The weather held off this weekend and the boys varsity football team held off a strong Worcester Academy squad. In a hard fought affair, Deerfield stopped Worcester on a two point conversation and ran out the clock in victory formation to take a 13-12 win at home.
Deerfield came out strong in the first half with an interception from safety Jake Gallehdari ’17. Jake took the interception back for a touchdown to get DA on the board, 6-0. Deerfield tried for two-points but was unsuccessful on the try. Worcester had a potent run attack which was kept in check all day by great defensive play. Defensive ends Hunter Long ’17 and Dallas Hobbs ’17 did a great job keeping their mobile QB in check. Deerfield added another score on a great drive. Harry Gahagan ’17 was able to break a couple loose to put Deerfield in the red zone. Sharif Legree ’17 threw a jump ball up to Jackson Caputo ’17 for the second Deerfield touchdown. With the extra point good, Deerfield jumped out to a 13-0 lead at the half.
Worcester came out hard in the second half and put together a nice drive on a deep ball and finished with a touchdown on a QB sneak. They would knock again at the door a few more times in the second half, but Zykeem Sims ’17 shut the door. He was incredible from his outside linebacker position. He led Deerfield with a double digit tackle effort. He turned it on in the second half with many tackles for loss at big moments for the Big Green. Worcester would score one last time down the stretch on a tipped ball in the end zone. They went for two instead of kicking the extra point to tie the game. Sims ’17 and his defensive teammates made a big play when it counted to help seal the game for the Big Green. Notable efforts from Justin Masella ’17, Teddy Sullivan ’17, and Bennett Stankovits ’19. Deerfield goes back to work this week to prepare for a Loomis Chaffee team on Parents weekend.