Around the CAL/NEC 4: Week Three

More interesting scores this week. Things are still hazy with all the non league games, but some trends may be emerging that could affect the upcoming league race. We'll take a look at them all but first we'll check on the updated standings.

The two league favorites bounced back with impressive wins after tough losses last week leaving no doubt that they are the teams to beat. So let's get right to those two games.

North Reading rebounded strongly after a late loss to Newburyport by smothering Amesbury 21-7. All League running back Carl Lipani, who was "held in check" for "only 90 yards" against Newburyport, exploded against the Indians for 223 yards and two touchdowns on 33 carries.

Amesbury opened the game well but an interception killed their first drive. They never came close to scoring again until they were down by three scores. The Hornets' single wing machine mowed down the Indians for 350 yards rushing and had double the plays that Amesbury did.

Hornet offensive coordinator Ed Melanson thought the key was on the other side of the ball.

"The defense played really well," Melanson told me. "They had a decent first drive and them we shut them down pretty well. I think they had 16 yards of offense if you take away their first and last drives. We didn't play well against Newburyport and I believe the reason why was we were tight and maybe a little nervous knowing where they were ranked and all the hype around them. This week we went back to playing football the way we are capable of and everything fell into place."

It was North Reading's first win over Amesbury since 2001 when they beat the Indians 19-7.

If the Hornets continue to play like this, the "hype and rankings" will be hitting closer to home, like down the other end of Chestnut Street.

NR travels to Reading on Saturday to take on Austin Prep.

And speaking of bouncing back, defending champion Hamilton-Wenham parlayed four second half turnovers and a couple of big plays into a 12-7 win over Newburyport in a replay of last year's Division 3A playoff opener.

The Generals won that one 7-0 and they had to fight for everything in this one as well as the Clipper defense didn't give Trevor Lyons and the H-W offense much on the afternoon. But Lyons did connect with sophomore Jim Campbell on a 25 yard scoring pass in the first quarter and then with Christian Ecker on a 91 yard TD strike in the second quarter to take a 12-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Clippers chopped the lead to 12-7 on the opening drive of the third quarter when Tyler Cusack capped a 70 yard drive with a five yard rushing TD. But H-W held on for dear life, with Eckert and Lyons picking off interceptions and the General defense recovering two fumbles to hold off the charging Clippers.

The win lifts H-W to 2-1and they travel to Landry Stadium to take on Amesbury Friday night.

Ipswich finally got into the win column after a devastating loss last week at Whittier. This week they put things together to upset visiting Triton 19-7. Kyle Barber ran for 126 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns to lead the Tigers.

Barber opened the scoring in the first quarter with a one yard plunge, but Pat Sheehan's Vikings came back to take a 7-6 halftime lead when Bradley Whitman hit Travis Kneeland with an 11 yard TD strike.

Barber put Ipswich on top for good with a three yard burst in the third and the Tigers added the insurance score midway in the fourth on a Kyle Blomster to Nate Glaser 17 yard scoring pass.

"It was definitely one of those days," Sheehan told me as the Vikings couldn't repeat their performance from last week's big win over Cathedral. "But they are big and strong up front. Defensively they ran a 'new' pressure defense that gave us problems all day."

The Tigers host Pentucket this Friday night.

Meanwhile Georgetown, the surprise offensive power of the league so far, lost a close shootout to Whittier 52-48 in a game that saw over 900 yards of offense.

Royal quarterback Niko Edwards opened the scoring with a 4 yard run, then Whittier responded with 22 unanswered points to make it 22-6 after one quarter. Tim Dillon made it 22-12 with an 11 yard run but then the teams began exchanging scores. Edwards hit Tom Zargaj with a 44 yard TD strike to make it 28-20, then Edward answered another Whittier score with a 59 yard run to make it 36-26. The Tigers added another second quarter TD to make it 44-26 at HALFTIME!

They stretched their lead to 52-26 before the Royals tried to claw back with a pair of second half touchdowns, an Edwards to Colby Ingraham 11 yard pass and another Edwards running touchdown, this one from 13 yards out.

Georgetown head coach Paul Sobolewski has clearly rejuvenated the Royals in his second year there. Last season, Georgetown scored a total of 114 points. This season, they have 101 in three games and have topped the 40 point mark twice.

They will try to keep things rolling this Saturday when they play Bishop Fenwick (site undetermined) and Rufus Rushins.

Finally, the biggest headscratcher in the CAL/NEC 4 so far has been Manchester-Essex which suffered their third straight defeat, this time 26-12 to Cathedral. I really expected the Hornets to be in the thick of things in the league title race and they still may be, but they are going to have to turn it around from a struggling non-league schedule thus far.

M/E started fast again, the second week in a row they have scored first, but fell behind the Panthers 14-12 at halftime. Cathedral scored twice more in the second half to seal the win.

The Hornets will travel to Chelsea Stadium to take on the Pope John Tigers this Friday night looking to get their first win.

And in a game that featured the next two Lynnfield opponents, Pentucket handed Danvers their first loss of the season 33-20 in West Newbury. Both of those teams will provide a stern test for the Pioneers.

That's it for now. Check back Wednesday for my next post on the 1973 Pioneers.