The Wareham Vikings played their first football game of the season at home on Friday, Sept. 10, against Pope John Paul II High School of Hyannis.

The stands were packed for the game, and parking in the Town Hall lot was scarce. The snack shack even ran out of pizza. 

The Vikings didn’t score until the last quarter of the game, when they were down 14-0. 

They scored twice, with AJ Lopes catching the second touchdown pass, but failed to complete a 2-point conversion — ending the game 14-12.

“We lost, and that’s not a good thing,” said Head Coach Fran Cass. “We played a much better second half.”
This fall, the team has far more players than it did in the abbreviated season played this spring. But Cass said the total number of players on the team is almost irrelevant: “You need 12 really good players who don’t get injured.”

This season, the team will be playing against other Division 8 teams — schools with similar enrolment numbers to Wareham’s, rather than its usual roster of South Coast Conference teams.

Cass said the team will still play against some of its typical opponents, including Bourne.

On Sept. 17, the team will play an away game at Holbrook Jr./Sr. High School, and on Sept. 24, the team will play an away game at Old Colony.