WEYMOUTH — Cam Aieta charged nearside with his eyes locked in on the end zone. He scored the Weymouth High football team's first touchdown of the 2024 season.
“That gap opened up and I was ready to go," he said.
The highlight sure looked familiar.
In the spring, Aieta made a similar cut to the outside en route to scoring the winning try in the Division 2 final vs. Hanover as the Weymouth High rugby team completed its three-peat of state championships at Curry College.
Seniors Naheem Ridore, Thomas Kelly and Mike Farrow -- Aieta's teammates in both sports -- remember it fondly.
“Beast," Farrow said of Aieta with a laugh. "I can just turn around and know he’s in the end zone."
All four two-sport standouts starred in the Wildcats' 21-0 football victory over rival Braintree in the season-opener on Friday night.
“(Rugby) helps us with grit, tackling, everything," said Ridore, a lineman who blocked a field goal in the win. "And, how to retaliate when we’re down.”
“And, having a winning attitude," added Kelly, a linebacker/quarterback hybrid. "Tackling is huge in football – if you tackle better, you probably win – and that’s the main focus of rugby. It helps us a lot.”
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The Wildcats' football team is coming off a much-improved 2023 season in which the program recorded its first winning record (7-4) since 2012 and its first-ever postseason victory, a 20-0 upset over No. 5 Lincoln-Sudbury in the first round of the Division 1 tournament.
“That’s what we want to be. We’ve got to be tough, physical kids," head coach Mike Donovan said of rugby's symmetry to football. "It’s such a great carryover. (Rugby) coach (Ryan) Casey has done an incredible job and it’s a huge advantage for us. It’s spring football.”
Aieta scored two touchdowns in Friday's win -- one from 49 yards out in the first quarter, and one from 86 yards out on a wildcat snap midway through the third. Kelly put on the exclamation point with a 15-yard scamper into the end zone at the 5:04 mark of the fourth to confirm the victory.
Ridore and classmate Anthony Marques, the final of five on the team to play both football and rugby, anchored the offensive and defensive lines as Aieta, Kelly, Farrow and junior Tyler Munchbach each turned in runs of 10-plus yards.
“We rep it every single day," Kelly said of the scheme. "Everything we play in the game is what we do in practice. We’re ready for game time every week because Coach Dunny (Donovan) has us so prepared.”
Ridore blocked a short field goal attempt in the first quarter and it would have been returned for an 80-plus yard touchdown had it not been called off due to a block in the back penalty.
“He’s one of the most impressive young men I’ve ever been around," Donovan said of Ridore. "Tremendous worker. Does everything the way a coach would want you to do it. He’s so fun to coach. I’m so proud of him, the way he played tonight. He’s a tough Weymouth kid.”
“All I know is, at linebacker, being on this guy’s side makes my life so easy," Kelly added of Ridore. "He crashes, gets outside. Half the time I’m running to the ball, he’s there first and I’m just cleaning it up.”
Ridore later pressured multiple punts and pitched in the effort to contain a Braintree running game headlined by senior James Curry, who set team records with 1,750 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns last fall.
Prior to Friday, the Wamps had not been shut out since Oct. 15, 2021 -- a 28-0 loss to conference foe Walpole on the road.
“James is a great player and Braintree is a very talented team," Donovan said. "We just wanted to come out here and play as a team tonight. That was (the focus) all week and you saw it. It took a million guys. We’ve got so much depth. Everybody we rolled out there worked so hard and it was awesome to watch.”
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: 'Winning attitude': Weymouth High's football and rugby stars shine in Week 1
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