Sports

Young Marauders Football Show Sparks of Future Success in Season Start

Next week, Bedford comes to town at 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 20.

It's one of the most cliche of all sports cliches: "The final score didn't indicate really how well the team actually played."

Being honest, this year's edition of the Stoneham Spartan football is quite good with standout running back Darius McPherson and large offensive and defensive lines leading the way and had a distinct advantage over host Belmont in the season opener for both teams.

So when last night's game ended last night, Thursday, Sept. 12, the Spartans walked off the field with a well-earned 28-0 victory, as McPherson rushed for two TDs along with 147 yards gained on the ground.

Yet, most of the fans and Marauders Head Coach Kevin Gildea saw a glimmer of future success in the way his very young (18 sophomores and a freshman, more than half the team) and outgunned team performed.

"We had three nice drives but we couldn't finish them, but that's what you get being so young especially up front," said Gildea. "We really have to complete harder up front to be competitive because there are more teams like (Stoneham) than not like them."

The Marauders drove the ball smartly in each of the first three quarters as freshman starting quarterback Cal Christofori demonstrated a great amount of poise in the pocket, especially as a ninth grader, (he has only been a high school student for less than three weeks) pitching it on a line to his receivers, having his most success with junior Tight End Chris Kelly.

But Christofori was hurt by the case of the "drops" by several receivers at critical times on each of the drives.

"Not many teams, especially in this league, would start a freshman but Cal showed a great deal of composure so despite some mishaps, I was very proud of his play. He has a long career here and he's going to do OK," said 

Belmont did show that once they completed a few passes, the running game appeared. Continuing to show a great deal of raw talent he first displayed in last year's Thanksgiving Day match-up with Watertown, junior running back Max Jones ripped off a pair of 10 yard plus gains including scamper down the left sidelines for 30 plus yards while junior QB/RB Joel Niles was able to use his quickness to cut through the Stoneham line in the wildcat formation. 

"JD (Niles) and Max did well when given the opportunity," said Gildea. 

Defensively, the line was able to get into the backfield a few times with Linebacker Barrett Lyons delivering a monster-like sack on Spartan's QB Matt Lowe to stall a Stoneham drive late in the second quarter.

"We put out some different (defensive) sets that helped us and we improved as the game continued," said Gildea. 

"We're getting there," he said.

Next up for the Marauders will be Bedford next Friday, Sept. 20 at Harris Field.


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