Around the CAL/NEC 4: Week 10

As expected, the Hamilton-Wenham Generals remained undefeated and captured the CAL/NEC 4 crown on Saturday. We'll take a look at their title winning performance and the other league game. But first, let's check out the updated standings.



No surprise up in South Hamilton as the Generals scored three 40+ yard touchdowns in the first quarter enroute to a 41-14 drubbing of the struggling Georgetown Royals. The win keeps the Generals undefeated at 9-0 but more importantly lifts them to 4-0 in the league and sews up their second consecutive league title.

They will now move on to the playoffs for a rematch with Newburyport who won the CAL/NEC 3 with a 12-7 win over Winthrop on Friday.

The Generals scored twice more in the second and the Royals scored once but H-W went in at the half up 33-6 with the coronation well underway.

H-W will travel to Ipswich on Thanksgiving Day as the Tigers will try to knock the Generals from the ranks of the undefeated.

Georgetown gets ready to host Manchester-Essex on the holiday.

I made the trip to frigid Ipswich on Friday night to see North Reading take on the Tigers and I certainly came away impressed.

The Tigers forced a Hornet fumble on their four yard line to halt an early scoring bid. They then came back to take a 6-0 lead on a pretty 55 yard bomb from freshman quarterback Nick Andreas to Louis Galanis.

It looked like that lead might hold up at the half, but the Hornets single wing offense got into gear and marched 75 yards in 14 plays with Carl Lipani going in from the four. Eric Valenti kicked the extra point and the Hornets took a lead they would never relinquish.

The second half was the Carl Lipani show for the Hornets. The smart, tough, quick, fast running back carried 16 times for 142 yards and two touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters. He finished the night with 227 yards as the Hornets rolled 32-14. He leads Division 3A with 20 touchdowns and 125 points.

The win lifts North Reading to 6-3 and guarantees them their first winning season since 2007 when they beat the Pioneers 30-12 to nail down a 6-5 year.

The Pioneer-Hornet game figures to be an exciting, evenly matched dogfight. I'll have much more on that as we get closer to Thanksgiving Day.

That's it for now. Check back Wednesday for my next installment of the 1986 Super Pioneers series.