It’s been a long time coming since the Gloucester High football team was able to celebrate a win against Winthrop.
The Fishermen came oh-so-close to snapping a decade long losing stretch against their NEC rivals in last year’s regular season finale, falling by a single point despite largely out-playing the Vikings.
This Friday night at Newell Stadium, first-year head coach Brian Anderson and his group finally got the monkey off their back.
Thanks to a dominant performance on the ground and a stout defensive effort to match it, Gloucester cruised past Winthrop, 28-7, on a beautiful night on the island.
“It feels great; I love it,” said GHS senior running back Nico Alves, who finished with a game-high 157 rushing yards and a touchdown. “Last year it was a 7-6 (loss) away, so to come back home this year and just run it down their throats, it feels amazing.”
Alves was the tone-setter, rumbling for 121 of those 157 hard-earned yards in the opening half alone to help Gloucester build a 14-0 lead at the break. The Fishermen went to him early and often, as he picked up three straight first downs on runs of 12, 12 and 10 yards, respectively to lead to the first score.
“He’s played well in all the games so far, but this was the one where he really exploded,” said coach Anderson, who noted that GHS had lost its previous six matchups against Winthrop dating back to 2015.
“He had a really solid week of practice, was locked in all week, and it translated to tonight.”
That first GHS touchdown didn’t come until the first play from scrimmage to open the second quarter, when QB Cole Mosley-Wynn capped off a textbook Wing-T drive with a 6-yard scamper across the goal line.
After forcing a Winthrop punt, Alves and Gloucester’s balanced backfield went back to work. This time, they executed an 11-play, 92-yard scoring drive, with Alves finding paydirt from three yards out.
It was the start of a sensational display of rushing for the Fishermen. All 367 yards of their offense came via the run, with Fode Kaba (2 TDs) also passing the century mark with 116 yards, Mosley-Wynn scrambling for 50 more, and Tanner Smith coming up huge as a change of pace back getting to the outside, finishing with 44 yards on just five totes.
“All three backs were super aggressive,” said coach Anderson. “They hit the holes, the offensive line gave them some alleys to run through, and they hit ’em hard.”
Winthrop, meanwhile, wasn’t able to do much of anything against Gloucester’s defense.
After missing a 30-yard field goal attempt on their first offensive possession of the game, the Vikings never really came close to scoring again until a garbage time TD late in the fourth. The Fishermen held the visitors to just 88 total yards on the evening, including a measly 28 with three first downs in the first two quarters alone.
Similar to last week against Revere, Gloucester was getting contributions from all over the field defensively. Not only did Max Thomas and the line hold it down with some great QB pressure and quick moves to the ball, but Gloucester’s linebackers and secondary made play after play all game.
Perhaps the biggest impact play came in the third quarter, when first-year player Will Aaron, a senior, delivered a big time hit on a Winthrop receiver to force a fumble and put the ball back in his O’s hands. The bone-crushing tackle perfectly embodied Gloucester’s defensive approach from start to finish.
“He’s been unreal,” Anderson said of Aaron. “He’s never played before so we really have been able to shape him and teach him the game and he’s just a sponge. He’s a kid I wish we had for four years but we’re making the most of having him out there with us (now).”
Gloucester scored its other two TDs in the third and fourth quarters, with the former coming off yet another extended drive that ate up precious game clock.
Kaba — who followed up a breakout 72-yard showing last week with an even more impressive outing on Friday — had them both, scoring from a yard out late in the third before finding the end zone again from nine yards out early in the fourth.
Smith also had an exceptional run on fourth down to open the final frame and move the chains. Both he and Kaba’s stellar contributions allowed the Fishermen to give workhorse Alves a breather at times, and he certainly appreciated that.
“It’s amazing to have that balance. I was obviously getting tired carrying the ball a lot, so having them two, I just have a lot of confidence in them and I know they can do the same as me,” said Alves. “I love having them; I’d rather them run the ball honestly.”
Winthrop finally got on the board with just over five minutes to play on a 1-yard QB plunge from Charlie Ferrara. The score spoiled the shutout — “we’ll get a goose egg soon,” said Alves — but didn’t take away from what was an utterly dominant night.
The Fishermen will certainly celebrate this one, but then it’s back to work as they continue a three-game home stand with matchups against Salem (next Friday) and Swampscott looming.
Gloucester 28, Winthrop 7
at Newell Stadium, Gloucester High School
Winthrop (2-2);0;0;0;7;7
Gloucester (3-1);0;14;7;7;28
Scoring summary
G — Cole Mosley-Wynn 6 run (Kick fails)
G — Nico Alves 3 run (Fode Kaba rush)
G — Kaba 1 run (Rykker Nunes kick)
G — Kaba 9 run (Nunes kick)
W — Charlie Ferrara 1 run (Domenic Spinale kick)
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Winthrop — Charlie Ferrara 4-11, Dominic Farrell 4-3, John Ferrara 2-2, Nathan Previte 2-2, Domenic Spinale 5-1, Desmond Cassidy 3-(-1); Gloucester — Nico Alves 21-157, Fode Kaba 15-116, Cole Mosley-Wynn 11-50, Tanner Smith 5-44.
PASSING: Winthrop — Ferrara 8-14-70-0-0; Gloucester — Mosley-Wynn 0-3-0-0-0.
RECEIVING: Winthrop — Michael Dambrosio 5-51, Ferrara 1-19, Farrell 1-5, Cassidy 1-(-5); Gloucester — None.