The Wareham Vikings boys football team traveled to Fairhaven for their first South Coast League game of the year and came home with their first win of the 2010 season, 26-14.

The Vikings combined a strong ground game and good defense, and they made second half adjustments to secure the win.  Wareham jumped to an early first-quarter lead of 14-0, but Fairhaven came back with two touchdowns of their own in the second quarter to knot the game at 14-14 at the half.

Fairhaven received the opening second-half kickoff and held the ball for nearly 7 minutes, marching down the field against an embattled Wareham defense that looked like it would succumb to the Fairhaven momentum.  But Wareham held on to take over the ball after a Blue Devil fourth-down attempt failed.  On the ensuring possession, Darien Fernandes broke free for a 62-yard run, but was caught just short of the goal at the 5 yard-line.

After several running attempts, aided by two Fairhaven penalities, Fernandes scored on a three-yard burst with 58 seconds gone in the 4th quarter, putting Wareham ahead for good at 20-14.  Fernandes would score again later in the quarter to make it 26-14.

"We used 17 or 18 different players today on defense, and I felt they made good adjustments in the second half", Head Coach Dan Nault said after the game.  "[Our players] lost focus in the second quarter, but we were better in the second half."

In commenting about the improved offensive showing, after being thwarted by a bigger and stronger New Bedford  defense the week before, he noted: "We're bigger up front and were able exploit them up the middle.  Our offense is predicated on how they line up, and Fernandez was able to take advantage".

The win evens the Viking record at 1-1.  The next game will be at Middleboro at 1 p.m. on Saturday, September 25.