The season finale for the Wilbraham & Monson Academy Football team didn't finish as the Titans would have hoped.
However, considering WMA was one of only 12 of the more than 100 prep school teams in New England invited to play in the last week of the 2016 season, that alone makes this year's Football team very special.
With so many things stacked against the Titans, the Academy lost to Belmont Hill 41-23 Saturday in the Fleming Bowl. Despite having a better record entering the game, WMA was forced to play at Belmont, which has a male student population more than twice the size of the Academy. Fair?
That said, WMA played well, but Belmont made big plays all game, including scoring on its first two possessions to take a 14-0 lead.
"It was a great battle," Coach Jeff Vartabedian said. "It didn't start the way we wanted. Our defense was playing well but we were missing some tackles when we were in great position to get a stop on third down or fourth down. That, along with a couple penalties, kept their first drive alive and they converted and scored. We moved the ball well in the first half but we gave one up on a fumble on the first drive and then we stalled out in the red zone before we got on the board with a field goal.
"The second half was similar stuff. We stalled out and they were converting. I give Belmont credit. Their quarterback had a great day running. He was hard to tackle and played really well. But our guys fought to the end. We did get a little banged up so we had to make an adjustment with our scheme so that was tough, but guys stepped up."
Mykhaylo "Misha" Ollinyk '20 kicked a 20-yard field goal with five seconds left in the first half to get the Titans on the scoreboard for a 14-3 score at halftime. Belmont, though, scored on its first possession of the second half, and WMA was forced to play catch-up the rest of the way.
Caelan Etti '17 scored on a 2-yard run with five minutes remaining in the third quarter, but after forcing Belmont to punt, WMA couldn't answer and punted. Belmont responded immediately, scoring on a long pass play to go up 28-9.
Tyler Lennon '17 (21 yards) and Alex Claudio '17 (19) scored on passes from Anthony Costa '17 as WMA got within 12, 35-23, with 6:34 remaining. The Titans got the ball back when Misha forced a fumble and Chase Speller '17 recovered it, but the Titans turned the ball over on downs and Belmont scored in the final minute.
WMA finished 7-2 and reached a bowl game for the first time since 2007.
"It was an amazing season," Coach Vartabedian said. "I love this group – the guys and the coaching staff. I think we had a lot of good players, but collectively we were a great team. Our guys played as a team and had great chemistry. Our roster size was usually smaller and size-wise we were usually smaller but how hard we played, and the heart and talent we had . . . The growth and improvement from the beginning of the year to the end of the year was really remarkable. The guys showed up every week, stayed hungry and wanted more. It was a great accomplishment for our guys to get to a bowl game."