Around the League: Week Five

It was another rough week for the CAL Small. There was only one league game and the rest of the teams went 1-4 with a pair of shutouts. The only non league win was again posted by the Pioneers.

First a look at the standings.




In the only CAL Small game this week, Amesbury edged Georgetown 3-0 to tie Lynnfield for second place in the league. Playing in the same rainy conditions that faced the Pioneers, the Indians moved the ball against Georgetown but could manage only a 26 yard second period field goal by Nick Croce to show for it. Croce missed a 31 yarder on Amesbury's first drive and according to Dan Gutteplan of the Newburyport News, Croce attempted a 45 yarder in the second half.

The Indians made the three points stand up but not before Georgetown threatened late in the game. However the Indian defense mounted a goal line stand to halt the Royals' Chris Esposito to preserve the win.

The tight game shows that the Indians look to be at the same level as Georgetown which bodes well for the Pioneers who handled the Royals easily in a 32-6 win.

Things will get rougher for Amesbury when they host Pentucket this Friday. It will  be no day at the beach for Georgetown either as they look for their first win and try to break a two game scoreless string against Bishop Fenwick. The Crusaders had their way with fellow CAL Small member Hamilton-Wenham 30-0 earlier this year.

Speaking of Hamilton-Wenham, the winless Generals continued to struggle as they fell hard to Wilmington 35-0 last Saturday, the third week in a row they have been shut out. Now 0-5, the Generals have reached the endzone only twice this season, and have been outscored 158-12.

H-W fell behind 14-0 at the end of one and 28-0 after two quarters. They did not make a first down in the first half.

It will be an interesting game this week when the Generals host North Reading. Based on comparative scores, the Hornets would appear to have the edge in this one. North Reading played Newburyport tough before losing 17-13 where the Clippers pretty much handled H-W 19-0. Also the Hornets hung with Triton for a bit before losing 33-14 while the Vikings routed the Generals 39-12.

North Reading played tough in the loss to the Vikes, actually scoring first before getting worn down by the the bigger Triton club. The loss was the Hornet's fourth in a row. They coughed the ball up five times which ultimately led to their demise. They did get an impressive performance from Bobby Rosano who ran for 145 yards and a score against the undefeated Vikings. (File that  tidbit away for future reference when considering the Triton/Lynnfield matchup.)

The loss was costly for Triton, who prepare to come to Lynnfield this Saturday. They lost 6'3" 283 lb tackle Andrew McManus to an elbow injury. He was taken off the field in an ambulance and Viking coach Jim O'Leary was quoted in the Newburyport News as saying "it didn't look good." They also lost starting outside linebacker Bobby Viselli but he is expected to be ready for Saturday.

CAL Small leader Newburyport ran into rough waters again this week as they lost their second in a row, this one 33-0 to Masco. Masconomet was overwhelmingly rejected in their bid to join the Northeast Conference last week and it looked like they took it out on the Clippers.

The Chieftains were up 14-0 at the half and had a pair of other scores called back on penalties. Masco scored 13 in the third period to put it away.

Newburyport has now scored only two points in the last two weeks. They could struggle again this week when they travel to Wilmington to take on the Wildcats.

Two interceptions returned for touchdowns in the first period set the tone for Ipswich, which suffered its fifth straight loss, this one to Pentucket 34-6. The good news was that the Tigers scored their first points of the year in the second period. They have now been outscored 161-6.

Check back on Thursday for more on the Pioneers' big matchup with Triton.

Material from the Newburyport Daily News, Lawrence Eagle Tribute, Salem Evening News, Boston Herald and Rally North.net was used in compiling this report.


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