Saugus falls 29-6 to Cambridge in opener, looks to regroup for Wilmington

By Dom Nicastro

The Saugus High School football team opened its 2025 season last Friday night at Christie Serino Jr. Stadium with plenty of anticipation but couldn’t slow down Cambridge Rindge & Latin’s passing attack in a 29-6 defeat. Cambridge scored in every quarter, including three touchdown passes from its quarterback, and pulled away late after Saugus briefly closed the gap in the third. Saugus found itself trailing 14-0 at halftime after Cambridge connected on touchdown passes of 16 and 46 yards. The Sachems had opportunities to get off the field but couldn’t quite finish.

“You know, we made just a few too many mistakes, especially early on,” Saugus coach Steve Cummings said. “We couldn’t get off the field on third downs. Their quarterback did a really nice job of picking up; he scrambled for a couple of first downs, was able to make some good throws on late downs. And then we got on offense, we kind of just had a couple of breakdowns here and there. We just needed to be a little bit sharper. We needed to be a little bit more aggressive.”

The Cambridge quarterback, Dante Howard, proved to be the difference-maker. “He did a really nice job of moving the pocket, taking advantage of lanes, and he scrambles really well and put some pressure on the defense,” Cummings said. “That kid throws an accurate ball … he throws the ball on time, in rhythm, but he also keeps plays alive with his legs, and that was kind of the deciding factor.”

  Saugus came out strong after the break. Sophomore quarterback Eli Fialho capped a long drive with a 24-yard touchdown pass to receiver Pharoah Brandenburg, cutting the deficit to 14-6.

“We kind of regrouped at halftime,” Cummings said. “We knew we were getting the ball to start the half. We put together a nice drive, go down and score, and then we actually made back-to-back stops. So there were two opportunities for us, with the ball down a score, to be able to go down and tie it up.”

But mistakes resurfaced. “Unfortunately, we just made mistakes here and there,” Cummings said. “… just the kind of things that you can’t do in a close ballgame like that.”

Cambridge responded with another touchdown pass in the third quarter to regain control and added a rushing score in the fourth to finish the game.

  Saugus (0-1) will try to rebound Friday, Sept. 19, when it hosts Wilmington in another non-league contest. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m.

The matchup comes against a familiar program with a new look. “They got a whole new coaching staff this year,” Cummings said. “Coach [Joe] Cavanaugh took over there this year, so they’re running a whole new offense, a whole new defense. We just got a chance to watch them on film against Essex Tech. They had a great win week one. It was 28-6. They look sharp. They’re committed to running the ball.”

According to Cummings, Wilmington has shifted to a more physical style. “Last year (a 20-10 Saugus win) they were traditional spread. Now they’re more like gun wing-T where they got the tight end and the wing on one side, the twin receivers on the other, and they kind of hit you from all different angles,” he said. “Very different team in terms of game-play-wise [than] what they were last year. So it’s going to be interesting.”

Cummings knows his team will need to execute better in tight spots. “We just got to, in those clutch situations, we just have to find a way to tighten up a little bit,” he said.

  While it’s tempting to look around at scores across the Northeastern Conference, Cummings is keeping his eyes on his team’s development. Gloucester, an NEC foe, is off to a fine start at 2-0. Salem and Swampscott are 1-1, and Winthrop is 0-2.

“It’s hard to really put a lot of stock into some of these early games when you haven’t seen it,” he said. “Right now, it’s more about us. What is it that we need to do? What are some position battles we need to get ironed out? What are the things that we need to do to make sure that we’re playing well? And then we can kind of worry about everybody else.”