Fishermen football falls to Vikings

On Friday night the Gloucester Fisherman played against the Winthrop Vikings in a nail-biting football game. It was an exciting game for both teams, yet ended in a disappointing 27-20  loss for the Fisherman. With this loss, Gloucester’s record becomes 3-2, and Winthrop wins the unofficial NEC South title. 

Before the game, Gloucester honored its senior football and cheer team members: football captain Zachary Abbott, Isaiah Vieux, Brett Gaipo, Quinten Ulrich, Jeff Allen, Richie Wilson, Gavyn Hillier, Andrew Gabrielle, and Luke Walkama. Along with cheer captain Allie Smith.

To start the first quarter Winthrop took the ball down the field for a quick touchdown.  After the touchdown, Gloucester’s special teams continued to struggle this week with a costly mistake by not falling on the ball on the kickoff, resulting in a turnover which led to another Winthrop touchdown. Shortly after, Junior Aidan Cornetta had an excellent interception in the endzone, allowing Gloucester to have the ball before the quarter ended. The first quarter ended with a score of 14-0, Winthrop.

Early in the second quarter, Winthrop scored another touchdown, making the score 21-0 Winthrop. The Fisherman responded with some nice plays starting with senior quarterback Brett Gaipo throwing a 40-yard pass to Cornetta and finishing the drive with a beautiful throw to sophomore Jayden DelTorchio for a touchdown. Freshman kicker Cameron Widtfeldt got the point after, making the score to 21-7. With 32 seconds left in the half, Cornetta had another amazing interception in the endzone. The first half finished with a score of 21-7, Winthrop. 

The 3rd quarter began strong for the Fisherman, capitalizing on the momentum at the end of the second quarter. Sophomore Caleb Decoste took the kick return to the Gloucester 35-yard line. The Gloucester offense worked their way down the field with a series of great plays, topped off with several nice runs by Quinten Ulrich and Caleb Decoste, and Brett Gaipo throwing another awesome pass landing in the arms of Cornetta. After a pass interference call allowed the ball to be placed on the one-yard line, Gaipo ran for a touchdown for the Fishermen. The Vikings responded with another touchdown and Gloucester came back with an incredible kick-off return for a touchdown by Ulrich, Widtfeldt followed by kicking the point after. The Fishermen finished the third quarter very strong, with a score of 27-20.

As the fourth quarter started Winthrop had 4th on the 17-yard line when Senior captain Zach Abbott had a big defensive play by sacking the quarterback. The Vikings fumbled the ball and Cornetta recovered it. Gloucester’s defense played very well in this fourth quarter, stopping the Vikings from scoring for the rest of the game. Unfortunately, the Gloucester offense was unable to get the last touchdown and the point after to tie the game or the touchdown with a two-point conversion to win the game. The game ended with a score of 27-20.

Gloucester hung in there with a tough Winthrop team, making some excellent plays both on offense and defense. The Fisherman seniors played an awesome game. Overall Gloucester played a great game, but it just didn’t work out for them this week. Gloucester will look to get back on the winning track when they play Peabody Veterans Memorial High School at home on Friday, April 16th at 5:00 pm.