Quincy Shuts Out Kirkland House, 6-0, Clinches Second Straight Division Title

They drank a lot of beer in the Quincy House courtyard last night.

Never known for ponderous sobriety, the yellow and orange clad Q-Worlders yesterday held a big bash behind the Stadium, out-drinking and out-playing the flat Kirkland House squad to cop a 6-0 House Football victory.

The win leaves Quincy House in sole position of first place in the House League's tough American Conference with a 2-0 record, and gives the Masclites their second consecutive division crown. Kirkland finishes the too-short regular season in second place at 2-1, while Currier and Winthrop round out the final two slots, with the Quadsters at 1-2 and the "Throp winless at 0-3.

Drive

Both Kirkland and Quincy came into yesterday's match-up with a reputation for a strong running attack and an unsparing defense, so the game figured to be a ground battle concentrated in the middle of the field. But the Quincy offense, which alternates between a wishbone and the I formation, proved to be too much for even the vaunted K-House defensive line.

Following a fruitless first possession by Kirkland, which included an incomplete pass and a fumble, Quincy took over the ball at midfield, and then drove down field for a quick 6-0 lead.

With the backfield of Joe Scipione, Jim Rosenfeld, and Steve Nicholas taking turns splitting the K-House defensive line, the Quincy juggernaut found itself with first and ten at the Kirkland 29.

Scipione took advantage of a nice hole to go up the middle for 12 more, and Rosie brought the ball all the way down to the eight. Quarterback Lon Hatamiya then called on halfback Scipione again, this time on a pitch right for the score.

The Toe--kicker John Scheft--seemed frozen, though, and the score remained 6-0.

The Quincy defense made sure that was enough, completely shutting down the Kirkland running game, and coming up with a couple of key interceptions by Nicholas and Scipione to stop the only Kirkland threats of the afternoon.

Paced by the play of Lance Miller, Chris Dilworth, and John Keance, the Quincy defensive unit kept Kirkland way back in their own territory. In fact, Todd Elkins, Mike Ryan and Co. didn't get past the 50 for the entire first half, and only a few fortuitious penalties gave Kirkland a fighting chance late in the fourth quarter.

A gaggle of dubious penalties to the Q-Worlders--including a twelve men on the field infraction because the toes of Quincy substitutes were over the sideline, and one unsportsmanlike conduct call because two Quincy players were talking to the coach during the time out--gave Kirkland possession on its own 15 with 2:58 left.

A long Mike Ryan to Gordon Anderson pass put Kirkland on the move, but a key sack by Keane put an end to the threat and gave Quincy the division title.

The Notebook: With Currier's 6-0 shutout of Winthrop yesterday afternoon (see other story), no losing team has scored a point in House action yet this year. In fact, winning teams have outscored losers by a combined tally of 131-0.