Arlington Catholic's football team, suffering through a season of frustration after opening its new practice field along Summer Street, won its first game Saturday, Nov. 3. Justin Dall scored two touchdowns as the Cougars (1-8) surprised Archbishop Williams (5-2).

The Arlington Spy Ponders were upbeat after ending its losing streak with win the previous week over Winchester, but they lost the game Friday, Nov. 2, to Melrose, 21-0. "The quarterback really hurt us throwing the ball," wrote head coach John Dubzinski in an email Nov. 4.

AC stunned the Bishops in Braintree by leading at halftime, 22-18, and adding 14 more in the second half and shutting out its opponent.

In the first quarter, Jason Pekkinen scored for Williams on a 29-yard pass from Pat McAleney. AC held its own as Liam Holden took a 12-yard pass from J.P. Whelan for a TD.

In the second quarter, the Cougars hits twice. Conor McDevitt grabbed 13-yard TD pass from Whelan, and Dall ran the two-point conversion. Dall kept running and scored a six-yard scamper. Dall then threw for two points to Kyle Bairos.

The Bishops had answers as Kylan Philbert-Richardson ran for a 61-yard TD, and    James Daley nabbed a 33-yard pass from Pat McAleney. In both cases, two-point conversion tries failed.

In the third quarter, Dall ran two yards for a TD, and in the fourth, Wyatt Wolverton scored on an eight-yard run. Conor McDevitt ran for two points.

AC next plays Bishop Fenwick (6-3) away at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10.

Arlington-Melrose

In the Arlington-Melrose game, Coach Dubzinski wrote: "We went into the game knowing that it would take a complete four-quarter effort to beat a very good Melrose team. Unfortunately, the big plays really hurt us in the first half.

"Defensively, we did give up three touchdowns, but I felt we did a decent job stopping their running attack. When you give up first downs when it's third and 25, you can't expect to put teams away. The quarterback really hurt us throwing the ball.

"Offensively, we couldn't get anything going in the first half. I was very proud of our performance in the second half.

"We told the kids in the locker room that our goal was to win the second half. We moved the ball much better in the second half and held them to no points as well.  

"We have Belmont next, and we are considering this game our biggest game of the season. We need to play our best game of the season to win."

The game against Belmont (1-8) is set for 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9, at Peirce Field.

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