Marblehead Youth Football Round Up

8^th Grade Black Team Remains Undefeated

After a great week of practice, the Black Squad put their undefeated record on the line as they headed to Topsfield to play Cape Ann Youth Football League rival Masconomet. The Chieftains were also undefeated and the match-up would decide leadership in the Walsh Division.

Both defenses dominated in the first half in a battle of field position. Marblehead broke the stalemate late in the first half when Willie Millett made an amazing special teams play, coming off the edge through a hole created by Spencer Craig. Millett blocked the punt attempt into the end zone and completed the play by falling on the ball for a 6-0 halftime lead.

Defense continued to rein supreme in the second half. Masco went to the air in attempt to get some offensive momentum, but the Marblehead defense refused to yield.

Romello Matthews picked off a pass on a great read from his middle linebacker position and the strong play of Spencer Craig, Millett, Brooks Tyrrell, Owen Rockett, Hillman Hollister and Tommy Gabel in the secondary left few options for the Masco passing game.

"This was the first team to really challenge our pass defense," commented Coach Bial. "The defensive backfield really stepped up today, but I would be remiss if I didn't compliment our defensive line as well. Derek Dumais has had a tremendous season as well as Dan Marino who has been a rock at defensive end with Christian Rudloff. Gabe Broderick had an impressive game as well. He's a quiet kid who just does his job every game with little fanfare."

The game's final score came in the fourth quarter when Masco, desperate for a score tried a fake punt from their 35 yard line. The Marblehead defense read the play and tackled the punter for a loss as he attempted to run up the middle giving their offense great field position. Marblehead drove the ball into the end zone four plays later on 12-yard run by Brooks Tyrrell. Owen Rockett found Spencer Craig in the corner of the end zone on a three yard pass for the two- point conversion to make the final score 14-0.

The Black Squad takes on undefeated North Andover Sunday at Hopkins Field at noon.

Headers Blank the Hornets of North Reading

The JV-C Headers rebounded well from their only loss of the season, an 8-0 set-back at the hands on the Marblehead JV-C Whips, with a resounding 24-0 win over the North Reading Hornets.

Ben Murtagh started the scoring for the Headers with a 55-yard jaunt to paydirt, followed by a connection from quarterback Ben McCarthy tight end Jake Fitzgerald for the two-point conversion.

The Headers then began a long clock consuming drive that exhausted the entire second quarter behind the running of Luke Anderson, Murtagh and Tucker Braun. McCarthy found Will Murtagh on a pass to the right side which set-up McCarthy's QB Sneak for the touchdown.  Will Murtagh then ran a reverse play for the two-point conversion making the score 16-0 at the half.

The Headers controlled the opening drive in the second half featuring the running of Will Thompson, Will Murtagh, and Sam Sullivan.  The trio picked their way through the Hornets defense for a long methodical drive.  Ben Murtagh capped the drive with his second touchdown of the game on a 4-yard toss sweep and Anderson rushed a successful two-point conversion.

The Headers stand at 6-1 and look to stay undefeated against out-of-town opponents, hosting two final games against Masco and North Andover at Hopkins Field in the remaining two weeks of the season.  

 D-Team Magicians Stumble at Masconomet

The Marblehead D1 Magicians travelled to Pye Brook Park in Topsfield on Saturday for an early game against Masconomet. 

Despite some heavy pressure put on by the Magicians defense early on, Christian Centrella of Masco ripped off a 21-yard run on fourth down for the game's first score.  Masco scored again in the first half on a 60-yard run by Centrella, and with successful two-point attempts for each score the hosts took a 16-0 lead into the half.

Defense dominated the rest of the game as neither team was able to cross the goal line in the second half, and Masco escaped with the win.

The "Captain Crunch" awards for the game went to the Magicians' Spencer Perkins and Sammy Rausch for their fighting spirit and inspired play on defense.

JVC Mariners Rally past Masconomet

The MHD JV-C Mariners won a hard-fought game on Saturday, beating Masco 14-0 in Topsfield. Things didn't start out well for the Mariners on this day as Masco took the opening kickoff, and with the aid of 4 penalties for 45 yards, marched to the Mariner 7 yard line with a first and goal. Despite phenomenal field position to open the game, Masco was held out of the endzone on their first drive by the Mariner defense, led by Sam Thorne, Ben Klein, and Dewey Millet.

The Marblehead defenders continued to stuff any attack by Masco, working the field position game effectively. Nearing the close of the first half, QB D.J. Migliore led a methodical drive down the field, moving the ball to the Masco 10, where Marino found the end zone to put the Mariners up 6-0.

The Mariners opened the third with a seven-minute drive that ended with Johnny Uhrich sprinting around the left end to the house. Migliore's roll out pass to Millet for the 2-point conversion extended the Mariner lead to 14-0.

The Mariner defense, led by Tim Abernathy, Dan Doherty, Eric Groom, and George Rowe, sealed the game for the Mariners by refusing to allow Masco to complete a pass in their attempt to get back into the game.

JV-C Whips Defeat Lynnfield under Friday Night Lights at Gatchells

Max Karass recovered the short opening kickoff giving Marblehead fans something to cheer about in the early going. The momentum was sustained throughout their first drive, as Seamus Keaney scored the first points of the game with both the touchdown and two-point conversion.

