By Max Clifford
Hometown Weekly Reporter
The scoring came early and often in Walpole High School Football’s home opener on Friday night. The Timberwolves picked up their first victory of the season, defeating Wellesley 30-14 behind four first half touchdown passes by Noah McKenzie.
Walpole cashed in on their opening drive against the Raiders on Friday as McKenzie found veteran receiver Jamal Abdal-Khallaq for a quick 6-0 lead. Minutes later, it was running back Logan Keyes’ turn to take a pass from McKenzie to the house, extending the Walpole lead to 13-0.
The scoring stalled for a bit following the second touchdown, but it was only a matter of time before Kamari Hughes sliced through the Wellesley defense to become the third Walpole scorer of the evening. His 25-yard touchdown extended the Walpole lead to 20-0.
An Abdal-Khallaq punt return gave the Timberwolves an opportunity to tack on another score before the halftime break. Needing 50 yards in under 90 seconds, McKenzie conducted the two-minute drill with efficiency, once again finding the end zone with the help of an athletic grab from Hughes. The second score in as many minutes sent the Timberwolves into the half with a 27-0 lead.
With the Timberwolves’ offensive starters watching from the sideline, the Wellesley defense snagged a pair of interceptions returned for touchdowns, but the scores were too little too late. Walpole’s Nick Foynes booted a field goal to give his squad an even 30 points and the score stood 30-14 at the final horn.
After the game, Walpole head coach Chris Sullivan expressed his hopes that the early season struggles his team has faced are in the rearview mirror. “The first win is always the hardest.
We’ve played really tough teams,” he said. “It was a tough stretch. Getting back on our homefield is a big plus. Doing what we do, I thought we did a really good job tonight. At the end of the day, we needed that win to get the monkey off our back.”
The Timberwolves will be back on the road on Friday, September 29 when they make the trip to Needham for their first league matchup of the season.
