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16 players to 60, winless to the playoffs: New Bedford's Whalers made football cool again

Seven wins after none, 16 players to 60, three teams that shut them out last fall beaten this fall, and a game at Fenway Park still to play.

By the SC360 Sports Desk | Published Nov. 7, 2026 | Last verified Nov. 7, 2026, 6:30 a.m. ET

NEW BEDFORD Down 47-0 at Springfield Central with 5:04 left and 113 miles from home, New Bedford High faced fourth and 6 at the 45 on Friday night, Nov. 6, and the Whalers used one of their timeouts to set up the play.

It was the same grit and determination New Bedford showed in its two comebacks this fall, a year after it did not win a game, and it kept the Whalers playing to the last whistle against one of the two Division 1 favorites the Boston Globe picked before the tournament.

No. 5 Springfield Central (8-1) won the Round of 16 game 47-0 at Berte Field and moves on with eight straight wins. For the 12th-seeded Whalers (7-2), there is still a game to play: Durfee at Fenway Park on Wednesday, Nov. 25, at 4 p.m., the last game on the schedule New Bedford posts on Arbiter Live.

From 16 players to 60

The turnout shows it is cool to play football in New Bedford again. "We started with 16 guys last year," Coach Robert Lomp told the Globe in October. "This summer we had 60 come out. It's been a year-long process to get to this point."

That small team went 0-10 in 2025, scoring 49 points and giving up 386, by the 2025 schedule on the team's MaxPreps page. It lost 50-7 at Taunton in the opener, 48-0 at Lowell, 41-0 at home to Brockton and 31-0 at home to Dartmouth, was shut out five times and came within two points only once, in a 23-21 loss at Whitman-Hanson. "Last year, we didn't win a game. We weren't even in a game," Lomp said.

Lomp, in his second season at New Bedford, came into this fall with a 145-62 career record at Apponequet, Wareham, Sandwich and New Bedford, the Globe's preseason preview reported. He planned to mix more shotgun and spread looks into his double wing and move the defense from a 3-4 to a four-man front, and the Whalers moved their home games back to their grass field, with seating capacity among the reasons. "We wanted to see improvement year-to-year and build up the numbers in the program," he told the Globe after the Brockton game. "Then, obviously, we get the two key transfers and that changes the dynamic of the team."

Two games in, after a 50-39 win over Lowell, he could already see it. "That's how far we've come," Lomp said. "It's great to see it after what happened last year. We were getting blown out week in and week out, it wasn't really close. It's been a big change in the culture of the team and our senior class is very strong."

The kids who did it

The players who turned it around came from all over: two seniors transferred from Bishop Stang, a sophomore came over from Greater New Bedford, a receiver became a quarterback and a basketball player gave football a try in his last year of high school. Their figures in this story come from the Standard-Times' and the Globe's coverage of each game, their quotes from the Globe, and the Dartmouth plays from SC360's own game story.

The afternoon that showed what this team had become came at Marciano Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 24. New Bedford had not beaten Brockton since 2018 and trailed 14-6 in the fourth quarter when Tru Gonsalves-Cosme found Lyric Ramos for a 39-yard touchdown, then hit Jordyn Correia to tie it. Ramos, a running back who also plays defense, picked off a Brockton pass and ran it back 35 yards, then carried the go-ahead touchdown in from the 1 with 90 seconds left. "I got right back into my hook-to-curl like a linebacker should. I saw the ball come to me and made a play," Ramos said.

Brockton still had one more chance, with four seconds left and the ball at New Bedford's 3, and Gonsalves-Cosme, now on defense, raced across the field and knocked the last pass away to save a 20-14 win. "I saw the quarterback's eyes follow him, so I tracked his hip, followed him and made a play," he said. That afternoon the New Bedford High athletics Facebook page posted a photo of the Marciano Stadium scoreboard, 0:00 on the clock, Whalers 20, Boxers 14, over five words, "The scoreboard says it all," and more than 150 people reacted to it.