Marblehead increased their lead on their following possession as Keaney fired a screen pass to Andy Clough who ran around and over defenders for a 45-yard touchdown. Nick Ivers reeled in a reception on the two-point conversion pop pass making it 16-0 Whips.

Lynnfield began their next drive from their own 40 and on second down fumbled the ball. Clough recovered and the Whips took over inside Lynnfield territory. A stalled drive brought the first half to a close with Marblehead up 16.

Charles Ahearn put up the Whips next unanswered score with a 17-yard steamroll for a 22-0 advantage.

Turnovers plagued the remaineder of the contest, but neither team was able to score again, as Marblehead walked away with their seventh win of the season. With he win, the Whips progressed to 7-0 and will travel to North Reading for a 1:00 p.m. start on Saturday.

Marblehead D Division showdown

The Headers and Whips encountered friendly fire as a terrific collection of third and fourth grade Marblehead classmates went head-to head in a battle of undefeated units at Gatchells. 

Fittingly, it took nearly all of the 48 minutes in a superbly-played contest to decide the outcome.  Coach Hilary Rockett's D-Headers had just enough gas in the tank at the end to squeak out a 12-6 triumph.  The game was decided with just 46 seconds remaining when rookie halfback Loch Sheridan capped a 50-yard scoring drive with a one-yard TD plunge up the gut to break a 6-6 deadlock and put the Headers into the lead for the first time.

The Whips claimed both the territorial and ball-possession edge in the first half, with QB Finn Keaney directing the half's best drive inside the Headers' 10-yard line late in the second quarter.  The Whips O-linemen Robbie Segee, Will Savage, Malcom Barclay, Jaedon Evans and Jack Curran were physical and effective, gaining control of the trenches and creating spacious holes for the Whips' backs to churn out steady yards on that impressive drive that started in Headers' territory.  The drive stalled, however, when the Whips were stopped on a 4th-and-goal, and the half ended soon after in a scoreless tie.

Things got interesting right after the break when Whips' defensive end Finn Keaney recovered a Headers' fumble on their own 36-yard line to set up the game's initial score.  Keaney moved to QB after his fumble recovery and directed a methodical drive that featured tough runs by Galley, Miller and Ryan Harris, moving the pigskin inside the 5-yard-line near the end of the third quarter.  Harris capped the march by taking a hand-off on fourth-and-goal from the 3-yard line and sprinting around left end on a reverse into the end zone, untouched for a 6-0 Whips lead.

The Headers responded on the ensuing possession with a superb drive of their own. Wes Rockett, until this point frustrated by a Whips defense that keyed on him remarkably well, broke loose for two long runs on the possession, culminating with a 20-yard scamper around right end into the end zone with 4:20 remaining in regulation to knot the score at 6-6.  

The Headers' offensive linemen Jack Brooks, Fobert, Bugler, Jake Granata, Evan Kosar and Sam Worster were instrumental in the drive, wearing down the Whips with some impressive blocks.

With just under four minutes remaining, Headers' safety Dylan Klocker pounced on a Whips' fumble near midfield in what turned out to be the key play of the game.  The Headers took over possession, and QB Sam Rockett used backs Loch Sheridan, Sean McCarthy and Wes Rockett to pound the ball towards a winning score.

On fourth-and-23, Rockett broke for a 15-yard gain and was brought down on an illegal tackling, giving Headers new life. With 59 seconds remaining and first-and-goal from the 1-yard –line, Loch Sheridan then bulled his way through the center of the line to give the Headers' their first lead,  and an eventual win, 12-6.

Mariners Get Revenge on the Falcons

The D-Team Mariners hosted Danvers in a rematch of a game three weeks ago that saw the local boys lose in a heartbreaker.  The story was different this week, as Kent Wheeler's Mariners came out strong and beat Danvers 20-14.

The Mariners defense was determined to make their presence felt early in the game.   With a forced fumble and recovery by Michael Rubino, and repeatedly holding the Danvers offense to drives of three-and-out, the Mariners kept Danvers out of the end zone for the first half and set the tone for what would be a well-played game by both teams.

"I'm really proud of how strong our defensive and offensive lines played this week," said Coach Kent Wheeler after the game.  "Players like Charlie Clifford, Michael Rubino, Charley Driscoll and Kyle Wheeler kept the ball in our offense's hands most of the first half. Our safeties Noah Weinstein, John Keyes and Danny Abrams played disciplined 'D' making sure Danvers was not able to establish their passing game and en our offensive line of Mac Taupier, David Przybycien, Christian Penkrat, Kyle Wheeler and Finley Capshaw blew up huge holes for our backs to run through."

The Mariners offense was impressive, scoring on Danvers three times. Touchdowns by Ben Brennan, David Przybycien and Will Twadell were aided by great runs by all the backs including QB Sam Thompson, Jackson Klein, Will Collins, Jake Gallup, Macky Renney and Trey Fehrenbach.

The Mariners improved their record to 4-2-1 and they face Danvers again next Saturday in Danvers.