Schools

Medfield Football Shut Out 18-0 by Oliver Ames in Season Opener [Video]

The Medfield High School football team dropped its season opener, 18-0 to non-league opponent Oliver Ames.

head football coach knew for his team to be successful Friday night against Oliver Ames, it would have to contain the Tigers' running attack and string together long offensive drives. 

Neither happened as the Warriors were shut out, 18-0 by OA on their home turf to begin the 2011 season. 

"We scheduled these guys [OA], we knew they were good, we know they were going to be tough and that’s going to help us later in the season," said Ormberg.

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While Ormberg admitted losing is never easy, he focused on the positives to take from Friday's loss and said win or lose, non-league games are an "investment" for the Tri-Valley League games later in the season.

"We got plenty to work on but I think [Friday night] was a positive step, especially from the conditioning side," Ormberg said. "These are all non-league games. It’s all an investment into the league games."

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The result of this early season investment being made to playing against Hockomock League teams won't be determined until the TVL portion of the schedule begins, but the Warriors showed positive strides offensively in the second half of Friday’s game and displayed the physical and mental toughness needed to be successful on defense.

"Defensively we had a couple of great series, made a couple of big plays and couldn’t capitalize," Ormberg said. "But offensively, we sustained in the second half and found some seams and tried to loosen them up a little bit."

Senior running back Sam Tawa carried the Warriors' offense, gaining tough yards between the tackles, especially in the second half, to move the chains and sustain the drives Ormberg referenced. Senior quarterback and captain, Alex Opiela was elusive against OA's aggressive defense when he had to be and created space when needed in order to gain positive yards to keep drives going.

"The guys that we lean on, those seniors, Sam Tawa, Alex Opiela, Ife Adebayo, they emptied their buckets," Ormberg said. "Some of the other guys, Jake Mintz, Cam Donnelly and some of those kickoff returns were very impressive.

"They were patient and waited for the openings, we had a couple of openings near the 50-yard line. There’s a lot of positives to build off of. Arthur D’Angelo played a great game at outside backer and Will Giggi, who’s been battling some injuries, stepped up for us."

Despite the efforts of Medfield’s offense, the Warriors could not convert drives into points, no matter how promising they looked. Medfield was inside the red zone on three separate drives Friday and came up empty handed on each one of them.

"We are looking for consistency on both sides of the ball," Ormberg said. "One of our goals is we get inside the 10, we want points and we didn’t get to fulfill that point of emphasis this week."

Defensively, Medfield struggled against OA's two-headed monster in the backfield better known as seniors Samuel Langston and Carlton Williamson, who ran through Medfield's defense. Williamson ended the day with two rushing touchdowns and Langston put the nail in the coffin with a long touchdown run in the fourth quarter. 

On OA's first possession of the game, Langston ripped off a 45-yard run to put the Tigers on the nine-yard line. Williamson took the ball on the next play and punched it in to put OA up 6-0 early.

Then on OA's second possession in the second quarter, Williamson took the ball from 16-yards out, created space up the middle before shifting left and hurdling a Medfield defender to score his second rushing touchdown of the night. The two-point conversion failed and OA led Medfield 12-0 to close out the first half. 

While Medfield struggled to contain OA’s ground game, the Warriors were strong on pass defense, forcing two interceptions from Tigers' quarterback Jared Schneider, each swinging momentum in the Warriors' favor. But OA's stout defensive line reeked havoc on the Warriors' offense for much of the night and caused every Medfield drive to stall without points. 

Langston put the game away on a 30-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to balloon OA's lead to 18-0.

Despite the loss, Ormberg was pleased with his debut as Medfield's head coach and the effort turned in by his team.

"It’s great," said Ormberg. "I’m doing what I love to do. I have wonderful assistant coaches and the players didn’t quit. Everybody was willing to step up when their opportunity came and it’s a sign that kids are really buying into the direction we are going in. Losing is tough and some lessons have to be lived in order to be learned but I think it’s an investment towards our league games down the road."

Medfield's next game is on the road against King Philip Regional High School in Wrentham on Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. Ormberg said the Warriors are ready for the next challenge.

"We want to build off of [Friday]," Ormberg said. "King Philip presents a great challenge. They got a great running back, they’re very well coached, they play in the Hockomock League as well and they will be prepared. It’s a road game so we got that element we got to adjust to and we look forward to the challenge." 


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