Six days later at Dartmouth, Gonsalves-Cosme lined up to punt in the first half and ran instead, 68 yards for a touchdown. "Very excited fan base over there on the New Bedford side," the Dartmouth Community Media crew said on the air, with both sides of the field filled by fans from the two towns. He opened the second half with a 65-yard keeper on the first snap and finished with 160 rushing yards and 107 passing yards in a 52-20 win, New Bedford's highest score of the season.

The comeback against Haverhill on Oct. 16 started from 7-0 down at halftime. Gonsalves-Cosme threw a 72-yard touchdown pass, which Correia caught, and added a two-point pass, Miguel Neves ran in from the 3 and the 1, Ramos scored from the 4 and threw for two, and late in the fourth quarter Gonsalves-Cosme picked off a Haverhill pass and returned it 89 yards to the 1.

Gonsalves-Cosme, a senior, was a receiver until this fall. He transferred from Bishop Stang, moved to quarterback and became the center of the offense, with six touchdown passes and four more scores of his own through six games and 159 passing yards against Lowell.

Ramos, a senior who also came from Bishop Stang, led the team with seven touchdowns and three two-point conversions through six games, including 100 yards and two touchdowns against Lowell. He finished the Brockton game with 62 total yards and was named a Globe Player of the Week, and at Dartmouth he scored three times, the third on the last play of the first half.

Logan Desmarais, a senior captain, did the hard work on both sides of the ball, as the fullback at the heart of the double wing and an inside linebacker. He had six touchdowns and two two-point conversions through six games, and at Dartmouth he ran 14 times for 100 yards and two touchdowns, caught two passes for 40 yards and knocked down a two-point pass. Desmarais, Gonsalves-Cosme and Ramos were all on the Standard-Times' Week 8 Player of the Week ballot.

Correia, No. 2, a senior known for his skills on the basketball court, gave football a try as a senior and caught five touchdown passes and four two-point conversions in the first six games. At Hopkinton he caught three passes for 100 yards and a touchdown and returned an interception 77 yards for another, a game that made him a Globe Player of the Week. Against Haverhill he caught a two-point conversion to go with his 72-yard touchdown, and at Dartmouth he won a jump ball for a two-point catch and broke up a deep pass on third and 20.

Neves, a sophomore linebacker and tailback who transferred from Greater New Bedford, ran for two touchdowns against Lowell. At Brockton, junior Matthew DeSantos recovered a fumble in the first half and Neves finished the drive with a 2-yard touchdown, and Neves dove in for a two-point conversion at Dartmouth.

In the trenches and on defense

The Globe's preseason preview listed experience up front as New Bedford's strength, with nearly the entire offensive line back to block for the double wing, and named Max Sylvia (6-2, 250), Congo-Stanley Hepburn (6-4, 225), Rory Rej and Sebastian Nieves among the returning linemen. For the new four-man defensive front it named senior Connar Silva-Nuno and junior Gabriel Ourique as added depth.

Behind that front, Desmarais and Neves both play linebacker, and sophomore Nyzelle Vasquez, No. 25, is listed at middle linebacker and tight end on the roster MaxPreps posts. The defense made big plays all season, with interception returns of 77 yards by Correia, 89 by Gonsalves-Cosme and 35 by Ramos. The preview also named Jayden Russell and Correia as possible lead receivers, with Gonsalves-Cosme, a receiver himself until this year, throwing to them.

This is the last fall in a New Bedford uniform for the seniors named in this season's coverage, Gonsalves-Cosme, Ramos, Desmarais, Correia and Silva-Nuno among them, and one more game is on the schedule for them: Durfee, at Fenway Park.

Answering last year

This fall the Whalers beat three of the teams that shut them out a year ago. Lowell, a 48-0 winner in 2025, lost 50-39 in New Bedford on Sept. 19, giving the Whalers their first back-to-back wins since 2022, by the Globe's count. Brockton, a 41-0 winner, lost 20-14 at Marciano Stadium on Oct. 24, New Bedford's first win over Brockton since 2018. Dartmouth, a 31-0 winner, lost 52-20 on its own field on Oct. 30 as New Bedford scored seven touchdowns, its first win over Dartmouth since 2022, the Standard-Times reported.

