Malden and Somerville traded punches throughout Friday night’s Greater Boston League thriller, before the Highlanders shifted their approach in overtime.
Freshman Jayden Mcguffie (18 carries, 342 yards) had a record-breaking night for the Tornadoes (1-1), setting program bests for yards and total points when he ran for his sixth touchdown of the contest in the second overtime period. Senior captain Gavin Fucile (26 carries, 167 yards, 3 TDs) paced the Somerville offense throughout the contest to keep pace.
Yet instead of feeding Fucile in overtime, Somerville shifted the 5-foot-11, 220-pound tailback to fullback, moved quarterback Sam DeSouza out wide, and had Marcos Pineda take snaps out of a wildcat formation. With Malden out of timeouts, Pineda scored the winning 2-point conversion for a 42-40 victory that gave the Highlanders their first win over their Greater Boston League rivals since 2013.
“In those moments when it really mattered, we needed something a little different,” said Somerville third-year coach David Pereira. “Our offensive coordinator Bobby Silva had the wildcat in his back pocket. It sent Malden into a bit of frantic adjustments, which is exactly what we wanted, and we really were able to take advantage.”
While senior cornerback Esmael Mack did an excellent job on Malden’s top receiver, Kevin Exilhomme, the Highlanders (2-1) had no answers for Mcguffie. The freshman led a 10-minute Malden drive in the second half that fizzled at the 1-yard line when Mateus Fernandes forced a fumble and Kerry Alphonse recovered for the Highlanders.
Somerville responded with a 99-yard scoring drive in the fourth quarter with Fucile rushing in from 12 yards out and adding the 2-point conversion to tie it, 28-28, towards the end of regulation.
“That was really the momentum turner of the game,” Pereira said. “After that our kids had belief. All the conditioning we did paid off, because we had to go the distance on that drive.”
For senior captains Fucile and two-way lineman Rockson Thapa, this win shows that their program is starting to turn around under a new coaching staff.
When Pereira took over in 2022, Somerville had lost 17 straight games. The Highlanders went 1-10 that year and started 0-8 last season, but have now won four of their last five games dating back to last November.
“It kind of felt like a surreal moment.” Fucile said. “All of us worked for years to get that first GBL win. We’ve been through a lot of ups and downs. We built this program from the bottom up through hard times and now we’ve shown we can compete.”
Extra Points
▪ Watertown had a positive opening to a new era under first-year coach Joey Carroll. The former Waltham assistant welcomed the town’s youth program to Victory Field for a nonleague game against Ipswich and steered his Raiders to a 22-14 comeback win.
Lucas Pizzuto made a tough catch on third and 20 to extend a drive with 8 minutes left, and Ethan Spickler broke a 15-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-3 to make it 14-14 with 7 minutes to go. Ipswich drove to the 10-yard line before junior safety Joseph Wilson came up with a clutch interception to give Watertown possession with 1:30 remaining.
After hitting sophomore Joe Connors for a 40-yard catch-and-run, senior quarterback G’Nai Concannon-Garvin (10 for 23, 230 total yards, 2 TD) found freshman Josiah Bowen (4 receptions, 67 yards) in the corner of the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown with 18 seconds remaining to win it.
“The first home game was a little stressful,” said Carroll. “We scheduled youth night knowing this would be a huge game for the community with a new staff and new culture around the program. It was huge to have those young kids there to see us come back in the fourth and win. Victory Field was rocking.”
▪ East Bridgewater (2-0) is buying into the message of first-year coach Greg O’Sullivan.
The Vikings scored 29 unanswered points to cruise to a 35-12 nonleague victory at Nauset Friday. Following a 26-14 win at Norton in Week 1, the team has already matched last season’s win total with a pair of road victories.
“Honestly, I couldn’t be happier,” O’Sullivan said. “These guys believe in me and they believe in our staff. It’s a big we and little me. We go as far as they go, but the trust and belief they have in me is special and I don’t take it for granted.”
Behind a powerful offensive line, senior quarterback Ethan Pohl is a dual threat and senior tailback Aidan Clancy possesses a physicality and toughness that makes him tough to tackle.
Under O’Sullivan, the team is embracing adversity and has aced its first two tests.
“Our saying is ‘Keep rowing,’ ” he said. “No matter what, if we’re up or we’re down, we’re going to keep rowing forward.”
▪ Dave Woods tallied his 200th career win Saturday when Bishop Fenwick topped Bishop Stang, 39-7 … Senior captain Giovanni Angelico lifted East Boston to a 38-28 Boston City League win over Brighton with a 9-yard rushing touchdown to go ahead and a 26-yard pick-6 to seal it … Kickoff return touchdowns from Judd Dorival (Billerica), Ryan Brooks (Burlington), and Alex Weber (Franklin) set the tone in respective wins for their programs on Friday night.
▪ Reigning Independent School League co-MVP running backs Bo Maccormack and Hugo Djeumini both opened the ISL season with huge performances. Maccormack rushed for 103 yards and three touchdowns in a 41-6 win at Lawrence Academy, and Djeumini erupted for 292 yards and six touchdowns in a 42-0 win over St. Mark’s.
Week 4 Games to Watch
Friday, No. 15 Milford at No. 16 Natick, 6 p.m. — Those looking for hard-hitting, defensive football can watch the Redhawks host a physical Milford squad that won this matchup, 7-0, last September, and is coming off a 7-6 win over Wellesley on Friday.
Friday, No. 1 Xaverian at Springfield Central, 7 p.m. — It’s road trip week for a couple of state title contenders, with No. 4 Catholic Memorial heading out to Leominster, and the defending D1 champion Hawks facing a perennial power in Springfield.
Friday, No. 6 Duxbury at No. 10 Franklin, 7 p.m. — New head coach Todd Kiley has the Panthers humming after some initial hiccups in Week 1. Now Franklin welcomes one of the most consistent programs in the state for a nonleague showdown.
Friday, No. 7 Marshfield at No. 12 Mansfield, 7 p.m. — Marshfield plays with a speed that is hard to simulate in practice, but Mansfield coach Mike Redding and his staff are always prepared.
Saturday, Walpole at Wellesley, 6 p.m. — After years of debate, the Town of Wellesley approved the addition of lights at Hunnewell Field, setting the stage for their first home game to come on Saturday evening against a Bay State Conference rival.
Correspondent Brad Joyal contributed to this story.
Nate Weitzer can be reached at nweitzer7@gmail.com. Follow him on X @nweitzer7.