RallyNorth.net

DeAngelo, Pelham remain perfect

Saturday, November, 01 By Conor Clancy
Correspondent

PELHAM — At what price does a team take a win.

Friday night Pelham improved to 8-0, with a 24-6 win over Stevens (3-5). However the win may be bittersweet as its star player, running back Bruce Vieira, left the game with an apparent injury in the middle of the third quarter.

Although Pythons coach Tom Babaian would not specify to what exact Vieira injured or if he would miss any more games, he did say that he had “re hurt a nagging injury.” Vieira missed the Kearsage game two weeks ago apparently with the same injury.

When Vieira was in the game early on, he was clearly not himself as he was held to just 20 yards on eight carries and could been seen limping. Last season Vieira ran for 1,419 yards and 31 touchdowns and named as an Eagle-Tribune all star.

On the positive side for the Pythons was a stellar performance from quarterback Joseph DeAngelo. The junior passed for 117 yards on 6-14 passing and a touchdown pass.

With the Pelham offense struggling to gain yards on the ground thanks to a number of penalties throughout the first quarter, the defense stepped up and provided excellent field position inside the Stevens 10-yard line early in the second quarter. Aided by a defensive pass interference call on fourth down, DeAngelo took a QB keeper into the end zone from one yard out to put the Pythons up 6-0.

Scrapping the wishbone on their next possession, they went without a huddle in the shotgun as the strong-armed DeAngelo completed three of four passes, ending with a 23-yard touchdown pass to senior wide out Joe Morin.

The Pythons got another lift from their defense on the ensuing Stevens possession when Pelham’s Timothy Schaffer jumped in front of Stevens QB Zach Melcher pass and raced 82 yards untouched down the sideline to put Pelham up 22-0 right before the half.

Stevens finally got on board late in the third quarter as cornerback Matt Dancosse took an interception of his own back for a touchdown from 60 yards in play almost identical to the earlier Pelham touchdown return.

However Stevens could not muster any more offense as it surrendered a safety to make the game 24-6, where it stayed until the final whistle.

“We cannot continue to be successful if we played like we did tonight,” said Coach Babaian speaking of the number of Pelham penalties. “ We need to play much better down the stretch.”