:
Melrose defeats Wilmington 41-28 (Oct. 27)
Improves to 6-2 on the season
Wilmington game tonight could determine playoffs
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—The Melrose High varsity football team are a strong 5-2 on the season following a 42-8 rout over visiting Watertown on Friday, Oct. 20. It also improves them to 2-1 in the league, at the top with Wakefield and Stoneham, as all teams head into final regular season games of the year. This evening, Melrose is on the road in Wilmington for a 6:00 p.m. must-win game, with playoffs scheduled to start next week and post season brackets released this weekend.
Against the Watertown Raiders, Melrose saw two touchdowns each from junior Nick Hitchman and sophomore Max Lanciani, along with scores from Ben Cassavoy and Marco Albanese, with Connor Brophy solid on QB duty. Hitchman had quite a night, breaking open the game on a 90-yard kickoff return touchdown that gave Melrose a 7-0 lead just seconds into the contest, setting the tone for total domination for Melrose, who kept the Raiders scoreless until the final minutes of the game.
Melrose took a 14-0 lead on a 50-yard touchdown run by Max Lanciani. Keegan Moloney had a workman-like series of first down runs (about 30 yards), which set up Hitchman’s next touchdown, a 12-yard end zone dash that gave Melrose a 21-0 lead in the first quarter. Solid tackling from Will Ryan and Andrew Marciano would prevent Watertown from doing anything put punting most of the night. Marco Albanese scored Melrose’s next touchdown to make it 27-0 and Ben Cassavoy added to the rout with a 25-yard touchdown run. Melrose’s final punch was a Max Lanciani touchdown capped off with a Hitchman two-point conversion. Offensively, Melrose did the job against Watertown and will hope to keep it going when they travel to Wilmington tonight.
A lot is riding on their game against the Wildcats.
Wilmington is considered a must win game if Melrose would like to join the Sweet 16 of Division 4 who will punch a ticket to a post season. Fresh off two losses against Wakefield and Stoneham, Wilmington still has a winning record of 4-3.
Surprisingly stubborn MIAA power rankings have Melrose (and Wakefield, Super Bowl champions of 2022) on the outside of the playoff bubble, ranked #19 and #17 respectively. The idea of a 6-2 team not making playoffs is odd, and even a 5-3 team could be considered a playoff contender, but it speaks to the brevity of the league and the division at large.
Meanwhile, the Middlesex Freedom League remains wildly unpredictable with the following standings:
ML Freedom Standings:
Team Overall League
Stoneham 3-4 (3-1)
Melrose 5-2 (2-1)
Wakefield 5-2 (2-1)
Wilmington 4-3 (2-2)
Burlington 4-3 (2-2)
Watertown 1-6 (0-4)
The Middlesex League title may not be determined until Thanksgiving. But playoffs will be determined in a matter of days. How the Middlesex League and Div. 4 teams perform tonight will be the basis of the playoff brackets to be released this Sunday, Oct. 29.
Playoffs will commence next Friday, as will consolation play.
A lot is on the line and things are moving fast. Fans are encouraged to visit our social media pages and the MIAA website at www.miaa.net for game updates.