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By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
After receiving the two seed in their part of the bracket, the Wellesley High football team continued their unbeaten season with a 43-22 victory over the visiting seven-seeded Hingham Harbormen on Saturday afternoon in the first round of the Division 1A South Sectionals.
Running back Grant Chryssisacs had himself a field day on the Harbormen defense, rushing for 124 yards and two touchdowns in the winning effort.
Hingham drew first blood with a score and successful two-point conversion on their opening possession, but Wellesley responded with a 19-yard touchdown run by Chryssicas on the ensuing Raider possession. Wellesley failed on the two-point attempt and Hingham held an 8-6 advantage with 7:36 remaining in the first quarter.
Cornerback Daunte Moore put a halt to Hingham’s next possession with an interception on the far sideline. Wellesley then went on a nine-play 63-yard drive capped off by a one-yard touchdown scramble by quarterback Jack Tishman and a successful two-point attempt by Chryssicas off of a sweep to the left, putting the Raiders ahead 14-8.
The Harbormen responded with a touchdown drive on their next possession to knot the game at 14 but failed on the two-point attempt.
It looked as if Wellesley was going to take the lead on their next possession after Grant Chryssicas broke through the line of scrimmage and dashed up the middle on a 43-yard run. However, just before Chryssicas crossed into the end zone on the long run, he was stripped at the one-yard line by the hustling Hingham safety, and the Harbormen retained possession just beyond their own goal line.
The Raider defense stood tall on Hingham’s ensuing possession following the turnover as James Mastrianni broke through the Harbormen offensive line and sacked the quarterback in the end zone for a safety, putting Wellesley back on top at 16-14. The Raiders made quick work on their next possession following the safety as Tishman hit wideout Brendan Dolan on a 56-yard catch and run to the end zone to extend the Wellesley lead to 23-14.
Wellesley forced a three-and-out on Hingham’s next possession and went right back to work on offense, as Tishman’s eight-yard touchdown scramble following a 42-yard catch and run by Jason Maiona put Wellesley up 30-14.
Hingham scored on their final possession of the first half and converted a successful two-point attempt to cut the deficit to 30-22 at the break.
The Raiders received the second half kickoff and got right back to work with a 37-yard run by Chryssicas to set Wellesley up in the red zone. Tishman punched in a one-yard touchdown run to extend the Raider lead to 37-22.
Wellesley’s defense shut down the Hingham offense for the remainder of the second half, including a goal line stand midway through the fourth quarter to keep it at a two-score game. Chryssicas added a 15-yard touchdown run on Wellesley’s ensuing possession following the turnover on downs to extend the lead to 21 at 43-22 and seal the win for the Raiders.
Following the victory, Wellesley head coach Jesse Davis praised his team for responding and controlling the tempo of the game after falling behind early in the first quarter.
“We faced a little bit of adversity early after falling behind out of the gate but I was proud of the way our offense played today and put points on the board,” said Davis. “We obviously had a couple of mistakes and blown coverages on defense that we need to address throughout the week of practice but I’m happy that we were able to force a couple turnovers and get the ball back to our offense at key points in the game.”
Davis also went on to praise the stellar running of Grant Chryssicas following the victory.
“He was a workhorse today,” said Davis. “We recognized that he had the hot hand and got him the ball, and surely he made some big plays to get our offense in the right rhythm.”
Wellesley now advances to the second round of the D1A South Sectionals where they will face a hot Bridgewater-Raynham team that upset perennial Catholic Conference powerhouse Xaverian earlier in the season and took down three-seeded Natick 35-6 on Saturday.
