Lee Continues Defensive Dominance
LEE, Mass. – Three weeks into the Inter-County South Division football round robin, the league is yet to figure out how to score on the Lee High Wildcats.
Lee kept its perfect season alive and posted its third straight shutout on Friday with a 46-0 win over Belchertown on Consolati Field.
Devin Schwab ran for 91 yards and three touchdowns. Omari Smith threw for 123 yards and a score and also ran for two TDs. And Zack Nicotra ran back a punt 55 yards for a touchdown as Lee (6-0) continued a season of dominance on the scoreboard.
The Wildcats have outscored their opponents by a combined 252-21, an average margin of victory of 42-3.5.
The most eye-popping stat, perhaps: Lee has not allowed a point since the second quarter of its third game, a non-conference tilt on the road at Athol.
“I thought this week we had a much better performance, defensively, than last week,” Lee coach Tom Salinetti said. “Last week … it was a little sloppy. That one was on my end. The guys really bailed me out this week.
“We like to be prepared. We like to have a good plan. But, at the end of the day, these guys go play with their hair on fire, and they play with great intensity.”
The visiting Orioles (0-6) picked up a first down on their second play from scrimmage to start the game. But the Wildcats did not allow another first down until midway through the third quarter, when the score was 40-0.
Salinetti credited one individual for helping Lee maintain that kind of intensity defensively.
“That defense is really led by [No.] 59 over there, the heart and soul of the defense, Brendan Albert,” Salinetti said. “He just absolutely flies around. He’s as good as any defensive lineman in this county. He can absolutely wreck an offensive line. And he pursues better than anybody else.
“He’s relentless. You watch it. He’s making all sorts of tackles all over the place. The kid has a motor like no other, and you see 10 guys feeding off of that.”
After Lee’s defense stuffed the Orioles for a loss of a yard on fourth-and-7 to end that first possession, the Wildcats offense marched 73 yards in 12 plays, a drive that ended in a 1-yard plunge by Schwab.
Schwab scored from the 3 the next time Lee touched the ball, and Luke Gamberoni’s point-after kick made it 13-0.
Smith ran in the next two scores, going in from the 4 early in the second quarter and from the 3 late in the half to send Lee into the break ahead, 26-0.
An 18-yard kickoff return by Jaydee Reber (38 yards rushing) gave Lee field position at the plus-47 to start the second half. And four plays later, Schwab scored from the 16.
Belchertown went three-and-out, and its punt was returned for a touchdown by Nicotra to make it a 40-0 margin midway through the third. Smith’s 7-yard TD toss to Dawson Reber provided the final score and started running time with just more than three minutes left in the third quarter.
It was not the first time Lee has finished a game under running time this fall. But the Wildcats might face their biggest challenge to date next Friday when 2023 Division 8 state semi-finalist Hoosac Valley makes the trek to South County.
Salinetti indicated that he did not think his players spent any time this week looking ahead to the Hurricanes, and that was by design.
“That’s been something we’ve always had our eye on – going back to the pre-season,” Salinetti said. “We were really geared up to play Monument Week One, but you have scrimmages, and you have to be ready and prepared for those. We’ve always been on that: We’re 0-0. Focus on the next thing in front of you. Take it one day at a time. Take it one snap at a time.”
Photos from this game to come.