Football Sachems reeled in by Fishermen in 48-22 loss

  Entering last Thursday night’s game against the once-victorious Gloucester Fishermen at Christie Serino Jr. Stadium, the Saugus High School football team appeared to be in position to possibly earn its first regular-season win in over a year. Instead, the Sachems were reeled in almost immediately by the hard-charging visitors and ended up losing by a convincing 48-22 margin.

  Gloucester jumped out to a 14-0 lead early and scored twice late in the second quarter to enter halftime ahead 28-6. The Sachems had some chances to keep the game close but a pass interference call on the Fishermen that moved the deep inside Gloucester territory and a fumble recovery at midfield by Saugus’s Fynex Espinal didn’t lead to any points.

  The disappointment only increased when the Fishermen tallied two touchdowns in the final two minutes of the first half. The game was a close 14-6 affair at that point after Saugus’s Braden Faiella recovered a loose ball in the end zone on an errant punt snap by Gloucester.

  Gloucester scored the first late TD inside the two-minute mark, then regained possession with 30 seconds to go. They ended scoring again on a 23-yard pass from quarterback Cameron Widtfeldt to Caleb DeCoste. All four first-half scores ended up with successful extra-point kicks. The Sachems tried a two-point conversion that failed after Faiella’s TD recovery.

  Hopes of a comeback were rekindled early in quarter three when Saugus QB Cam Preston connected with Isaiah Rodriguez on a 69-yard scoring bomb. That was followed by a Preston pass to Josh Osawe for the two-point conversion and a 28-14 deficit.

  Unfortunately, the next 20 points were scored by the Fishermen, who pulled ahead 48-14 in the fourth quarter. Saugus put up a touchdown late when running back Tommy DeSimone rambled 35 yards to the Gloucester one-yard line. From there, he punched it in and then added a two-point run for the final count.

  The Sachems fell to 0-6 after the loss while Gloucester improved to 2-4. The schedule only appears to get more difficult moving forward for the Sachems, who travel to face 4-2 Rockland this Friday night.

  Head coach Steve Cummings continues to see his squad persist through the adversity. “Our guys, they play, they battle,” he told the press after the Gloucester loss. “There’s 32 of us in pads right now, and they give it to you.”