They opened with a 42-8 win over Greater New Bedford Voc-Tech in the schools' first meeting in 46 years, won 44-8 at Hopkinton and 42-6 over Brookline and answered their only regular season loss, 34-8 at Quincy, with four straight wins, and the Brockton win put them in first place in the Big Three.

The Globe called it a "drastic turnaround," and the schedules bear that out. Of the 21 South Coast programs with a 2025 and a 2026 season on MaxPreps, none added more wins than New Bedford's seven through Friday, Nov. 6, and New Bedford was the only one that started from a winless season. Apponequet matched the seven-win jump over the regular season, going from 1-7 to 8-0, and no other South Coast program gained more than four.

What it meant at home

The 60 players who came out this summer were the first sign of what this season would mean in New Bedford, and the fans followed. "A lot of excitement around this New Bedford Whalers team," the Dartmouth Community Media crew said before kickoff on Oct. 30, and the school's athletics page posted "BIG 3 ACTION" and "GO WHALERS" and gave fans the Brockton scoreboard to share. Its Oct. 29 graphic for the Thanksgiving game, "Football at Fenway," had been shared 31 times by Saturday morning.

The team's climb has come alongside gains across the building. New Bedford High, with 2,792 students this year by state count, graduated 87.3% of its Class of 2025 in four years, up from 83.7% a year earlier and 82.1% for the Class of 2022, by the state education department's adjusted cohort figures, and the share of students who left school fell over the same years. Principal Joyce Cardoza credited educators and students and added, "we are just getting started," WBSM reported.

The district also got through a year of uncertain federal money. In 2025 the federal Education Department moved to take back about $12 million in pandemic relief money for New Bedford, a move a federal judge called "arbitrary and capricious," and $2.6 million for summer, after-school and English learner programs was held up that July. Both sums were restored, The New Bedford Light reported in December.

New construction is underway as well: the Massachusetts School Building Authority approved a grant of up to about $70 million for a new Congdon-DeValles elementary school, on track to open in spring 2027, and New Bedford High opened a new turf athletic field in 2024 with $2.9 million in federal relief money. "That's the New Bedford high school we want to project to the world," Mayor Jon Mitchell said that day.

A program with history

The Whalers play for a program with Super Bowl history. The MIAA's championship record book lists New Bedford in the 1997 Division 1 Super Bowl, a 25-0 loss to St. John's Prep, and in a Dec. 4, 1993, Super Bowl against Plymouth in which Jo Jo Goodine and Sean Gomes each returned an interception for a touchdown, a one-team Super Bowl record the MIAA still lists, shared with Lee.

In 2011 New Bedford reached a Division 1 semifinal, losing 42-14 to Needham at Weymouth High School, Needham Patch reported, and in 2013 a 3-4 New Bedford team made the Division 1 South playoffs a week after upsetting Brockton, WBSM reported.

Friday night in Springfield

Springfield Central led 13-0 after one quarter and 20-0 with about seven minutes left in the half. New Bedford answered with a drive from its own 28 across midfield to the Central 47 before it stalled on fourth and 13 with 2:24 to go. Central scored with 1:51 left for 27-0, and the Whalers went right back to work from their 33, moving to the Central 48 and going for it on fourth and 2 with 43 seconds left, and the half ended 27-0.

Central scored twice more in the third quarter and once early in the fourth for the 47-0 final. With 5:04 to play, facing fourth and 6 at the 45, New Bedford stopped the clock to set up the play, and when it ended, the two teams met in the handshake line.

Springfield Central, coached by Bill Watson, has lost only to St. John's Prep, the Division 1 top seed, in its opener, and its roster includes Notre Dame-bound running back Isaiah Rogers, the Globe has reported, and Wake Forest commit McCoy Richardson, High School on SI reported. The Golden Eagles move on to the Division 1 Round of 8 against the winner of No. 4 Wachusett and No. 13 Shrewsbury; the MIAA had not posted that date, time or site Friday night.

