Football Sachems Trounce Chelsea, 40-6, in Home Opener

By Dom Nicastro

Cam Preston threw four touchdown passes to three different players, and Tommy DeSimone, Danny Shea and Isaiah Rodriguez each had two touchdowns in Saugus’ 40-6 opening-night victory over Chelsea at home Friday, Sept. 8. Any more good news? The defense was stifling, the home crowd was intense and Saugus won its opener for the first time since a 41-20 win over Bishop Fenwick in 2010.

Oh, and the offensive line – left tackle Ethan Malcolm, left guard Larry Barrows, center Braden Faiella, right guard Dwayne Williams and right tackle Koby Jette – was tremendous.

“The biggest thing for us was we were able to get guys like Tommy DeSimone, Danny Shea and Isaiah Rodriguez the space to do stuff,” Saugus coach Steve Cummings said. “We were able to execute early, build a lot of momentum and just kind of keep it going through pretty much midway through the third quarter when we started getting some guys out.”

Saugus’ defense was super tough, forcing multiple three-and-outs and giving the Sachems’ offense great field position. Preston at QB was able to take advantage. He took what the defense was giving him all night and ended the night with a super-efficient 11-for-12.

“I mean, you can’t really ask for more efficiency than that,” Cummings said. “He’s making great reads and just putting the ball on people. The biggest thing for us is we have some guys that can make people miss. If we’re able to get our guys the ball and give them some room to go, it’s going to be really, really good for us on offense.”

Saugus did a solid job all night. It spread the ball around. It finished plays. It had tremendous downfield blocking.

“It’s kind of like everybody’s helping each other out,” Cummings said. “Whenever we can play like that, we could be dangerous. I told the guys this is a collection of what we can do, and I think they’re starting to believe it. They know that we can be that good. We’ve got another big test coming up this Friday, and it’s going be nice if we can repeat the performance.”

Saugus hosts Northeast Metro Tech on Friday, Sept. 15, at 6:30 p.m. Northeast is coming off a 62-35 thrashing of Lowell Catholic. And it put up a lot of gaudy offensive numbers.

“They played Saturday morning against Lowell Catholic, and they ran for over 500 yards,” Cummings said. “Chris Zullo, their senior tailback, ran for 320 yards on the ground. So, we know what they want to do. They just kind of smash the ball down the field, and defensively, we’re going to have to be ready for that. We’re going to have to put them behind the sticks at some point because that’s the kind of offense where they just want to get four yards and four yards and just weigh you down. Northeast Voke has a lot of Saugus kids on their team. So, there’s a lot of familiarity there. So, it’s a great matchup for us. We’re both Division 5 teams and have pretty good week one wins. So, we’re expecting a battle.”

Box Score: Saugus 40, Chelsea 6

1st Quarter

S – Tommy DeSimone TD run (Connor Bloom PAT); 7-0

S – Danny Shea TD reception from Cam Preston (Bloom kick); 14-0

S – Cody Munafo TD reception from Preston (Bloom kick); 21-0

2nd Quarter

S – Isaiah Rodriguez TD reception from Preston (kick failed); 27-0

S – Danny Shea TD reception from Preston (kick failed); 33-0

3rd Quarter

S – Isaiah Rodriguez TD run (Bloom Kick); 40-0

4th Quarter

C – Alex Pinto TD run; 40-6