New England can talk up an impending weather event with the best of them, and for three days now it has been Nor’easter central. A forecast of heavy rains and strong winds, especially on Saturday, sent athletic directors scurrying to fit in games before the storm, especially those games scheduled for Saturday.
Watertown and Brookline were scheduled to play Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Brookline, but that was scraped. Then the issue became where to play the game, and because there wasn’t an available field in Brookline on Friday afternoon or evening, both schools agreed to play the game at Victory Field at 3:30 p.m. That meant pushing back two games previously scheduled for Victory Field on Friday, Field Hockey versus Wakefield at 4:15 p.m., and Girls Soccer at 7:30 versus Fontbonne. Watertown AD Ryan Murphy earned his salary this week, though, and both Wakefield and Fontbonne agreed to delayed starts to accommodate the football game.
Ah yes, the football game. The Watertown Raiders finished off their September schedule in style by defeating previously unbeaten Brookline 35-7 to move to 3-0 and head into the start of league play next week feeling good about themselves and their chances against five tough Middlesex foes.
As they did in last week’s dominant win over Carver, the Raiders got off to a great start, albeit while dealing with a small hiccup along the way. After deferring and holding Brookline to three-and-out on their opening possession, Watertown went on a 12-play drive that took them to a first and goal at the Brookline 7-yard line. And then the hiccup. What looked like an innocent handoff from senior QB Coleman Keuchkarian-McKeen (CKM) to sophomore running back Max Velasquez turned into disaster as Velasquez just never took possession of the ball and coughed it to the ground where Brookline recovered the fumble.
Good news? The Raiders didn’t let what could’ve been a demoralizing turnover get to them. They held Brookline to another three-and-out, and when Brookline’s punt into the wind traveled all of 25 yards, Watertown began 33 yards from the end zone. Did the Raiders take advantage of the great field position? Indeed they did. The two-play drive consisted of a 27 yard completion from CKM to senior Shane Garey, and a QB run of fours yards for a touchdown. The extra point (one of five on the afternoon) by sophomore Milo Gjgerji made it 7-0 Raiders.
While the Raiders snuffed out any hint of offensive momentum on the part of Brookline, Watertown scored on their only other two possessions of the second quarter. A seven-play drive that mixed pass and run nicely ended with senior Jayden Pineda running 12 yards for a touchdown to make it 14-0. And the end-the-half-like-you-draw-it-up-on-the-blackboard drive of eight plays, with the final play for touchdown as the half expired — a 33-yard TD pass to Pineda, with Pineda showing off his strength and power-running by willing his way inside the pylon to make it 21-0 at the half. And remember, Watertown would get the ball to open the second half.
The Raiders wasted no time taking advantage of the score last-score first scenario. Starting at their own 35, Watertown ran for one, 10 and five yards, mixed in a pass for four yards, went back to the ground for runs of seven and four yards, then after a 10-yard holding penalty, completed a 21-yard pass to junior Mason Lamacchia. CKM scrambled for 6 and a first down, and then with first and ten on the 15 yard line, CKM was flushed out of the pocket but avoided pressure long enough to spot a wide-open Mason Lamacchia for a 15-yard TD pass. The opening possession of the third quarter took up seven minutes.
Down 28-0 and desperate to make something happen, Brookline threw long on first down into double covereage, and paid for it, to the tune of an interception by Garey and a return of 62-yards all the way to the nd zone to make the lead 35-0. At this point, reserves hit the field and the Raiders committed one of their only mistakes of the day, fumbling and failing to recover the ball that was right in their grasps. Instead, Brookline scooped up the ball and ran 54 yards with the fumble recovery for a touchdown.
The game and the clock played itself out at that point with the final score firmly established, Watertown 35, Brookline 7. Offensively there were stars galore. Unofficially CKM finished 10/11 for 140 yards and two TD passes thrown (and he ran for one). Max Velasquez was the best of six runners who gained yards on the afternoon, with 12 carries for 90 yards. Mason Lamacchia led the receiving corps with 4 catches for 48 yards, and 1 TD.
The defensive line is the offensive line, and vice versa. In other words, Peter Pavlidis, Joe Connors, Billy Werra, Flavio Valenzuela, Joel Montoya and Darvin Montero are stout on both sides of the ball, and if they can stay healthy they give the Raiders a chance to win every week — that simple. Of course, the competition gets harder starting next Friday versus Stoneham, but Coach Carroll has to feel good about his team so far. They look more in-sync, more mature, more disciplined, more dynamic. And, they enter the league schedule relatively healthy, or at least that seems to be the case as this goes to print. So, let the games begin.
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1 2 3 4 – F
Brookline 0 0 0 7 – 7
Watertown 0 21 14 0 – 35
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1st Q
NO SCORING
2nd Q
Watertown 7 Brookline 0 ... CKM 4 yard TD RUN, Gjgerji PAT KICK Good … 10:53
Watertown 14 Brookline 0 … Pineda 12 yard TD RUN, Gjgerji PAT KICK Good … 5:12
Watertown 21 Brookline 0 … CKM to Pineda, 33 TD PASS, Gjgerji PAT KICK Good … 0:00
3rd Q
Watertown 28 Brookline 0 … CKM to M.Lamacchia, 15 yard TD PASS, Gjgerji PAT KICK Good … 5:21
Watertown 35 Brookline 0 … Garey, 62 yard Interception Return For TD , Gjgerji PAT KICK Good … 3:44
4th Q
Watertown 35 Brookline 7 … 54 yard Fumble Recovery Return For TD, PAT KICK Good … 4:53
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Running Stats
Pineda … 6/43, 1 TD
Montero … 1/3
Riefstahl … 2/10
CKM … 8/48, 1 TD
C.Lamacchia … 1/2
Velasquez … 12/90
Receiving Stats
Garey … 2/32
Bailey … 1/22
Pineda … 3/36, 1 TD
M.Lamacchia … 4/48, 1 TD
Passing Stats
CKM … 10/11, 138, 2 TDs
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Upcoming Schedule
Home vs. Stoneham, Friday Oct. 2, 7 p.m. ( First Responders Night and Breast Cancer Awareness Night)
Home vs. Wakefield, Friday Oct. 9, 7 p.m. (Homecoming Night And Educators Appreciation Night)
Home vs. Melrose, Friday Oct. 16, 7 p.m. (Senior Night)