CHS Roundup
Red Devils romp
to 41-6 victory
The Chelsea High football team broke into the winning column in a big way with a 41-6 triumph over Minuteman Regional Vocational School Friday evening under the lights at Chelsea Memorial Stadium.
“This was a much-needed win for team morale,” said CHS head coach Mike Stellato, whose Red Devils had fought well in previous contests, only to fall short on the scoreboard.
Chelsea scored early and often, piling up 28 points in the first quarter in a variety of ways. After Minuteman took the opening kickoff, Red Devil senior defensive back Ely Lobo read the second Minuteman play from scrimmage perfectly to make an interception that he ran back 36 yards for a pick-six. Lucas Deoliveira booted the first of his five PATs on the night to make it a quick-as-a-flash 7-0 Chelsea lead.
After the CHS defense forced a punt on the next Minuteman possession, the Red Devils were back in business at their own 45. Three plays later, Chelsea was in the end zone again, this time on a 24 yard pass from quarterback Albie Alicea to Francisco Mercedes.
Chelsea then surprised Minuteman with an onside kick that was recovered by Kalvin Duran at the Minuteman 45. The Red Devil offense needed just six plays to reach paydirt, with senior Sammy Rivera going in from the two.
Minuteman took the ensuing kickoff and started at its own 40, but another Minuteman fumble in the backfield was scooped up by CHS senior linebacker Moises Cassado, who scooted 40 yards for the score. Deoliveira’s fourth PAT made it a 28-0 contest before either team had broken a sweat.
The Red Devils tacked another six points onto its lead before the half ended when a Minuteman punt deflected off the helmet of a Minuteman player and CHS senior Josue Theomsy recovered the loose pigskin. Alicea capped the Chelsea drive with a 10 yard run into the endzone for a 34-0 Chelsea advantage at the half.
The teams traded TD’s after the intermission. Alicea connected with Nelson Vega for a 30 yard scoring strike in the third period and Minuteman got on the board thanks to a bad Chelsea snap that was pounced on by a Minuteman player in the CHS end zone.
Stellato cited a host of his charges for their fine performances in the victory effort, including quarterback Alicea, his offensive line of center Petherson Braga, guards Christian Calix and Christian Caceres, and tackles Ennys Hernandes and Deoliveira, and running back Yvad Rosado. On the other side of the ball, the coach lauded the play of Casado, Lobo, Nelson Vega, and Deoliveira.
The Red Devils will face a stiff battle this week when they travel to Malden Catholic Stadium to take on a 5-0 Mystic Valley squad Saturday evening. Kick off time is set for 7:00.
Boys soccer team
splits two contests
The Chelsea High boys soccer team split its two contests this past week, defeating Lynn Tech 4-0 and then falling to non-league, Division 1 archival Everett, 2-0 Monday evening under the lights at Everett Stadium.
The 4-0 triumph at Tech did not come as easily as the final score might indicate. After the first match between the teams, in which the Red Devils cruised to a 5-0 triumph just the week before, Tech placed a double-team on CHS scoring star Carlos Cartagena, who had scored a hat trick in that first game in the first half.
The result was a nil-nil deadlock through the first 40 minutes of play. However, the Red Devils made some adjustments after the intermission and soon took control of the contest. Senior midfielder Alan Garcia reached the back of the Tech net at the 10-minute mark with a nice strike from just inside the 18. With Tech continuing to guard Cartagena closely, Derilson DePina began to take advantage of some open space. Cartagena in turn began to release the ball more quickly, and the result was a succession of three goals by DePina on which Cartagena provided a pair of assists.
“Carlos made some nice passes under pressure and Derilson made some nice shots,” said CHS assistant coach Evan Protasowicki.
