The Hopkinton Hillers took the Newton South Football Team for a whomping this past weekend at the season's opener in Newton.
This was certainly not how football coach Ted Dalicandro envisioned his team’s season opener against Hopkinton.
The Lions allowed the Hillers to score on their first four possessions while amassing a formidable 308 offensive first-half yards. That led to a 34-0 thumping Saturday afternoon.
“Not exactly the way we want to open up the season, but you know, it is what it is,” said Dalicandro. “And we have to take this, and learn from it, and move on. We have to forget about it. We can’t take that with us. We have ten games left. We’re going to move on and get to practice.”
For Hillers coach Jim Girard, the game boiled down to having the right offensive personnel.
“The kids did pretty well,” he said. “We knew we had some pretty good offensive skills guys coming back this season. They were on display early. We just gave up some different formations, gave some different looks. Our kids just made some good plays.”
Newton South woes began from the opening drive as Hopkinton marched 79 yards down the field in five quick plays. The Hillers finished on a Mike Decina 37-yard strike to Alex Hulme. Barrett Hanlon added the extra point giving Hopkinton the 7-0 advantage.
“Coming down in five plays, that just can’t happen,” said Dalicandro. “We had the guys in position, we just didn’t make plays. That was the big thing.”
Decina displayed his skills the next drive completing seven consecutive passes. The last one was a 23-yard throw that Hanlon jumped over two Lions defenders to grab and bring down in the end zone.
“He’s worked hard. He’s really starting to understand the offense,” Girard said about his third-year starting quarterback.
But his day was not complete as Decina added a rushing score before tossing another touchdown strike en route to his team’s dominating victory.