So yesterday in a special Raider Trivia I asked what the Wellesley High teams nickname was prior to the Raiders? The answer is… Red Raiders which then turned into simply the Raiders!

With there not being any games yesterday thru tomorrow I figured what better way to pass the time than with a special edition of Raider Trivia! The question is… What was the Wellesley High team nickname prior to the Raiders? Answer tomorrow!

It’s the second week of October as we hit crunch time for Raider teams looking to secure a postseason berth. This is also a short week game wise with Columbus Day tomorrow and Yom Kippor beginning Tuesday going thru Wednesday. Here is the schedule for the week ahead!

Monday 10-10

No games

Tuesday 10-11

No games

Wednesday 10-12

No games

Thursday 10-13

Boys Golf vs. Weymouth (Nehoiden) 3:30 pm

Girls Volleyball vs. Billerica 4 pm

Friday 10-14

Field Hockey vs. Norwood (Sprague) 3:45 pm

Boys Soccer vs. Norwood (Sprague) 3:45 pm

Girls Volleyball @ Norwood 4 pm

Girls Swimming vs. Ursuline Academy (Babson) 7 pm

Saturday 10-15

Football @ Norwood 3 pm

Boys Soccer @ Boston Latin 7 pm

Sunday 10-16

No games

Yesterday I asked what year (prior to last night) was the last time Wellesley football won at Walpole? The answer is… 1998 however that streak ended last night with the Raiders 10-7 road win over the Rebels!

It was another exciting, beautiful day of Raider action with several teams in action including football who looked to remain undefeated! Would they be successful and how would the others fare, let’s find out!

Results for 10-7-16

Football: Wellesley 10 Walpole 7

Girls Volleyball: Newton North 3 Wellesley 0

Field Hockey: Wellesley 5 Newton North 0

Boys Soccer: Wellesley 0 Newton North 0

It’s the first Friday in October and the weather is beautiful and it’s time for another installment of Raider Friday Trivia! Today’s question is… When was the last time a Wellesley football team beat Walpole at Walpole? Answer tomorrow!

It was another beautiful in this first week of October and there was plenty of Raider action to go around as Cross Country took on Norwood in a meet originally scheduled for Tuesday while Boys Golf took on Framingham and Girls Soccer Newton North. How would they all fare, let’s find out!

Results for 10-6-16

Girls Soccer: Wellesley 2 Newton North 1

Boys Golf: Wellesley 87 Framingham 69

Girls Cross Country: Wellesley 20 Norwood 43

Boys Cross Country: Wellesley 24 Norwood 37

Welcome to the first Raider Recap of October as it was a beautiful fall Wednesday in Raider nation with lots of action to go around. How did it turn out, let’s find out!

Results for 10-5-16

Girls Swimming: Needham 95 Wellesley 91

Girls Volleyball: Walpole 3 Wellesley 0

Field Hockey: Wellesley 0 Walpole 0

Boys Soccer: Wellesley 1 Walpole 1

Girls Soccer: Wellesley 1 Walpole 1

Boys Golf: Won the team championship at the Bay State Conference Championships

The Wellesley Raider football team is once again off to a successful start to the 2016 season as they currently sit at 4-0 on the season and have out scored their opponents thus far 125-13. I was able to chat with Coach Jesse Davis about his team’s start and he was quick to attribute the success to a well rounded team and coaching staff, “Excellent assistant coaches who work hard year round on their craft and players who have bought in to the program and made football a priority in their lives.We also have an excellent senior class. Guys that have come up and played in our youth program and we even have some guys who are out for football late in their high school careers who are making an impact on our team. It comes down to seniors who are great teammates and great team leaders.” Last year one of the Raiders biggest hallmarks was their defense and it certainly has been the case again this season as the Raiders have allowed only 3.25 points per game and have pitched 2 shutouts in their first 4 games. “Our defensive coordinator John Griffith does an excellent job putting together the defensive game plan week to week and our players do an even better job executing that plan in the games,” Said Davis. “The backbone of our football program is to play fast, tough, and aggressive team defense.”
Offensively the Raiders have certainly been lighting it up as well thus far averaging 31.25 points per game so far and while the Raiders have stuck with the triple option scheme that they went to last season, they have made some minor adjustments including using more of a shot gun based triple option which Davis says fits the mold of this team talent wise, “We still run triple option but we have tweaked the offense to match our talent. My offensive philosophy is to be flexible and to match the scheme to the personnel that we have on the field. I think that option football is good for the athletic skill sets that we typically have in Wellesley, but what we are today might not look the same as what it did last week. We have to be flexible to make adjustments and put ourselves in the best position to win. It’s not about the scheme, its about the players on the field.” Davis also had high praise for junior quarterback Jack Tishman who in his first season under center has seen tremendous success thus far, “Jack Tishman has been very impressive this offseason and into the start of our season at QB. He has embraced the role of team leader and has great command of the offense. No one is harder on Jack than himself and he works hard to improve everyday in practice. It also helps to have a veteran offensive line in front of him.”

The last two weeks presented some extra adversity for the Raiders as due to continued field work at Hunnewell Field the Raiders were forced to play their 2 “home” games at Weston High School, a challenge Davis says his team embraced head on, “Weston was great to us and we are very grateful for letting us play two game there. Very early in the preseason we started talking about having a road warrior mentality. Good football teams like to compete on the opponents home field. It’s a mentality that our players have embraced. The focus for us is in practice each day and getting ourselves better week to week, not really where the games are being played.” The Raiders now enter the home stretch of their schedule against three of the Herget Division’s finest in Walpole, Norwood, and defending Herget champion Milton, all on the road, but Davis says his team is ready for the challenge, “Those are all excellent football teams who will be well coached and prepared to play. We need to make sure that we have an excellent week of practice and get better in all 3 aspects of the game every day. We can’t afford to have one bad practice day moving forward. Our coaches and players know this and are more than ready for the challenge. Our focus needs to be on the day to day improvement of our football team.”

We have entered the first week of October, where the weather continues to get cooler the leaves begin to change and high school sports enter crunch time of their seasons. Let’s see what exciting action is in store this week!

Monday 10-3

No Games

Tuesday 10-4

No Games

Wednesday 10-5

Boys Golf @ Bay State Conference Championships ( Spring Valley CC Sharon) 8 am

Cross Country vs. Norwood (Elm Bank) 3:45 pm

Field Hockey @ Walpole 3:45 pm

Boys Soccer @ Walpole 3:45 pm

Girls Soccer vs. Walpole (Sprague) 3:45 pm

Girls Volleyball @ Walpole 4:30 pm

Girls Swimming vs. Needham (Babson) 7 pm

Thursday 10-6

Boys Golf @ Framingham 3:30 pm

Girls Soccer @ Newton North 3:45 pm

Friday 10-7

Field Hockey vs. Newton North (Sprague) 3:45 pm

Boys Soccer vs. Newton North (Sprague) 3:45 pm

Girls Volleyball @ Newton North 4 pm

Football @ Walpole 7 pm

Saturday 10-8

No Games

Sunday 10-9

No Games