Around the CAL/NEC 4: Week 3

All five other teams in the league were in action as we reach the midpoint of the non-league portion of the schedule. First up, let's take a look at the standings



Hamilton-Wenham took another giant step toward cementing themselves as the prohibitive favorite in the CAL/NEC 4 with another dominating win. On Friday, the Generals went on the road in the rain and snuffed out Newburyport 18-6 for their third consecutive win.

The tandem of Burr and Lyons may sound like a law firm, but it is taking on more of a look of a funeral home for the opposition as a devastating one-two offensive punch for H-W. The Clippers held quarterback Trevor Lyons in check in the rain early and actually scored first. Newburyport quarterback Connor Wile found James Conway with a 12 yard TD pass to give the Clippers a 6-0 first period lead.

Then Burr and Lyons went to work. Normally, Burr does most of his damage with his bruising running, but in the second period he turned into a receiver. Lyons hooked up with him three times to get the Generals to the five yard line. Lyons ran it in for the score and after the try for two failed, the teams were knotted at 6-6.

Burr went returned to earth on H-W's next drive carrying the load as the Generals marched down the field for another score. Burr did the honors from the one. The rush for two failed and H-W led 12-6 at the half.

The teams remained scoreless throughout the third period and deep into the fourth. With just over three minutes left, the Generals drove to the Newburyport 20 where Lyons finished it off with a pass to Pete Duval on a fourth and eight. The PAT kick attemp failed but the Generals had wrapped up the 18-6 win.

H-W has now allowed only 13 points in three games and looms large as the league schedule gets closer. The Generals return home to face Amesbury on Saturday afternoon.

Meanwhile down the road apiece in the same rainstorm, North Reading battled Amesbury at Landry Stadium and for the second consecutive year, fell to the Indians in overtime.

The Hornets got 177 yards and a pair of TD's from Carl Lipani who lugged the pigskin 40 (yes FORTY) times. But it wasn't enough to overcome the home team.

Amesbury took a 7-0 lead in the first but NR came back to tied it in the second period on a Lipani one yard run. Eric Valenti tied it with his PAT and that's the way the first half ended.

The Indians took the lead in the third, but missed the PAT and led 13-7. The Hornets used a mind-numbing 11 1/2 minute drive to tie the score again and Lipani capped it with a two yard run with just over a minute to play. However, Valenti's kick was wide, setting up the overtime.

North Reading scored first on a miraculous pass completion from Jason Kellogg to Charles McCarthy on fourth and 14. Under the tiebreaker rules, you can't kick an extra point on the first series, and Lipani was stuffed on the two point try leaving them with a 19-13 lead.

Amesbury tied in on the second play of their series and then won it when Delante Castle took a pitch and   ran into the endzone for the two points.

The 21-19 loss was the Hornets' second in a row as they fall to 1-2 in non league play. The Hornets host Austin Prep this Friday night.

Georgetown was on the road as well this week and fell to Whittier Voc 28-13 in Haverhill Saturday morning.

The Royals scored first on a Tyler Wade 11 yard pass to Colby Ingraham. The pass for two failed but Georgetown led 6-0. Whittier then took command, scoring four unanswered touchdowns. The Tigers led 20-6 at the half and 28-6 until late in the game. Georgetown added a touchdown when Wade connected with Thomas Zargaf for 39 yards. Wade added the point but it was too little too late as the Royals suffered their first loss of the year and fall to 1-1.

They play at Bishop Fenwick on Saturday.

Manchester-Essex fell to 1-2 with a 14-8 loss to Cathedral after allowing two second half Panther touchdowns at Hyland Field Friday night.

The Hornets actually had a chance at the go-ahead touchdown with less than a minute to play but a fumbled snap out of the shotgun killed the threat.

M/E controlled the first half and scored first on a six yard TD run by Chris Dumont. A bad snap out of the endzone by Cathedral gave the Hornets two more points and they led 8-0 at the half.

However, the Panthers came back to tie it in the third and take a 14-8 lead mid way in the fourth period. The Hornets couldn't get any closer though as Cathedral won it's third straight game.

M/E travels to North Shore this Saturday.

And finally, the troubles for the Ipswich Tigers continue. They fell to 0-2 after suffering a 26-0 beating at the hands of Pat Sheehan's Triton Vikings who have now won two in a row after snapping their 12 game losing streak.

The Tigers have now been outscored 66-8 in their two losses. They have another tall task this Saturday when they travel to Pentuckert.

That's it for now. Check back Wednesday night for my next post in the series celebrating the 1986 Super Bowl season.