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It can only get better from here.
The Medford High football team endured a tough opening night loss to Malden Catholic 34-0, at Hormel Stadium on Thursday.
Lancer quarterback Johnathan Bloise was a one-man wrecking crew. The Beverly native and MC signal-caller ran for a pair of touchdowns, while throwing a third in an explosive first half, giving Malden Catholic a comfortable 22-0 cushion at halftime.
They continued to stymie Medford with suffocating special teams play in the second half, while backed by a strong defensive scheme, enroute to the shutout.
According to Mustang coach John Curley, the loss wasn’t due to a lack of effort.
“The whole team battled,” said Curley. “It’s the first game of the season. Kids were battling at camp every day. I don’t think the effort wasn’t there. I just think sometimes you’ve got to go 110% against better teams. If you go 85% the outcome is not going to go our way.”
David Menon didn’t feel like a stranger, Thursday night. The North Medford resident and Malden Catholic senior was one of four locals that enjoyed a happy homecoming.
“It feels great,” said Menon, 17. “I love being part of this team. We just want to keep on going this season.”
A 6-foot-3, 275-pound left tackle, Menon loomed large and was a key cog in keeping the Mustangs off the scoreboard. Posting the shutout against his neighbors was just the icing on the cake.
The lone upperclassmen of the group, Menon is joined by sophomores Jariel Guzman, Thomas Wyman and Santiago Gomez, giving the MC linebacker crew plenty of Medford flavor.
“I really love our O-line,” said Menon. “Defensively I think it’s about getting them off the ball. We have great guys that edge, great guys at tackle. It’s all about just getting through that line.”
Bloise was in perpetual motion. The MC QB rolled 21-yards for the touchdown on their second series. He also pulled a nifty fake, going from holder to pigskin passer on the ensuing two-point conversion play, establishing the 8-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.
The Malden Catholic quarterback aired things out early in the second quarter, connecting with Andrew Noble on a 10-yard TD reception. Junior kicker Lorenzo Froio added the extra point, giving MC the 12-0 edge. Bloise capped his electric first half rumbling on a nine-yard strike with 5:56 remaining in the half. Froio’s PAT gave MC the 22-0 lead at halftime.
Special teams play took center stage for the Lancers in the second half. Freshman Hunter Ford was flying on a kickoff return rumbling 75-yards to paydirt just 15 seconds into the half. Froio booted a 30-yard field goal increasing the Lancer lead to 32-0. The Malden Catholic defense went in for the kill in the waning moments of the third quarter scoring a safety to seal the 34-0 victory.
Despite the setback, Curley and his squad have plenty that they can build off of.
“It stinks that we didn’t score, but we had a few stops on defense,” said Curley. “We were driving the ball here and there, making a few first downs.”
The coach noted the heady play of sophomore center Kaleb Jackson, the nonstop hustle of senior running back Darian Lindor, and speed of sophomore Lushadeson Thermidor, as big building blocks to work with.
“We have a lot of stuff to build on,” said Curley. “I’m very happy with this team. I think we’ll always go back to this film just to build on it and see what we can do to get better.”
Medford freshman quarterback Anthony Corrado got a crash course in varsity football101. The rookie QB threw a pair of picks in the first half of Thursday’s contest but hung tough when things began to unravel.
“It’s a challenge having anyone play quarterback,” said Curley. “It’s a very hard position, but kudos to Tony. It shows his pride and his character. It also shows how much these kids have bought in. They didn’t have any complaints that a freshman quarterback was playing. We’re starting seven sophomores. We know we’re young, but we don’t care. We’re just going to play football. We’re going to have our growing pains, but when we play Medford football it’s going to be very exciting for us. I thought it was here (Thursday). We just have to get over that hump and figure it out.”
