One week after losing their first game in more than three years, the Everett Crimson Tide got a stellar offensive performance and some timely defense in a lopsided 51-30 rout of GBL opponent Cambridge, improving to 4-1 on the season.
Running back Jakarrie Washington led the way with three rushing touchdowns and two receiving touchdowns on passes of 13 and 38 yards.
“It was important because it was a league game and it was a nice way to start our league season,” said head coach John DiBiaso of the win.
“Cambridge is a good offensive team and they were able to score some points on us, but it was a good win,” added DiBiaso. “We’d like to play a little better defensively going forward, we gave up 30 points and we had some turnovers that we want to clean up.”In the first quarter the two teams traded scores, but Everett seemed to come alive in the second quarter, scoring four times, with Cambridge scoring twice. The score at the half was 36 -22 and Everett seemed to be getting ready for an easy victory.
However, in the second half the Crimson Tide offense turned the ball over three times and Cambridge appeared to be building a bit of momentum, adding a touchdown and a two-point conversion to close the gap to 36-30.
“Then in the fourth quarter, we got a great interception by Brendan LaRosa, who returned it for a touchdown and that kind of sealed the game for us,” said DiBiaso.
LaRosa’s INT return covered 70 yards and took the steam out of Cambridge a bit.
Everett then recovered an onsides kick and went down the field to score on Washington’s fifth touchdown of the evening, followed by a Gilly DeSouza kick that accounted for the final score.
The Tide will now turn its attention to rival Xaverian, which is having a down year, but still represents a challenge for Everett.
“They’re always tough on their own field and I know they’ll get up to play us, so we’re going to have to cut down on the turnovers we had this past week and play a little better, if we want to win this next game.”
DiBiaso said he and the team aren’t looking back at the loss last week (against Barnstable) as a motivator for the rest of the season.
“We just have to play them one game at a time,” said the head coach. “If we win our league, we’ll get to the super bowl and maybe we can get a rematch with (Barnstable). Right now, we have to focus on Xaverian and beat the team that’s in front of us.”
The Tide will be at Xaverian on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.