It’s been a season of peaks and valleys for the Vineyard football team.
They shot out to a 5-0 record to start the season and earned a top rank in their division by the Boston Globe. And as if that weren’t enough, a news crew from NBC taped two 30-minute segments that will air later this year during a halftime of the network’s NFL Sunday Night Football program. Meanwhile, Sports Illustrated published a story showcasing the Vineyarders.
The Vineyard rolled over Nantucket Saturday in the annual Island Cup game by a final score of 48-6 in a contest that was easily decided by the seco
Island residents who stayed with their television sets on Sunday night past the Patriots and into Sunday Night Football were hoping to see the promised NBC coverage of the Island high school football team. It has been rescheduled for Nov. 18 and Nov. 25. Earlier schedules had the segment airing on Nov. 4 and Nov. 11.
It was déjà vu all over again for the boys’ soccer team Sunday as the team again found itself in a sudden death penalty kick shoot-out in the opening round of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association tournament.
Although the Vineyarders prevailed in the shoot-out against Dighton-Rehoboth, thanks to the efforts of goaltender Nico Cuba, to win the game 3-2, there was a surreal quality to the game which marked the third time in three consecutive state tournament games the team’s fate was decided by a shoot-out.
Asked to describe his team's effort in last Friday's crushing 20-16 loss to the Crusaders from Cape Cod Tech/Harwich, no-nonsense Vineyarders football coach Donald Herman doesn't have to think long for an answer.
"Soft," he said roundly of his team's effort in the loss that effectively eliminated the team from going to the postseason. "We were soft and we were flat. I am not happy with what is going on right now."
The couldashouldawoulda’s are a week old now but the fact is the Vineyarders are still in the mix for a league title and a trip to their eighth Sup