Wayland Football Falls to Lincoln Sudbury 19-0

On a rainy, windy night in Wayland, the Wayland Warriors fought hard after losing two quarterbacks to injury, but could not overcome costly turnovers and a strong Lincoln-Sudbury defense.

Wayland played hard despite losing junior quarterback Matt Goddard early in the first quarter to a broken collarbone. "Losing our quarterback really hurt us," Coach Scott Parseghian said. "Our defense was unbelievable, but we just couldn't overcome our mistakes on offense."

Both teams stopped each other on downs throughout the first half, and big plays were few and far between. Chris Giorgio had a 51-yard for Sudbury, and Robert Williams broke two 15-yard runs for Wayland.

With less than two minutes left in the half, lightning struck, literally and figuratively. Right after lightning filled the sky over the south end of the stadium, Lincoln-Sudbury recovered a fumble on a punt that touched a Wayland player. After Lincoln-Sudbury quarterback Matt Cahill completed a long pass to John Harris at the Wayland 13-yard line, officials suspended the game for 30 minutes due to thunder and lightning.

After the wait, Lincoln-Sudbury ran two plays culminating in a 10-yard run for a touchdown by Brian Carroll, and a 6-0 halftime lead. Lincoln-Sudbury’s Warriors had the first break in a game that would be a defined as a defensive struggle.

The second half started with more hard hitting from both defenses, as each team went three and out on their first offensive possessions. Lincoln-Sudbury wound up punting on their second possession, and Wayland’s Tyler Mordas returned the ball to the L-S 38-yard line for their best offensive opportunity of the night. On third down however, an interception by Lincoln-Sudbury’s Will Twyman stalled the drive. Lincoln-Sudbury was forced to punt again, but with 1:45 remaining in the third quarter, Brian Carroll picked off another Kamari Allen-Howard pass. This set up a 26-yard strike from Cahill to Harris for a Lincoln-Sudbury touchdown and 12-0 lead heading to the final quarter.

Wayland entered the fourth quarter with an excellent chance to get back in the game, but a third interception by Lincoln-Sudbury’s Ricky Antonellis all but sealed the victory. Chris Giorgio finished off the ensuing drive with a five-yard touchdown and a 19-0 lead with 3:18 remaining.

Wayland's defense played tough and physical all night long with strong performances from Kevin Kelley, David Smith and Dayleon McKenzie. "We are a young team that is going to get better," Parseghian said. "We competed with a very good team tonight, and hopefully we can build on that in our next game against Westford."