Springfield Central had not posted its scorers or statistics by early Saturday, and no box score was posted for New Bedford. This story will add them, and comments from both coaches and New Bedford's players, when they come in.

Fenway next

New Bedford and Durfee open a Wednesday doubleheader at Fenway Park on Nov. 25 at 4 p.m., ahead of Xaverian and St. John's Prep. A win would clinch the Big Three title, and New Bedford leads the Thanksgiving series 79-44-10, by the Globe's count, though Durfee won last year's game 36-0. General admission tickets start at $20 through the Red Sox at redsox.com/highschoolfootball, cover both games and send 20% of every ticket back to the schools.

What they built

A year ago New Bedford started with 16 players and lost every game it played. This year 60 came out, and the ones who kept showing up gave the city Saturday afternoons and Friday nights worth driving to, from their home field to Marciano Stadium to a full visiting side at Dartmouth. The seniors have one more game together, at the oldest ballpark in the major leagues against a Thanksgiving rival their families have known for generations, and whatever the scoreboard says that day, the sophomores and juniors behind them will start next season having watched a team of transfers, converts and holdovers work out together what winning in New Bedford takes.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.

Notes

The final, both records and the score by quarter come from the MaxPreps game page ("Final score provided by G. Arena"), which still showed no box score early Saturday. Field position and clock times come from the stadium scoreboard on the Western Mass News stream, which joined the game late in the second quarter. No player is named for Friday because no box score or play by play was posted. The Fenway game's date, time and site come from the schedule New Bedford posts on Arbiter Live, read again at 3:28 a.m. Saturday, and the Globe. The 2025 and 2026 results come from New Bedford's MaxPreps schedules and its Arbiter schedule, and the South Coast comparison from the MaxPreps schedules of 21 South Coast programs, read Nov. 6. The 113-mile trip matches the Globe's playoff preview and a driving route on OpenStreetMap (112.6 miles). Player figures and quotes come from the Boston Globe, the Standard-Times and our own Dartmouth game story, credited in the story; names are spelled as those outlets printed them, except Max Sylvia, spelled as New Bedford's own MaxPreps roster lists him (the Globe preview printed "Matt"). The crowd and fan lines come from the Dartmouth Community Media crew and New Bedford High's athletics Facebook page, read early Saturday. Program history comes from the MIAA, Needham Patch and WBSM. School figures come from the state education department, the MSBA, WBSM and The New Bedford Light. We checked each date and weekday against a calendar.

Corrections

No corrections to this story. If something here is wrong, tell us. Every correction is dated on the story and listed in our public log.

Sources (35)

