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Birthday boy vaults Methuen

Tuesday, October, 19 By Chris Smith
Staff writer

HAVERHILL — Methuen defensive back Mike Capomaccio provided a simple answer when asked about the way the Rangers defense played in a 34-0 victory over Haverhill last night.  

“The defense always plays well,” Capomaccio said, adamantly. “We really haven’t played bad yet, so it is what’s excepted of us.”

Capomaccio made some big plays yesterday, which just happened to be his birthday.

He made a nice interception — his first of the year — around midfield and almost ran it back for a touchdown before stepping out of bounds. He also made a terrific special teams play, recovering a fumble on a kickoff deep into Haverhill territory.

“He’s had a good year,” Methuen coach Pat Graham said. “He was an offensive player last year (at wide receiver) that we moved to defense. He’s done a good job for us.”

Methuen quarterback Cal Carroll added: “We joked around about it (being his birthday) all day today. He had a great pick. He’s so fast he almost brought it to the house. We were joking around on the sidelines because he said that he didn’t step out of bounds but I think he did.”

Another Methuen defender who had a big game was linebacker Brian Sim. He delivered an impressive stick when Haverhill tried a fake punt, then sprinted right up and made the stop to turn the ball over to the Methuen offense.

“I missed a lot of tackles today,” Sim said. “But I made up for it on that fake punt. Our coach just taught us about reading the fake. ... We want to be known as the best defense in the MVC. We practice hard. Coach Graham’s a great coach.”

Carroll rushed 15 times for 93 yards, while Ryan Savastano took 19 handoffs for 95 yards.

“They are a great team,” Haverhill coach Tim O’Connor said. “They’re well coached, well disciplined and they work hard. They are a team who has turned the corner and knows how to win now. We’re a young team that’s growing and they knew how to put us away early. So we just have to keep working and staying positive. ... We’re at 26 (straight losses) now. We’ve just got to keep plugging away and hopefully get better.”