At Key Spots, Nauset Football Set For Sophomore Contributions

NORTH EASTHAM – For hours last Saturday afternoon, three teams of players from four different schools rotated on and off the turf at Nauset Regional High School. 

With Old Colony plus a Monomoy-St. John Paul II co-op team making the trip up to take part in a series of scrimmage drives, it was the host Warriors that really emerged as the strongest unit on the football field — to head coach Jesse Peno a positive step forward for a team that is set to have a group of sophomores contributing along with 10 or so juniors and seniors.

“Really today we were just like, ‘we want you guys to answer some of the questions we have,’” Peno said. “‘Take jobs. Control your attitude. Control your effort. Control your physicality.’ And I think they checked those things off.”

Most notably among the sophomores, Oliver Accettullo is expected to start at quarterback in the absence of senior Brendan Peno, out due to injury to begin the season with an indefinite timetable to return. The first-string reps haven’t been uncharted waters for the underclassman Accettullo, though; he played last year as a freshman in place of Peno after the school-record holding quarterback was sidelined near the end of the 7-4 season.

The offense is still working through learning formations and routes, Accettullo said, but he felt good after the scrimmages. 

“I think having those games, the last couple of games, helped me a lot,” Accettullo said. “I'm still getting into the groove of things, but overall, I'm doing pretty good right now.”

Peno said Accettullo “does an excellent job.”

“He's got some experience under his belt,” Peno said. “He's a pretty cool customer, makes good decisions, super coachable, smart.”

The Warriors will have two more sophomores in the backfield in Malachi Bradley and Max Furman, who, together with the offensive line, demonstrated to Peno at the scrimmages that Nauset may have the ability to run the ball more than they thought. 

“They showed me something today,” he said. “Really running the ball hard, and our whole lineup front did a good job.”

Sophomores James Silvernail, Antuane Walker, junior Tobey Watson and seniors Onadi Lowe, Freddie Ricks and Chet Travers are expected to contribute on the line. With the backs, the run game could be a nice complement to the team’s strength at the skill positions with receivers like senior Seamus Mahoney and sophomores Jack Peno and Parker Swain. While the Warriors are still figuring out their particular brand of football this year, the hope is to be able to blend the run with the pass.

Peno is the team’s leading returning receiver and had a strong summer in 7-on-7s football, according to Peno. Good things are also expected from Mahoney. 

“I know when we get Jack out in space, we're going to be in good shape, or Seamus gets the ball deep or Parker Swain,” Peno said.

After coming off the field Saturday, Peno knew Nauset still had — like every single other team — some points that needed to be worked on and fixed. Execution, for one, had to be cleaned up, Peno said. But the Warriors had shown the baselines needed to be successful.

“It feels great,” Accettullo said following the final practice drive. “I feel like we’re going to do very good this season as a team.”