  1. MaxPreps: New Bedford at Central (Springfield), Nov. 6, 2026Final 47-0; records New Bedford 7-2, Central 8-1; score by quarter Central 13 14 13 7; "Final score provided by G. Arena." No box score or player stats posted. Read Nov. 6, 2026, 6:1x to 8:07 p.m., and again Nov. 7, 2026, 3:29 a.m.
  2. Arbiter Live: New Bedford High varsity football scheduleNov. 6 at Springfield Central, Berte Field, 6 p.m. (result not yet posted); "Wed Nov 25 4:00 PM vs Durfee High School New Bedford High School Fenway Park", the last game listed. Read Nov. 6, 2026, 7:58 and 9:41 p.m., and again Nov. 7, 2026, 3:28 a.m.
  3. Western Mass News: live stream, "Game of the Week: New Bedford vs. Central"Stadium scoreboard readings in the second and fourth quarters (clock, down, distance, ball spot) and the handshake line at 0:00. Nov. 6, 2026.
  4. MaxPreps: New Bedford 2025 football scheduleOverall 0-10, 49 points for, 386 against; every 2025 game and score. Read Nov. 6, 2026, about 8 p.m.
  5. MaxPreps: New Bedford 2026 football scheduleEvery 2026 result; 11/25 4:00pm vs Durfee. Read Nov. 6, 2026, about 8 p.m.
  6. MaxPreps: New Bedford Whalers football roster (team-entered)"2 JORDYN CORREIA Sr. WR, DB"; "25 Nyzelle Vasquez So. MLB, TE". Read Nov. 4, 2026, 6:42 a.m.
  7. MaxPreps: New Bedford Whalers football roster, 2025-26 (team-entered)"75 Max Sylvia Jr. T, DE 6'1" 245 lbs"; "77 Rory Rej Jr. DT, G"; "78 Congo-stanley Hepburn Jr. T, DE". Spelling of Max Sylvia. Read Nov. 7, 2026, 4:2x a.m., and again 7:4x a.m.
  8. MaxPreps: South Coast team schedules, 2025 and 2026 (21 programs)Win totals for every South Coast program's 2025 and 2026 seasons through Nov. 6, 2026 (New Bedford 0-10 to 7-1; Apponequet 2-9 to 8-1, regular season 1-7 to 8-0; no other program more than four wins better). Read Nov. 6, 2026, 7:58 to 8:15 p.m.; table in sources/turnaround-1106/TURNAROUND-TABLE.md.
  9. The Boston Globe: New Bedford 20, Brockton 14, Oct. 24, 2026"drastic turnaround"; the Lomp, Gonsalves-Cosme and Ramos quotes; the Brockton plays, Ramos 62 total yards, the DeSantos fumble recovery and Neves touchdown; first win over Brockton since 2018; the Big Three clinch at Fenway.
  10. The Boston Globe: Division 1 football preview, Sept. 9, 2026Lomp second season, career 145-62; "Experience up front"; offensive line printed as "Matt Sylvia (6-2, 250)", Congo-Stanley Hepburn (6-4, 225), Rory Rej and Sebastian Nieves; double wing with more shotgun and spread; 3-4 to a four-man front; grass field for seating capacity; Desmarais senior captain, fullback and inside linebacker; Neves sophomore transfer from Greater New Bedford; Silva-Nuno and Ourique; Russell and Correia; first game with Greater New Bedford in 46 years.
  11. The Boston Globe: Globe Schools Insider, Sept. 20, 2026Lowell 50-39; first back-to-back wins since 2022; Lomp quote; leaders list: Ramos 100 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns, Neves 2 rushing touchdowns, Gonsalves-Cosme 159 passing yards.
  12. The Boston Globe: Players of the Week, Week 3, Sept. 28, 2026Jordyn Correia: three catches for 100 yards and a touchdown and a 77-yard interception return at Hopkinton.
  13. The Boston Globe: Players of the Week, Week 7, Oct. 26, 2026Lyric Ramos at Brockton; Whalers in first place in the Big Three.
  14. The Boston Globe: MIAA football playoff preview, Nov. 1, 2026Springfield Central one of two Division 1 favorites; longest road trip New Bedford to Springfield Central, 113 miles.
  15. The Boston Globe: Schools Insider, Sept. 26, 2026Notre Dame-bound Springfield Central running back Isaiah Rogers.
  16. The Boston Globe: Fenway Park hosts four high school football games Thanksgiving week, Sept. 3, 2026Durfee and New Bedford at 4 p.m. Nov. 25, "NB leads, 79-44-10"; Xaverian and St. John's Prep follow; general admission from $20 at redsox.com/highschoolfootball for both games; 20% of every ticket back to the schools.
  17. High School on SI: St. John's Prep, Springfield Central meet in season opener, Sept. 10, 2026Wake Forest commit McCoy Richardson.
