Saturday’s game for the Island Cup is one of the most-storied high school rivalries in the country, and the defining moment for a Vineyard culture that flourishes for three months every year.
But unlike the shedding trees or shrinking afternoons that mark the end of what is arguably one of the nicest times of year on the Island, football season goes out with a bang.
NANTUCKET - If not for a couple of yards, it might have been a game for the ages, recounted in coffee haunts, barber shops and summer barbecues for generations to come.
But when Martha’s Vineyard high school quarterback Mike Snowden fumbled the ball in overtime on the Nantucket two-yard line Saturday, another great Island Cup showdown was over and the Whalers escaped with a 13-7 win.
This was a bizarre, hard-fought game with more strange twists than an Elmore Leonard thriller.
The rivalry game between the Vineyard and Nantucket football teams ended in victory for the Vineyarders, who defeated the Whalers 21-7 in a rough, penalty-filled game. Junior running back Jacob Cardoza scored two touchdowns.
The Island Cup rivalry between Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket includes blowout wins and hard-fought losses. On Saturday the Vineyarders made history by defeating Nantucket 14-0 on Whaler home turf at the Island Cup.
The coveted silver trophy is back on Martha's Vineyard, with the Vineyard football team defeating Nantucket 14-0 in the annual Island Cup Saturday. Sophomore Jacob Cardoza carried the day with two touchdowns.
For one day every year, the Island Cup trophy sits on the sidelines of a football field, where its home for the next year will be determined. For the other 364 days, the trophy sits in a case.
Martha's Vineyard needed a touchdown. Twenty-six seconds left on the clock. Archrival Nantucket up 26-21. First and goal, seven yards to reach the promised land of the Nantucket end zone. Vineyard quarterback Alec Tattersall walked toward the stands of Dan McCarthy Memorial Field, raising his arms over his head — get on your feet, Vineyard, on your feet. His teammates followed suit, arms lifted, encouraging, and the once-quiet crowd roared back to life.
In 1988, head football coach Donald Herman had just started coaching at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School and was unfamiliar with the Island Cup, the annual rivalry football game between the Vineyard and Nantucket. The game was scheduled to be played on Nantucket that year, so he went over to “the other island” early with the junior varsity team, meeting up with the Nantucket coach.
