METHUEN — Even in defeat, Bishop Fenwick football coach David Woods found positives in his team's scoreless season opener.
Methuen was bigger, more experienced and had more depth than Fenwick. The Rangers set the tone early with an efficient scoring drive to open the game and never looked back in a 17-0 victory.
Fenwick, meanwhile, showed flashes of potential on both sides of the ball, but were never able to really threaten the Rangers on their home turf.
"We're not in shape yet. We have a lot of kids that missed a lot of camp. We have kids that only practiced two and three times and they're trying to play a full game on a night like this, and they gave everything they had," Woods said. "I could see a lot of plays on offense that in two weeks from now they're touchdowns, and two weeks from now we make some of those plays on defense."
Methuen used less than two minutes to score the first points. Senior running back Mike Bartlett scored on a 13-yard run and Matt Gordon added the extra point to put Fenwick in a seven-point hole.
The Crusaders kept Methuen off the board for the rest of the first quarter and most of the second quarter, but a turnover just over two minutes before halftime gave the Rangers a chance for more points.
It only took senior quarterback Matt Bartlett one play to hook up with Joenry Acosta on a 34-yard touchdown pass. Another Gordon kick made it a two score game at halftime.
"We couldn't have had a worse team to play (for an opener), defensively. They're a team that went no huddle, hurry up and the defenses we played tonight we haven't practiced," Woods said. "The first series you saw that our defense wasn't too good. If we give them a couple of weeks to practice those defenses we'll be okay."
Fenwick played a much better second half, both defensively and on offense.
Although the Crusaders couldn't get on the board, they played solid ball control offense in the third quarter.
Sophomore Jimmy Oliveri breathed some life into the Fenwick offense, running for 24 yards on four carries on Fenwick's best drive.
The Crusaders went 47 yards on seven plays, penetrating the Methuen defense down to the hosts' 18-yard line, before getting set back with a holding penalty. The drive stalled when junior quarterback Chris Renzulli was picked off on 3rd-and-16 from the 28-yard line
Methuen closed the scoring with a 35-yard field goal by Gordon.
"We're excited. It's probably the first time in a long time that this team has been 1-0," Methuen coach Pat Graham said. "I would assume it's been five, six, seven years anyway. We should be better this year. We still have a lot of work to do, but we should be better."
Woods is also confident his Crusaders will get better in a hurry.
"The effort was incredible," Woods said. "We keep getting an effort like that every week and we're going to be fine."
