You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
NOVEMBER 14, 2019<br />
WEEKLYNEWS.NET - 978-532-5880 9<br />
Sports<br />
Wilson leads the way for Fenwick<br />
By Daniel Kane<br />
PEABODY —The No. 3 Bishop Fenwick football<br />
team hasn’t just been winning in the Division 6 North<br />
state tournament — the Crusaders have been rolling<br />
over opponents.<br />
Through two postseason games, the Crusaders<br />
have outscored opposing teams 82-6 on their way to<br />
the North final, where they will host No. 4 Stoneham<br />
Friday night for a chance to play in the Division 6 state<br />
championship game at Gillette Stadium.<br />
The remarkable run has been a true team effort and<br />
right in the center of it, on both sides of the ball, has<br />
been quarterback/linebacker Chrys Wilson.<br />
Wilson and the Crusaders’ offense have looked like<br />
a well-oiled machine in their first two state tournament<br />
games. Wilson has thrown six touchdowns and rushed<br />
for two more scores so far this postseason. With things<br />
clicking smoothly, the junior signal caller can’t help but<br />
be confident.<br />
“It’s extremely fun,” Wilson said. “I don’t want<br />
to sound too confident, but I don’t think there is any<br />
team in the tournament that can cover all four of our<br />
receivers at the same time. So it’s really fun to go into<br />
every game throwing to whatever four guys we put out<br />
there. We have five or six weapons to put out there. I<br />
can throw to any one of them and they can all make<br />
plays out there on the field.”<br />
Fenwick’s talented roster always seems to be on the<br />
same page and Wilson says it’s the result of years of<br />
reps together on the field.<br />
“We’ve all been playing together since freshman<br />
year on varsity,” Wilson said. “So at this point it’s just<br />
all coming together. This is the final product we always<br />
wanted and have been working for.”<br />
That final product has become a nightmare for opposing<br />
defenses to stop. Wilson and Crusaders head<br />
coach Dave Woods constantly bounce ideas off each<br />
other in attempting to move the chains.<br />
“Chrys comes to me on the sidelines and tells me<br />
half the plays we should run,” Woods said. “He’s a true<br />
student of the game. He understands defensive coverages<br />
well, so it’s awesome to have him. Me and him<br />
being on the same page and looking and seeing the<br />
same things is great.”<br />
And Wilson’s impact doesn’t stop on the offensive<br />
side of the football. The Wakefield native also starts<br />
at linebacker for a defense that has allowed just one<br />
scoring drive this postseason. Wilson forced one of<br />
Fenwick’s five turnovers in the 48-6 win at Greater<br />
Chrys Wilson has been all-everything for Bishop Fenwick this season.<br />
Lowell last Friday with a first-half interception.<br />
The Crusaders’ suffocating defense goes into every<br />
week with the same goal.<br />
“We come together as a team,” Wilson said. “We<br />
all want the same goal. We’re all on the same page.<br />
We want to put up a goose egg every game. Before the<br />
game we all come together and set that goal and then<br />
we’ve just been executing that on the field.”<br />
This week, Fenwick’s goal remains the same against<br />
a Stoneham team that ended the Crusaders’ postseason<br />
in the semifinal last year. Fenwick got some revenge<br />
Crusade to the Super Bowl continues<br />
FILE PHOTO<br />
this season in their home opener, beating the Spartans<br />
35-14 . But a chance to match up with Stoneham again<br />
in the postseason has Wilson and the Crusaders excited.<br />
“We love facing Stoneham,” Wilson said. “It’s more<br />
of a new-age rivalry. Last year they knocked us out.<br />
This year we blew them out in the home opener. Now<br />
here it is in the playoffs again, in the North final to go<br />
to Gillette Stadium.”<br />
Kickoff for Friday’s game at Steven E. Donaldson<br />
Stadium is scheduled for 7 p.m.<br />
By Daniel Kane<br />
TYNGSBORO — The No. 3 Bishop<br />
Fenwick football team is still rolling<br />
deep into the postseason.<br />
The Crusaders put together another<br />
excellent all-around game and punched<br />
their ticket to the Division 6 North final<br />
with a 48-6 win over No. 2 Greater<br />
Lowell at Harold O. Bell Jr. Field last<br />
Friday.<br />
Fenwick’s defense set the tone with<br />
three first-half interceptions from<br />
Andrew Wilson, Stefano Fabiano and<br />
Chrys Wilson and the offense fed off that<br />
momentum.<br />
“It’s a huge boost,” Fenwick coach<br />
Dave Woods said. “When you get a turnover<br />
or one of the punt returns or kick returns.<br />
When the defense or special teams<br />
gives the offense a short field it makes it<br />
pretty easy.”<br />
The Crusaders had trouble running<br />
the ball, but Wilson (8-of-12, 191 yards,<br />
four passing touchdowns, one rushing<br />
touchdown) had a big night through the<br />
air.<br />
“You have to give Greater Lowell a<br />
ton of credit too,” Woods said. “I know<br />
the scores weren’t close, but we haven’t<br />
been able to run the ball against them<br />
two years in a row. That’s why we had<br />
to throw the ball so much because we<br />
couldn’t run. It’s hard to take away both<br />
but they definitely took away the run<br />
from us.”<br />
A 35-yard punt return from Angel<br />
Martinez set the Crusaders up with<br />
a short field early in the first quarter.<br />
David Cifuentes ran in a 1-yard touchdown<br />
and drilled the extra point to give<br />
Fenwick a 7-0 lead.<br />
On the Crusaders next drive, Wilson<br />
connected with Martinez on a 75-yard<br />
touchdown pass to get Fenwick out to<br />
a 14-0 lead just a few minutes into the<br />
game.<br />
The Gryphons responded with a<br />
touchdown drive of their own to cut the<br />
lead to 14-6 but it was all Fenwick from<br />
there.<br />
On their next four defensive drives,<br />
the Crusaders intercepted three passes<br />
and forced a three-and-out. Fenwick’s<br />
offense took full advantage.<br />
Wilson started things off with a 25-<br />
yard touchdown pass to Fabiano and<br />
later ran in a 12-yard touchdown to give<br />
the Crusaders a 28-6 lead.<br />
Next, Cifuentes scored on a 5-yard<br />
touchdown catch before Fabiano and<br />
Wilson connected again — this time on a<br />
29-yard score — to give Fenwick a 41-6<br />
lead before the half.<br />
Jason Romans capped the scoring in<br />
the second half with a 10-yard touchdown<br />
run and the defense forced a pair<br />
of fumbles to finish 48-6 win.<br />
Fenwick shifts its focus to the Division<br />
6 North final, where it’ll host a familiar<br />
foe in No. 4 Stoneham Friday (7). The<br />
Crusaders ended last year’s postseason<br />
with a loss at Stoneham in the semifinal<br />
and beat the Spartans 35-14 this year in<br />
their home opener.<br />
“The winner goes to Gillette Stadium,”<br />
Woods said. “I want to say, for the last<br />
year since they knocked us out, this has<br />
kind of been our focus. We figured to<br />
get there we were going to have to go<br />
through them again. Now it comes down<br />
to one game. Luckily we have it on our<br />
home field. Last year we were at their<br />
place, this year we’re at home. It’s all or<br />
nothing so let’s go, let’s play and let’s<br />
have fun.”
Change language