The Vineyarders wrapped up their fourth football season last Saturday and marked it, in proud red letters, “undefeated.” Traveling to Nantucket, the Vineyard team upset the Whalers for the second time, with a score of 8-0, and brought home the finest football record the school has yet achieved.

 

Nantucket put up a hard fight all the way, as shown by the much narrowed gap from the October game, which was won 36-0 by the Vineyard. The score was made in the first quarter after a long punt by Martha’s Vineyard halfback Manny Nunes. Whaler fullback Larry Lema took the ball on his own three-yard line, but fumbled as he met the Vineyard forward line. The ball rolled to the five, where it was topped by a general jam-pile. Vineyard tackle Lennie DonAroma was uncovered on the bottom with the ball in his arms. Nunes rushed the ball to the two, where fullback Tom Bennett broke through the center for the touchdown. Back Bill Bassett rushed for the extra points, completing the score for the game.

 

 

The kickoff at the start of the second period went out of bounds on the Nantucket 33 and from there Whaler backs Glidden, Cassano and Lema pushed the ball to the Vineyard 40. Nantucket’s travels ended there as Vineyarder Bob Tankard intercepted a pass on the 32. A series of long runs by Bennett and Nunes carried the ball back to the Nantucket 28, but here the Nantucket defense stiffened and the ball was lost on downs.

 

In the third period a faulty Nantucket kickoff was stopped on the 50 yard line by Vineyard guard Fran Metell. From there the Vineyarders pushed as far as Nantucket’s 13, but the ball was again lost on downs. Bob Tankard intercepted a long Whaler pass by Cato on the Nantucket 35 and ran to the 23 before he was forced out of bounds. Cato was injured in the play and taken to the hospital for treatment of a broken jaw. In the final minutes of the game a series of runs by Tankard, Bennett and Jackson brought the ball to the brink of the goal line. The whistle blew, ending the game rather dramatically on the one yard line.

 

The glowing victory was faintly tinged with sadness for the 12 seniors who played their last football game for the regional high school last Saturday. These boys have watched, and been a part of, a team that has struggled and grown over the past four years to reach the peak of this year’s season. Of six games played, the Vineyarders’ string of victories was interrupted only by a 0-0 tie with Apponoquet. Additionally, in all six games there was only one touchdown scored against the team; that in the second match against Provincetown. This record is a long haul from the first two years of Vineyard football when only one out of eight games was won.

 

The senior players are: Tom Bennett, John Bunker, Tony daRosa, Tony DeBettencourt, Ashley DePriest, Don DePriest, Lennie DonAroma, Ralston Jackson, Francis Metell, Richard O’Neil, Eddie Smith and Bob Tankard. These boys leave behind a memo that the school will be proud of for years to come and with it, a tremendous challenge to next year’s team.