Around the CAL Small: Week Five

Lots to get to this week so let's get right to it. First a look at the updated standings.



Before we get to the scores around the league, I wanted to mention a regular feature in the Globe that started today. Here is a link to The Unbeaten Bus and it names all the undefeated teams in EMass football. Of the 193 teams in Divisions 1 through 4A, only 22 are unbeaten, and the Pioneers are one of them which earned them a seat on "the bus."

On to the roundup.

Amesbury became the final team in the CAL Small to taste league action this week. As could have probably been predicted, the Indians had an easy time of it in Georgetown, beating the Royals 31-8 in the only league contest this week.

The Indians took advantage of Royal turnovers in their own territory to build a 24-0 halftime lead. They used a long drive in the third to make it 31-0 before the struggling Royals put together a scoring drive to get on the board in the fourth period.

The win snaps a three game losing streak for Amesbury. Indian coach Thom Connors unveiled a new wrinkle by using defensive standout Ian McLaughlin as a running back. The senior returned last week to shore up an Amesbury defense that had given up 83 points in the two games he missed. It now looks like he will join Matt Enaire, junior Steven Deas and quarterback Tyler Lay to give the Indians a formidable running game. McLaughlin picked up 70 yards and a pair of scores while Enaire had 50 yards and two TD's. Deas picked up 79 yards.

Georgetown's quarterback Tyler Wade had 88 yards passing and running back Max Mangano ran for 81 yards and the Royals' only score.

The Indians jump back into the CAL Large this week with a game against Pentucket while the Royals provide Bishop Fenwick with their fourth straight CAL Small opponent Saturday in Georgetown.

Speaking of the CAL Large, Hamilton-Wenham suffered its second straight non league loss by a 34-6 count against the undefeated Wildcats in Wilmington. The score, however,  was a bit deceiving.

The Generals battled the Wildcats in the first half and went in at the intermission down only 7-0. But Wilmington picked off a Dylan Keith pass at midfield on H-W's first possession of the third period. Wilmington converted it into a touchdown to give them a 14-0 lead.

The Generals answered with a quick scoring drive capped by a seven yard Keith run. The key play on the drive was a 69 yard bomb from Keith to standout General receiver Jimmy Love who caught seven passes for 136 yards on the night.

The wheels came off for H-W at that point. They gave up a long flea flicker that led to a score on Wilmington's next possession to make it 21-6. Then the Generals coughed up a fumble and threw an interception and the Wildcats converted both into fourth quarter touchdowns to account for the final score.

However, the fact that the Generals hung tough with one of the strongest teams in the CAL Large after a dissapointing loss to Bishop Fenwick last week shows they will definitely be a part of the CAL Small title chase this season.

The Generals have a bye this week before jumping into their final five games all CAL Small league games.

Meanwhile, Newburyport continues to do what they always seem to do under head coach Ed Gaudiano - improve as the season progresses. The Clippers were shaky to start the year, dropping their opener to Hamilton-Wenham then struggling in the first half before pulling away from a young North Reading team in their second game.

However, even without standout Andrew Sokol gone for the year, they appear to have gotten their act together. They prevailed in a must win game against Ipswich in week three before beating Pentucket two weeks ago. Last week they stayed in the CAL Large and gave Masco all it could handle before falling 20-15.

After earning at least a piece of the CAL Large title for the past five seasons, this Chieftain team is probably "Masco" with a small "m" after graduating a boatload of talent. That combined with them finally playing a schedule against teams their own size had the 0-4 Chieftains arrive at World War Stadium Friday night winless. And until late in the game, it appeared the Clippers might just have them leave the same way.

Clipper quarterback Ryan O'Connor appears to be getting stronger every week. He was 15 of 24 for 144 yards and a TD in this one. He hit Evan Habib with a 17 yard scoring strike to give Newburyport a 7-0 first quarter lead. Masco answered with a long drive to tie the score and then took a 14-7 halftime lead after picking off an O'Connor pass and converting that into another score.

The teams battled through a scoreless third period, but midway in the fourth, Masco head coach Jim Pugh, called for a fake punt from his own 26 on fourth and eight. The pass was incomplete giving the Clippers a short field. It took them 7 plays and over three minutes but Sam Francis finally blasted in from the three with 3:26 to go in the game to get the Clippers to within one at 14-13. O'Connor found James Conway for the two and Newburyport led 15-14.

But the Clippers couldn't stop the Chieftains once they got the ball back. Masco put together a 75 yard, 7 play drive capped by an 18 yard TD pass from Ben Panunzio to Dylan Mann for the winning score.

The Clippers will have an even tougher battle on their hands this Friday when they host unbeaten Wilmington.

In another one where the score was a little misleading was the 41-2 beating Pentucket handed to Ipswich. The Tigers, a much improved team this year, were hit with the injury bug and were playing without several starters including running back Jake LeBlanc and receiver John Eldredge. Missing those two key components both offensively and defensively, was something the Tigers were not able to overcome.

Ipswich trailed only 6-2 after one, but the Sachems blew it open with 21 second quarter points to take a 27-2 halftime lead and they never looked back.

The Tigers hope to get some of their wounded back this week, so they should have a much better time of it this Friday when they travel to Manchester to take on the 1-3 Hornets.

Which brings us to the team I think is going to have a big say in the final CAL Small standings - North Reading.

The Hornets, though still winless, have lost two games in a row that they should have won to Catholic Central Large opponents. Two weeks ago, they lost a heartbreaker to Austin Prep by allowing 16 points to the Cougars in the fourth period.

Last week might have hurt even more as they fell at home in overtime to Bishop Fenwick 30-24. Even worse, NR built a 22-0 halftime lead with the rejuvenated Hornet offense with Nick Rosano playing his second game at quarterback. Rosano hit senior Evan Wade with two first quarter touchdowns and got both two point conversions on passes, one to former quarterback R. J. Warnock and the other to Wade to give the Hornets a quick 16-0 lead. They made it 22-0 when Rosano sprinted in from the five in the second period.

But the young Hornets wilted in the second half, allowing the Crusaders to score the first two times they had the ball in the second half to cut the lead to 22-16. The Hornets seemed to right the ship when they drove the field and had a first down inside the Fenwick five, but they fumbled on the Fenwick 3 yard line giving the Crusaders the ball back. However, BF quarterback Brett Kidik was called for intentional grounding giving the Hornets two points, a 24-16 lead and the ball.

NR started their drive at the 50 but according to Dan Harrison of the Salem News, backup quarterback Warnock, came in to give Rosano a rest since he had just returned the kickoff. There was a fumble on the next snap and the Crusaders recovered. They drove down and scored when Kidik hit Ryan Lipka to tie the score with 1:47 left.

On the first play of overtime, Kidik found Lipka again for a ten yard TD pass. The try for two failed, but it didn't matter as the Crusaders stopped the Hornets four times on their OT possession to take home the win.

Despite their current 0-5 record, the Hornets look to be a factor in the CAL Small race. They are a young team and eventually they will learn how to hold on and win these type of games. After scoring only nine points in their first three games, head coach Jeff Wall installed Rosano at quarterback and Warnock at receiver and the Hornets have exploded for 26 points and 24 points in consecutive weeks.

They have a bye this week, but they still have games remaining with Hamilton Wenham, Amesbury and the Pioneers on Thanksgiving Day, so they will be heard from before this is over.

That's it for now. Check back Thursday for my look at the Chelsea game.