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The Winchester High Red & Black football team (7-2, sixth seed in Division 2) is moving on to the Elite 8 after beating Peabody (4-5, 12th seed) at Knowlton Stadium last Friday night, Nov. 8, in a high scoring affair, 35-27.
They have since been preparing to take on host Marshfield (8-1), the third seed, on Friday night, Nov. 15, starting at 7 p.m. The Rams defeated Concord-Carlisle (5-4, 14th seed) in their Round of 16 game, 43-7 on Nov. 8.
“This was a very nice effort on the offensive side of the ball,” said coach Wally Dembowski after the Peabody game. “Quarterback Ronan O’Connell and running back Gianni DePrimeo, in particular, made some key plays, and the offensive line did a nice job of stunting the Peabody size advantage.”
But the coach added, “The defense could be a little sharper at times to limit the opposition’s scoring opportunities, and we also have to clean up our kickoff coverage.”
DePrimeo was Winchester’s hero of the game, when he scored what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown on an 86-yard kickoff return at the six-minute mark of the fourth quarter. His electrifying run followed a touchdown by the Tanners that gave them the lead for the first time in the game.
At the time, the home team led by one, 28-27.
The Tanners still had more than enough time to regain the advantage, but Joe Guida prevented it with an interception. His theft led to DePrimeo also providing the insurance clincher on a 19-yard run to the endzone. Sophomore Will Bolognese then successfully booted his fifth extra point of the game to help seal the deal for his teammates.
The win was doubly satisfying for the Red & Black after the Tanners defeated them in Week 2, 27-20. They were able to avenge that loss, while also remaining alive in the playoffs.
DePrimeo was effective running the ball all game long. He ended up with 155 yards on 24 carries to go along with his two touchdowns. O’Connell netted 65 yards on the ground, including a 36-yard first quarter touchdown run that ignited the scoring spree for both teams.
After Peabody tied the game at seven, O’Connell then went to the air, where he found Ryan Martin for a 21-yard touchdown pass. The Tanners immediately countered with a touchdown of their own, but a missed extra point kept the home team in front, 14-13.
O’Connell wasted little time to widen the gap once again with a short five-yard jaunt to paydirt to successfully complete the long drive just before halftime. The Winchester boys now led at the break, 21-13.
Peabody scored right away in the third quarter to tie up the proceedings at 21. The Red & Black was shutout in that period, but they managed to roar back in a big way during the final frame on the strength of DePrimeo’s two clutch aforementioned scores.
Besides the running exploits of DePrimeo and O’Connell, Nicky Rotondi carried the rock three times for 24 yards. O’Connell also completed seven passes for 62 yards. Martin had two catches for 19 yards, as did Ted Budreski, who collected 10 yards. Rotondi hauled another one in for 20 yards. DePrimeau was on the receiving end of one for 13 yards.
But the Peabody game is now behind them, and now its onto Marshfield.
“We still have to play clean football in all three areas of the game at a higher level to handle the speed in which Marshfield operates,” said Dembowski. “We must not lose sight of our keys, and also tackle and communicate on defense. We need to limit big plays and force a couple of turnovers to give the offense good field position, and our offense needs to control the tempo, run the ball effectively and keep fighting in the trenches (to beat Marshfield on Friday night).”
According to Dembowski, Marshfield runs an up-tempo offense with lots of motions and shifts to get better leverage.
“(Marshfield’s) schemes make defensive players lose focus on their keys,” added the veteran coach. “Their defense hasn’t allowed many big plays this year, while also creating a lot of takeaways during its eight-game winning streak. It's definitely going to be a street fight for 48 minutes.”
Dembowski remembers his team being in this same position last year against host King Philip (31-3 Elite 8 loss), where they let things slip away emotionally early on.
But now, he admits, his players are a little bit more mature to understand that one or two plays in a game don’t determine the overall outcome.
