The Hollis Brookline football team kicked off their 2016 campaign on Saturday, September 3, against the highly touted Windham Jaguars. The Cavaliers headed into the weekend looking to improve on last year’s season, in which they went 2-7. Things looked good for the Cavs on Saturday, though, as they had strong drives, moving the ball up and down the field, but turnovers proved costly in the end.

In the first quarter of the game, the Cavaliers covered the field with a mix of passes and runs, but their first drive ultimately stalled with a turnover deep in opponent territory. The Jaguars took over possession and drove the ball down the field. They scored on a run by Victor Pizzotti ‘17  and succeeded on the extra point to go up 7-0 with 5:25 left in the first. The Jaguars punched it in again with 1:34 left in the first quarter to go up 14-0 against the Cavaliers.

The home team wouldn’t go down without a fight though. With about 3:30 elapsed in the second quarter Joey Delaney ‘18 threw a short pass to his brother, Brian Delany ‘17, to cut the Jags’ lead to 8. The Cavs lined up for a two point conversion and succeeded with a trick play. Even though the Cavs had a strong first half, Windham scored yet again on another short run by Pizzotti to go up by 13 with 3:24 left in the quarter. With time winding down in the half, the Cavs drove down the field yet again. Simco ‘18 highlighted the drive with multiple circus like catches to get the Cavs into the red zone. But with the clock still running Hollis Brookline failed to put the ball in the endzone and couldn’t cut into the deficit. At halftime the Jaguars led the Cavs 21-8.

The Cavs defense looked much better in the second half, not allowing the jags to score until the final few minutes of the third quarter. Again the Windham Jaguars ran the ball across the goal for another score. They missed on the extra point but went up 27-8 with 2:30 left in the third.

In the fourth quarter the Jaguars scored two more touchdowns to the Cavaliers one. Ultimately the Cavs fell to the top ranked Windham High School Jaguars by a final score of 40-14. A strong offense highlighted the Cavs day but they were unable to produce in key situations which was ultimately their downfall. Delaney led the day for the Cavs in the air, with over 300 yards of offense. Simco had 15 catches for over 150 yards of receiving.

The Cavs look for redemption Saturday, September 9, at Sanborn as they go on the road for the first time this season.