WEYMOUTH— The Gloucester football team certainly certainly showed a bit of improvement at Weymouth Friday night, but unfortunately they don’t have much to show for it.
For the second week in the row the Fishermen were playing a team ranked at the state level and at times they gave the Wildcats all they could handle. In the end, however, Weymouth took better care of the ball and took advantage of their opportunities en route to a 41-14 win at Weymouth High School.
The Fishermen had two drives come to an end with fumbles in Weymouth territory, they also had several costly penalties including a holding call that wiped out a first quarter touchdown that would have given Gloucester the lead. The Wildcats also scored the game’s final three touchdowns to pull away from Gloucester late.
The contest was a one score game entering the fourth quarter.
With the win Weymouth improves to 3-0 on the season while Gloucester ends its brutal three game stretch to begin the year at 0-3.
“I think we played pretty good and the score doesn’t reflect the way we played,” Gloucester head coach Tony Zerilli said. “On offense we moved the ball up and down the field and I thought we played better than them at times, on defense we hit and played physical.
It comes down to scoring though and not having those mistakes, they absolutely kill your momentum.”
Weymouth quarterback Jack Lehan and receiver/running back Ozzy Colarusso hurt the Fishermen Friday as Lehan threw for three touchdown passes while Colarusso had a pair of scores and a pair of long runs.
Gloucester looked to be making a game of it early in the third quarter when senior captain Mark Horgan capped off an 80 yard drive that took 5:50 off the clock with a 13 yard touchdown run to make it 21-14 Weymouth.
The Wildcats, however, took control of the game from there on in dominating the fourth quarter by outscoring the Fishermen 20-0.
Weymouth extended its lead to 28-14 early in the fourth frame punching it in after converting a fourth and inches from the Gloucester five yard line.
On Gloucester’s next drive it moved the ball well into Weymouth territory and into the red zone before a fumble at the 15 yard line with 7:20 to play stopped Gloucester from making it a one score game again.
Weymouth would make them play as Ozzy Colarusso scored from eight yards out with four minutes to go to essentially put the game away at 35-14. The Wildcats would add one more score in the waning seconds to make the final score 41-14.
The Fishermen thought they had a 6-0 lead late in the first quarter on a 29 yard touchdown from Jordan Pallazola. The run, however, was called back on a holding penalty and two plays later Gloucester fumbled the ball away with Wildcats defensive end Ryan Gunther scooping it up and returning it 44 yards to the Gloucester 26 yard line.
Pallazola’s nullified touchdown run was the second long run called back on a penalty for Gloucester on the drive and the third holding penalty the Fishermen were hit with in the first half.
Weymouth would make the turnover hurt as quarterback Jack Lehan hit Tyler O’Brien for a 12 yard touchdown pass to give his team a 7-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter.
“We get a hold and then a fumble and then they score a touchdown,” Zerilli said. “It’s a huge momentum swing for them. Then we come out and start the second half with a touchdown, another momentum swing. But we follow it up with a couple of penalties and a couple of scores, it’s all about momentum.”
After the two teams traded three-and-outs Gloucester answered with an 11 yard touchdown run from Pallazola. The junior fullback’s scoring run was set up by a 47 yard scamper from senior captain Zach Smith. The extra point was no good but the Weymouth lead was cut to 7-6.
Gloucester’s momentum, however, was short lived as Weymouth marched down the field on its next drive going 59 yards in five plays culminating with a six yard touchdown pass from Lehan to Ozzy Colarusso making it 14-6. The score was set up by a 50 yard catch and run by Colarusso, who hurt also hurt the Fishermen last year with a pair of touchdowns.
After forcing a three-and-out Weymouth answered again on a 35 yard Lehan touchdown pass to Dave Harrisson with under two minutes to play in the half putting Weymouth up 21-6, a lead it would take into halftime.
The Fishermen defense got off to a good start against the Weymouth offense as Lehan completed just two of his first eight passing attempts. Lehan, however, settled down and threw three touchdown passes on his next five completions, the last two coming in the final five minutes of the second quarter giving Weymouth a ton of momentum.
Although they loss Gloucester can take some positives moving forward as its schedule softens up.
“I told the guys these are the three best teams we will play right off the bet, it’s a tough schedule and you learn from it,” Zerilli said. “You learn from every loss and every mistake, these are Division 1 schools, big schools with twice the numbers but we played tough and physical. WE just have to cut down on the big plays and penalties.”
