Around the CAL Small: Week Eight

Heading into the home stretch and things are beginning to sort themselves out. But there is still a lot to be decided as we head into the final three games of the season.

But first, a look at the updated standings.



Four teams are effectively left in the race since unless there are upsets galore, the winning team will have no more than one loss.

Now that the head to head competition is in full swing, each week teams are in danger of falling by the wayside in the race for the crown.

This week, for all intents and purposes, Amesbury knocked Ipswich out of the race with a 28-20 defeat. The Indians move to 2-1 in the league and stay in the hunt while the Tigers fall to 2-2 and now must play the role of spoiler.

In the past two weeks, Amesbury took halftime leads into the locker room against both Pentucket and the Pioneers only to fall in the second half. Playing in a must win game on the road, the Indians didn’t let it happen a third time.

They used a little razzle-dazzle to score their first touchdown when Matt Talbot stepped in at quarterback and found regular QB Tyler Lay in the endzone for a 14 yard score in the opening period. The Tigers answered early in the second quarter on a 10 yard run by Peter Moutevelis, the extra point failed and Ipswiched trailed 7-6.

The Indians went ahead for good later in the quarter when Lay hit Ian McLaughlin with a 45 yard touchdown pass giving Amesbury a 14-6 lead at the half.

Ipswich pulled to within one in the third when John Eldredge hauled in a 20 yard pass from Brendan Gallagher to make it 14-13.

But the Indians pulled away later in the quarter on touchdowns by Delante Castle and Mclaughlin to make it 28-13.

The Tigers put together a typical Delware Wing T drive of 13 plays in the fourth quarter with Eldredge catching his second TD from Gallagher, but time ran out on Ipswich before they could get any closer.

Amesbury faces another must win game this Friday night when they host league undefeated Hamilton-Wenham. A win over the Generals would tighten the title chase even further. A loss and the Indians would likely be out with two league losses.

And even though Ipswich is all but mathematically eliminated, they will have a say in the outcome of the race. They come to Lynnfield this Saturday to take on the Pioneers and then have two and a half weeks to prepare for H-W in a game that could have championship implications.

I’ll have a full preview of the Lynnfield-Ipswich game on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Hamilton-Wenham had to survive an inspired effort against Georgetown to escape with a 12-10 win last Saturday. I was at that game and watched as the Royals gave the Generals all they could handle.

Georgetown has really improved since their loss to Lynnfield and playing with some key players that were absent against the Pioneers, took it to H-W from the outset.

In a grind it out first half that saw only two possessions by each team, the Royals went up 7-0 on an 88 yard march capped by a four yard run by quarterback Tyler Wade.

The Generals came back with 16 seconds left in the half when quarterback Trevor Lyons found a hole in the Royal defense and squeezed in from the three. Georgetown blocked the extra point to preserve a 7-6 lead at the half.

The bigger Generals began to take control in the second half, but still the Royals would not yield easily. H-W running back Elliot Burr, who picked up 110 yards on the day, rumbled in from the 18 early in the third period. The Royals stopped the try for two and but found themselves trailing 12-7.

Their best chance came late in the period when Wade led the Royals to the H-W ten yard line but stalled. Wade then drilled a 27 yard field goal to get to within 12-10 but the Royals could never get close enough for another field goal attempt that would have won the game.

Georgetown falls to 1-6 overall and  0-4 in the league and host North Reading this Saturday in what is most likely their best hope for a league win.

By the way, one of Georgetown’s assistant coaches is former Pioneer standout Billy Adams, son of LHS co-athletic director and former head football coach Bill Adams. The younger Adams is also a former Triton assistant coach.

The Generals are now 5-2 overall and 3-0 in the league and control their own fate. If they win out, they will represent the CAL Small in the playoffs.

That run starts this Friday when they head to Landry Stadium for a tough matchup with Amesbury.

North Reading was the only CAL Small team to play a non league game and were beaten 32-14 in a mismatch against CAL Large Pentucket.

The Sachems scored three touchdowns on their first nine plays and would go on to take a 32-0 halftime lead.

The Hornets put together a long drive in the third to get on the board when Nick Rosano hit Jamie Mantho with a 6 yard TD pass. The duo connected again in the closing minutes of the game to account for the final score.

NR running back Carl Lipani had 57 yards and Rosano picked up 54. Rosano also threw for 96 yards passing.

The winless Hornets fall to 0-7, 0-3 in the league and travel to Georgetown to take on the Royals which could prove to be a preview of two of the stronger teams in the new CAL/NEC 4 next season.

That’s it for now. Check back Thursday for my Tiger/Pioneer preview.