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The high school football playoffs are only a couple of weeks away, and the Winchester Red & Black (6-0) are among one of the favorites to sweep November that’d propel them to the Division 2 Super Bowl game at Gillette Stadium in December.
To that end, the Winchester boys remained undefeated after six games following a 35-21 win against host Arlington (3-3, 21st seed in Division 1) last Friday night (Oct. 17). It was also probably their most competitive game of the year. Going into it, they had outscored the opposition, 224-57, and have been truly dominating.
According to the Oct. 21 state power rankings, Winchester is listed second only to Catholic Memorial in Division 2, which lost its first game of the year last Friday night to Division 1 powerhouse Xaverian, 25-22.
With so much success to date, Coach Wally Dembowski’s crew has been the talk of the state’s high school football enthusiasts in recent days. Some have even brought up the historical 1990 season, which was the last time the program had won the Middlesex League title, as well as participate in the Super Bowl. On that occasion, they defeated Walpole, 23-16 to secure the Division 2 crown.
But with the veteran coaching experience of Dembowski, he knows how to keep his club grounded to avoid getting too far ahead of itself.
“As far as a possible league title and the upcoming playoffs are concerned, we have (only) discussed our daily focus on what needs to be done now to prepare for each game,” said Dembowski. “Many alumni have already reached out to express their feelings, and we shared them as a coaching staff with the team. We still have ways to go before we can think about any of those (possibilities). (Thursday night’s) Lexington game and stopping (its) running attack is our main focus right now.”
In the game against the Spy Ponders, Winchester actually trailed the home team at halftime, 21-20. But a concerted effort on defense in the second half, shut them down, while the offense scored one touchdown apiece in the third and fourth quarters to stay perfect on the season.
It was the defense that registered the first touchdown of the game on a Will Bolognese 35-yard interception return. He then successfully nailed his first of four extra points.
Senior quarterback Ronan O’Connell then scampered 30 yards to account for the first of two Winchester touchdowns in the second quarter. Arlington then scored the next two touchdowns to take the lead. But senior captain Gianni DePrimeo regained the advantage on a 16-yard run to the endzone, only to see the Spy Ponders take it right back by one point.
Ted Budreski finished off a scoring drive in the third quarter with a 16-yard TD run to put the visitors back on top, this time for good. O’Connell then hooked up with DePrimeo on the two-point conversion try, and the senior quarterback also provided the cushion his teammates needed to win this game with a 14-yard jaunt to the promise land.
“I was pleased with how we handled being behind on the scoreboard at the half,” said Dembowski. “We were able to respond by shutting them out in the second half, while finding ways to win this big Middlesex League game on offense.”
DePrimeo was once again the team’s leading rusher with 158 yards on 20 carries, plus one touchdown. O’Connell called his own number four times for 66 yards and two touchdowns. Ryan Martin was on the receiving end of three passes for 25 yards. Will Nelson caught one for 31 yards. Budreski ran for 32 yards and a touchdown on just two carries.
Captain Bryan Harrison was the leader on defense against Arlington with nine solo tackles and three assisted stops. He also had one tackle for a loss.
Bolognese was credited with six solos, and two assisted tackles to go along with two thefts and the one touchdown. DePrimeo had two solos, one assisted tackle and another one that went for a loss. He too picked off two passes, and broke up another one.
Nicky Rotondi was involved in five solo tackles, while assisting on another five.
Dembowski singled out O’Connell specifically on offense for the way he controlled the game behind center, not to mention using his feet to boost the ground game. The coach also said that Harrison had another productive day on defense at middle linebacker, while also getting help from DePrimeo and Bolognese, who each came up with two interceptions.
It’s Thursday Night Football (Oct. 23) in Lexington this week, starting at 6 p.m. The Minutemen (2-4, 31st seed in Division 1) employ a Double Wing / Wing T offense that also utilizes misdirection and play action passes to keep opposing defenses off balance. On defense, they run with the traditional four down linemen, while also hoping to create some mismatches.
Dembowski naturally prefers playing on Friday nights or Saturday afternoons, but it is what it is.
“Playing on Thursday gives us one less day of preparation, so it’s important to focus on the most impactful situations based on downs, distance, clock and score,” he said.
Even though, Winchester also plays another Thursday night game next week on Oct. 30 at Knowlton against Belmont, it won’t create much of a problem, because the team will be more on schedule with the proper amount days of practice, according to Dembowski.
After Belmont, it’s time for November to begin and the Super Bowl playoffs to get underway.
Joe McConnell is a longtime, award-winning sports editor for numerous North Shore publications. He began covering Winchester sports for the News last November.
