Having lost only one game out of six this season, the Nantucket High School football team came to Veterans Memorial Park Saturday and added still another victory to its record by defeating the Regional High School team 26 to 0. Nantucket’s power and experience accounted for everything, although neither of those qualities made any real showing until the final quarter, when the Nantucketers really got all gears meshing.

 

Up until then, the prospective winners were beset by fumbles and penalties, which nipped all but one scoring threat. That exception occurred in the second quarter, after Nantucket had driven 68 yards down the field to the Vineyard 1-foot line, whence quarterback John Meilbye was able to drive over onto pay dirt. For the 2-pointer, Meilbye passed to Dan Morgan, a Nantucket end.

 

The Vineyard line proved to be formidable on the defense, and more than once gave the Nantucketers pause for reflection. But on the offense, the Vineyarders ran into trouble. They could get nowhere on the ground, and were pretty much kept at a standstill when they took to the air, too.

 

In fact, it was on one of the Vineyard’s passing attempts in the final quarter that Nantucket got its opportunity to add to its 8-0 score. Meilbye intercepted a pass thrown by the VIneyard’s quarterback, Tim Downs. Thus began a 44-yard march down the field that ended successfully when Bernie Coffin crossed the goal line after running 16 yards around left end. The try for the extra 2 points failed.

 

 

The third scoring venture came when Nantucket’s Dick Ryder blocked a punt attempted by Manny Jardin, and fell on the ball on the Vineyard 4-yard line. A play later, Barclay Schell squirmed through the Vineyard line from the 2, and over the goal. Again, the try for 2 extra points did not work.

 

With the score standing at 20-0, the Vineyarders suffered the additional humiliation of having the Nantucket reserve squad thrown into the game, and still found themselves unable to accomplish anything. The regulars of the Nantucket team came back in for the final few minutes, and it was then that Coffin took advantage of an opportunity that presented itself at midfield, took the ball around left end, and dashed 51 yards for the fourth touchdown of the afternoon. The try for extra points failed.

 

The game ended the season for both Nantucket, which had enjoyed its best season in twenty years of play, and the Vineyard, whose football history has been so scant as to be practically non-existent until this fall, although lack of experience in no way diminished the zeal of the Vineyard players. It has been generally agreed that the sport has finally arrived on the Vineyard.