Melrose late comeback takes down Stoneham

MELROSE — It took a great effort on both sides of the ball, but Melrose came away with a strong home win Friday night.

No. 10 Melrose scored twice in the final 4:04 to take down Middlesex Freedom opponent Stoneham, 28-21, at Fred Green Memorial Field.

“I’m just so happy for the kids,” Melrose coach Tim Morris said. “They just kept fighting. It’s what we always talk about. Play four quarters and you will win the game.”

Senior captain Chris Cusolito scored with just 53 seconds left to give Melrose (4-0) the 26-21 advantage. The Red Raiders went for two and a deflected pass landed in the hands of junior Frank Capaldo to make it 28-21.

Stoneham (2-2) got the ball back and the Melrose defense came away with a Charles Haggerty interception to seal the victory.

The defense also came up big the previous drive for the Spartans. They pinned Stoneham on its 6-yard line following a Brendan Maher touchdown grab from Brendan Fennell made it a 21-20 deficit for the Red Raiders after a blocked PAT.

Stoneham ran just six plays before being forced to punt, giving Melrose back the ball at the Spartans 48. Melrose took no time and marched down the field on four plays, including a huge completion from Fennell to Maher followed by a penalty flag for unnecessary roughness to setup the second Cusolito score.

“That last drive when they were (pinned deep) and then getting the ball back with enough time to do something was good,” Morris said about his team’s ability to get stops late.

Fennell had three huge completions on the Maher TD drive, including two on fourth down, to get Melrose the momentum back. This all coming after Stoneham held the ball for about 10 minutes to go up 21-14 on the second TD run for senior captain Deshawn Chase.

“(Fennell) is continuing to develop as a quarterback,” Morris said. “When it was tight sneakers time, he did a great job.”

In the first half, Stoneham got its first lead with a 1-yard scamper for Chase. A roughing-the-kicker penalty on Melrose gave the Spartans a chance to convert a two-point rush by sophomore Jake Bruno to make it 15-14 edge for Stoneham at the half.

Melrose got on the board first as it ran the ball eight times on nine plays, and Cusolito drove it in for a touchdown from six yards out for a 7-0 lead. Stoneham responded with a 10-play drive, including two runs of 15-plus yards for Chase to set up a 1-yard rushing score for QB Victor Fernandes to knot the score 7-7.

Chase and Fernandez combined for 136 yards on the ground in the first half with 93 of those coming for Chase. Chase finished with 137 yards on 27 carries and two scores.

Melrose got a big play on its next play from scrimmage. Senior captain Sean Herbert recovered teammate’s Will Pesce fumble and ran to the house for a 52-yard score to give the Red Raiders back the lead 14-7 with seconds left in the first.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2InyRnR