It’s high tide for fall sports action at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School as the teams push past the midway point in the season and jockey for playoff position.
On the track and field team, junior Paul Steyer has taken gold in three of the four dual meets the Vineyarders have run so far. Against Dennis-Yarmouth last Tuesday on the Cape, Steyer, Broden Vincent and Luis Costa finished 1-2-3 with times of 16:57, 17:59 and 18:40.
Against Nauset at home, Steyer clocked in at 17:25, with teammates Vincent and Rodeo Purves-Langer behind him at 18:02 and 18:07. On the road against Dartmouth, Steyer led the way finishing at 17:15, and in the girls race Emma Squire won for the Vineyard with a time of 21:53.
The only dual meet Steyer didn’t finish first in came against Falmouth on the Cape when he finished second with a time of 16:21, just 11 seconds behind Silas Gartner of Falmouth.
This weekend, the cross country team will compete in one of the most anticipated meets of the season: the Bob Glennon Twilight Invitational at the Cape Cod Fairgrounds in East Falmouth. Runners from all over the Commonwealth will trek through an illuminated course and barrel through Barnes in pursuit of a top-three finish.
The girls soccer team had won five in a row leading up to last week and outscored their opponents 26-3 in the process. Among those five wins, three were on the road, one of which was against Nantucket, and three others were shutouts by keeper Delilah Oliver against Dennis-Yarmouth, Sturgis West and Barnstable.
However, last Thursday, the girls faced a tough Nauset team and played them very close despite falling to the Warriors 3-0.
“The game score doesn’t reflect the competitiveness of the game,” Coach Matt Malowski said.
The Vineyarders hit the post three times on shot attempts and Nauset’s goalie made some critical saves to keep the momentum from swinging in Purple’s favor. The girls will get another crack at the Warriors on Oct. 15 on the road.
For now, on Wednesday, they play Falmouth on the road and are back home Friday at 6 p.m. to play Barnstable under the lights.
The boys soccer team will also take on Falmouth on Wednesday but they will play at home at 3 p.m. They are in a tough spot this year with only one win so far. However, their record doesn’t tell the whole story as they have been on the losing end of four one-score contests. The last two losses were particularly tough against Nauset and Nantucket, both on the road.
On Tuesday, Oct. 15, the boys have a chance at redemption at home when the Warriors come to the Island for a 3 p.m. tilt. They also close out the season with a chance to even the score and defend their golden anchor against the Whalers on Oct. 26.
The golf and field hockey teams have also had a tough go of it so far this year. Golf has two wins, both against Dennis-Yarmouth, and field hockey has three wins coming against Brockton twice and on the road against Wareham. Golf has four more matches this season while field hockey has six. The next home game for the field hockey team comes on Friday against Saint John Paul II at 3 p.m.
Finally, the football team sits at 3-2 after defeating Lunenburg 34-23 on the road and falling to Carver 41-14 at home last Friday.
After the haul up to central Massachusetts to take on the Blue Knights, Jordan Souza found the end zone three times while Matt MacMillan and Simon Arbelaez also notched touchdowns in the win.
Coming home last Friday, the boys faced a measuring-stick game against undefeated Carver and the final score came out more lopsided than how everything played out. At halftime, the Vineyarders were only down six points following a long catch and run from quarterback Wyatt Nicholson to MacMillan for a touchdown and Victor DeSouza plowing his way into the end zone for another.
Unfortunately, turnovers are proving to be the Vineyarders’ bugaboo as they piled up in the second half and led to 21 unanswered points.
Earlier this season, against Falmouth on the Cape, the Vineyard turned the ball over eight times in a wet and wild game they were favored to win but lost handedly.
The boys need to clean it up in a major way if they hope to right the ship against Mashpee on the road Thursday. The Hawks are one of the best teams on the Cape this year and just took down previously undefeated Randolph in their last game for their third straight win.
If the Vineyarders can stifle their opponents’ ground game, play mistake-free football on offense and come home with a win that would be a huge statement leading up to the home stretch of the season.
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