  18. The Standard-Times (on Yahoo Sports): SouthCoast football midseason offensive player of the year ballot, Oct. 22, 2026Gonsalves-Cosme, Bishop Stang transfer, receiver to quarterback, 6 touchdown passes and 4 touchdowns; Ramos 7 touchdowns and 3 two-point conversions; Desmarais 6 touchdowns and 2 two-point conversions; Correia known for basketball, gave football a try his senior year, 5 touchdown catches and 4 two-point catches.
  19. The Standard-Times (on Yahoo Sports): Week 6 player of the week ballot, Oct. 20, 2026Haverhill: Gonsalves-Cosme 72-yard touchdown pass, two-point pass and 89-yard interception return to the Haverhill 1; Correia 72-yard touchdown catch and two-point catch; Neves touchdown runs of 3 and 1 yards; Ramos 4-yard touchdown and two-point pass.
  20. The Standard-Times (on Yahoo Sports): Week 8 player of the week ballot, Nov. 2, 2026Dartmouth: Gonsalves-Cosme 160 rushing yards, 107 passing yards, a two-point run and a two-point pass; Desmarais 14 carries, 100 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 catches for 40 yards; Ramos 3 touchdowns; all three on the ballot.
  21. The Standard-Times (on Yahoo Sports): Week 8 SouthCoast football roundup, Oct. 30, 2026New Bedford's first win over Dartmouth since 2022.
  22. SC360: New Bedford beats Dartmouth 52-20 (Oct. 30)The 68-yard fake punt, the 65-yard keeper on the first snap of the second half, Ramos scoring on the last play of the half, the tipped two-point pass, the Correia jump-ball two-point catch and third-and-20 breakup, the Neves two-point run, seven touchdowns.
  23. New Bedford High School Athletics (Facebook page)Oct. 24, 3:48 p.m.: "The scoreboard says it all", photo of the Marciano Stadium scoreboard, 0:00, Whalers 20, Boxers 14, 151 reactions; "BIG 3 ACTION GO WHALERS"; Oct. 29, 1:18 p.m.: "Football at Fenway" Thanksgiving graphic, 31 shares. Read Nov. 7, 2026, about 5:30 a.m., and again 7:4x a.m. (151 reactions, 31 shares).
  24. Dartmouth Community Media: New Bedford at Dartmouth football, Oct. 30, 2026Crew, before kickoff: "A lot of excitement around this New Bedford Whalers team"; after the fake punt: "Very excited fan base over there on the New Bedford side" and "both sides of the field filled with fans from both New Bedford and Dartmouth." Our transcript, read again Nov. 7, 2026.
  25. SC360: New Bedford and Springfield Central playoff previewSeason game by game, Haverhill 7-0 at halftime, Watson and the St. John's Prep opener loss, the Wachusett and Shrewsbury bracket, each with its own source there.
  26. MIAA: 2025 State Football Championships program"Div. 1 Super Bowl: St. John's Prep 25 - New Bedford 0 (1997)"; "Most Interceptions For Touchdown, One Team: 2 ... Jo Jo Goodine, Sean Gomes (New Bedford) vs. Plymouth, Dec. 4, 1993", shared with Lee. Read Nov. 2, 2026.
  27. Needham Patch: Needham advances to Division I Super Bowl, Nov. 30, 2011Needham beat New Bedford 42-14 in the Division I semifinal at Weymouth High School.
  28. WBSM: SouthCoast HS football playoffs week 1 preview, Oct. 30, 2013New Bedford (3-4) in the Division 1 South playoffs after an upset of Brockton.
  29. Mass. DESE: New Bedford High four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate2025: 87.3%; 2024: 83.7%; 2022: 82.1%; % dropped out 9.6, 10.8, 14.6. Enrollment 2,792 (DESE enrollment profile, 2025-26).
  30. WBSM: New Bedford High graduation rate, March 20, 2026Principal Joyce Cardoza: "we are just getting started."
  31. WBSM: New Bedford schools and the federal funding fight, May 11, 2025$12 million for New Bedford; "arbitrary and capricious."
  32. The New Bedford Light, July 14, 2025"$2.6 million for New Bedford" in withheld grants for summer, after-school and English learner programs.
  33. The New Bedford Light: 2025 in review, Dec. 25, 2025Both sums "eventually restored"; Congdon-DeValles "on track for its spring 2027 opening."
  34. MSBA: grant for the new DeValles school, Dec. 13, 2023"a grant of up to $70,053,514".
  35. WBSM: New Bedford High athletic field, April 30, 2024$2.9 million from ESSER; Mayor Jon Mitchell quote.

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