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09/10/2018 12:00 AMThe Old Saybrook-Westbrook (OS-W) football team lost its first contest of the 2018 season when the Rams took a 20-7 defeat against Gilbert-Northwestern in a home game on Sept. 8. Last year, OS-W finished with an overall record of 8-2 and came close to qualifying for the Class S State Playoffs. Head Coach Mike Marone’s team has graduated many key cogs from last year, including All-State team MVP Vincent Dyer, and so Marone is hoping to see the Rams progress as the current campaign unfolds.
Marone felt that the Rams showed some positive signs in their season opener. Unfortunately, they made a few key mistakes at important junctures early in the game.
“It got away from us in the first half. I told them after the game that we played well overall. Gilbert-Northwestern is a good football team, but we made them feel really good way too often,” said Marone. “These are things that happen during a game, but they played well overall. We were up 7-6 at half, and it could have been 14-0 easily. In the second half, we had opportunities, but we didn’t capitalize.”
Gilbert-Northwestern struck first by returning an interception 50 yards for a touchdown and a 6-0 lead. OS-W responded on a 55-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Jack McDowell to senior receiver Max Thomas. In the second half, the Yellowjackets took the lead on a 39-yard touchdown run and then added another rushing touchdown to make the score 20-7.
Despite the loss, Coach Marone was encouraged by several facets of his team’s performance, especially Thomas, who had a great showing on both sides of the ball. Thomas totaled 67 yards receiving with a TD on three catches and also had an interception on defense. Marone expected Thomas to excel at receiver this season, but said the senior’s play on defense has taken a big leap.
“Max is the surprise of the entire team. He’s a wide receiver with golden hands. He just never drops the ball. The play-action pass he caught from McDowell for the touchdown, I expect him to do that,” Marone said. “In the secondary, I think that’s the biggest growth for him and for our entire team.”
The rest of the Rams’ secondary looked good, too. McDowell plays safety when the offense goes off the field. Senior Devon Moshier is the lone returning player in the secondary unit, which also features junior Will Bergeron.
“The entire secondary is playing very well. Teams are not throwing the ball on us or up and down the field and scoring on passes,” said Marone. “I was concerned in the secondary this year, but they have stepped up.”
The Rams are expecting steady leadership from their senior captains, including David McCain, who was an All-Pequot Conference offensive lineman last year. On defense, McCain steps into the inside linebacker position. Fellow senior captain Luciano Duffy joins McCain at linebacker to make a formidable tandem.
“I think David’s the best lineman in the league, and he’s an inside linebacker. Fortunately, we have linemen that are also athletes,” Coach Marone said. “Duffy’s one of the best defenders we have. He’s overall, the smartest kid on the team as far as playing his position and doing what he’s supposed to do, whether it’s rushing, dropping, or blitzing.”
Fellow senior captain Antonio Castro is manning the offensive line this season. Marone believes his team will benefit from Castro’s hard-nosed play up front.
“He’s a very good offensive linemen,” said Marone. “He’s a solid, rugged kid. He’ll just be there on the offense, and he’s outstanding on the line.”
Marone is planning on running the ball a fair amount and will be leaning on senior captain running back Dan Almada. Marone believes the speedy Almada will turn in strong season for OS-W.
“Almada’s one of the faster kids in the league. Unfortunately, the line wasn’t able to make too many holes for him this week,” Marone said. “He’s a good outside runner, too, but it’s very important that those outside receivers block when they’re not catching the ball.”
McDowell is in his first year taking the snaps at quarterback for the Rams. Marone thinks that McDowell will settle into his new role as the season goes on.
“Jack played pretty well. A couple of bad plays didn’t go his way, but he played well considering,” he said. “He’s gotta grow. It was just his first varsity start.”
Marone is also looking for solid showings from players like senior fullback/defensive lineman and fullback Landis Twomey, senior offensive lineman Gavin Duthie, and junior Cooper Pavlovich, who plays offensive line, linebacker, and is the Rams’ kicker.
“Cooper, I think that he’s one of the two best defensive players on our roster, along with Duffy,” said Marone. “Gavin’s a big strong guy who’s a really good offensive lineman. He’s a good one-way player for us. Twomey plays in the middle on the defensive line. He’s our fullback, too, and he’s one of the best athletes on the team.”
As he kicks off his fourth year as head coach, one of the most encouraging things for Marone is that the Rams’ roster features a good amount of players who have a great deal of athletic ability.
“We have some good athletes on this team. It used to be in high-school football you just had to be big and strong, but not necessarily athletic,” said Marone, whose coaching staff includes Rob Marone, Brendan Coan, Mike Spotts, Charlie Bertero, and Mike Pantages. “You can’t just be a big guy. You have to be able to run. You have to be an athlete to be able to play today.”
2018 Old Saybrook-Westbrook Rams Football Schedule
Sept. 8: Gilbert-Northwestern 20, Old Saybrook-Westbrook 7
Friday, Sept. 21: at Granby Memorial at 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 29: at Lewis Mills at noon
Saturday, Oct. 6: vs. Valley Regional-Old Lyme at 2 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 20: vs. Cromwell-Portland at noon
Saturday, Oct. 27: at Coginchaug/Hale-Ray/East Hampton at Coginchaug at 1 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 3: vs. North Branford at noon
Saturday, Nov. 10: vs. Haddam-Killingworth at noon
Thursday, Nov. 15: vs. Woodstock Academy at 3 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 21: at Morgan at Peters Complex at 6:30 p.m.