Monday’s battle with Everett, the Red Devils’ ancient archival across the Parkway, proved to be an epic battle between the teams. Chelsea came into the contest at a big disadvantage with Cartagena, Chelsea’s top scorer, on the sidelines with an ankle injury he had suffered in the Lynn Tech contest. Then, 10 minutes into the contest, DePina, the Red Devils’ next leading scorer, broke his wrist, causing him to leave the field for the remainder of the match.
However, the Chelsea team fought fiercely in the face of the adversity. In the first meeting between the teams a few weeks ago at the start of the season, the Crimson Tide pretty much dominated en route to a 4-0 triumph. However, the second time around proved to be another story, as Chelsea played more physically and kept pace with an Everett team that is one of the strongest Crimson Tide sides in the past few years.
After the teams battled through a scoreless first half, in which CHS freshman keeper Angel Figueroa made some superb saves, Everett captain Edgar Escobar delivered a pair of powerful strikes from 30-yard range that caught the upper reaches of the CHS net that proved decisive. “Angel has been improving game-by-game and it truly has been a pleasure to see him develop his game as the season has progressed,” said Protasowicki. “Both of the Everett goals were superb shots which no one could have stopped.”
However, despite the defeat, the CHS coaching staff was upbeat about the Red Devils’ performance. “It may have been our best effort of the year,” noted Protasowicki. “Everybody contributed and we played with fire. It was exciting to see how much we’ve improved since we first played Everett.”
Everett High head coach Oswaldo Constanza agreed. “Chelsea showed a huge improvement from the first time we played them,” said Constanza. “Mick (CHS head coach Mick Milutinovic) does a great job every year and he has done it again with a young team.”
Despite the ferocity they displayed on the field for 80 minutes, the teams shook hands afterwards in a fine display of sportsmanship. “Both teams have a lot of respect for each other,” said Constanza. “We play each other hard, but afterwards, we’re able to put that aside and congratulate the other on a well-played match.”
The Red Devils, who now stand at 6-3-1 on the season, entertain Marblehead today (Thursday) in another non-league encounter and travel to Essex/North Shore tomorrow. Next Wednesday, Greater Lowell comes to town for a contest that could decide the championship of the CAC Large. The teams battled to a 1-1 draw in their first meeting.
CHS girls top
Shawsheen Tech
The Chelsea High girls cross country team earned its first victory of the season against a divisional opponent of the Commonwealth Athletic Conference with a runaway 17-42 triumph over Shawsheen Tech in Billerica last Wednesday.
Lady Red Devil Wendy Becerra was the overall winner of the race, crossing the line in 23:54. CHS co-captain Katherine Cabral was second with a time of 24:08.
Clarissa Sosa held off a strong finish by the first Shawsheen runner to finish third. The trio of Owliyo Mohamud in 25:49, Melanie Nguyen (25:52), and Tiana Jurisic (25:55), who finished six seconds apart, were fifth, sixth and seventh respectively.
“We ran really well,” said CHS head coach Don Fay. “Our top two girls had solid times, our third battled hard at the finish to beat everyone from Shawsheen, and our four, five, and six girls all ran together and finished six seconds apart. This meet will hopefully give us some confidence for our future races.
“Overall, our top six girls were within two minutes of each other which is a great improvement from earlier in the year,” added Fay.
On the boys’ side, the Red Devils were not as fortunate. The boys started out well on the two-loop course.
“I would say we were probably winning, or very close to winning, halfway through the race,” noted Fay. “Unfortunately in the second half Shawsheen wore us down and beat us pretty well.”
Jeffrey Estrada was the first Chelsea finisher in fourth place. Jansel Claudio was sixth, Sam Hernandez was seventh, Eric Orellana was eighth and Josue Vargas was ninth. The final tally showed Shawsheen prevailing, 21-34.
“We had a decent group together, but to win we needed to be closer to the front of the pack,” said Fay. “The boys are still working hard and are looking to get better throughout the season.”
Both the boys and girls were scheduled to host Greater Lowell at Admiral’s Hill yesterday (Wednesday).