Published in the December 3, 2019 edition.
By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI
MALDEN — The Bishop Fenwick football team did not get caught looking ahead to this Saturday’s Division 6 Super Bowl game against Ashland on Thanksgiving Eve as they hammered host Malden Catholic 46-18 at Brother Gilbert Stadium on a wet morning.
With that victory, the Crusaders, who feature seven players from Wakefield, improved to 10-1 while the Lancers ended up at 2-9.
The Crusaders took control early as they led 20-0 after the opening quarter.
“We handled it the right way,” said Crusaders head coach Dave Woods who lives in Wakefield. “We were able to get everybody into the game in the second half.”
Quarterback Chrys Wilson (4 for 7 passing for 140 yards and two touchdowns), scored the first two touchdown as he score on a 11-yard run and then, a 31-yard run. David Cifuentes missed the first kick by made the second one that made it 13-0.
Wilson then connected with Stefano Fabiano (Wakefield) on a 64-yard touchdown pass to make it 20-0 after the PAT.
In the second quarter, Wilson scored his third running touchdown, this time, from 18-yards to make it 26-0.
“He was unbelievable,” stated Woods, about Wilson, a Wakefield resident. “He not only had the three touchdown runs and two touchdown passes, he also had an interception and a sack.”
The Lancers got on the scoreboard on their next possession as Zeke Bragg scored on a 44-yard run but the two-point conversion attempt was no good.
On the ensuing kickoff, Cifuentes, who won the Sal Tripolio Award given to the Crusaders MVP of the game, returned it 89-yards for the touchdown to make it 32-6 heading into halftime.
On their first possession of the second half, Wilson hit Angel Martinez with a 51-yard touchdown pass and the kick made it 39-6.
Against the Crusader backups, the Lancers then scored twice. Sean Kelley had an 11-yard touchdown run and then he caught a 58-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Nikolas Paganis to make it 39-18 as both two-point conversions failed.
Tucker Destino capped off the scoring for Bishop Fenwick with an 8-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.
Bishop Fenwick’s defense dominated with the starters in allowing only 67 yards in the first half while the offense had 240. They also did not turn over the ball while Wilson, who also plays linebacker, was able to pick off one Lancer pass.
The Crusaders will now take on Ashland this Saturday at Gillette Stadium at 11 a.m. for the Div. 6 Super Bowl title. The Clockers enter the game at 10-1, their only loss coming on Thanksgiving as they fell to Hopkinton 26-7 but the Clockers benched their starters after the first quarter when they were up 7-0.
“They are a very talented team,” said Woods, who has seen them a couple of times. “They run the spread and have four really good receivers. Most of their players play both ways and they have a very athletic defense as well.”
Along with Wilson and Fabiano, the five other Crusaders from Wakefield are Quintin Bullard (sophomore- wide receiver and defensive back), Steven Woods (sophomore- quarterback and linebacker), Joe Rivers (senior- running back and linebacker), Andrew Wilson (junior- offensive lineman and linebacker) and Matt Juneau (junior- offensive and defensive lineman).
