Around the CAL Baker: Week 1

by Tom Condardo

No head to head games in the Baker this week and only two division teams besides the Pioneers were in action. I'll review the tough non-league starts for Georgetown and Manchester-Essex but first a look at the standings.

Georgetown showed some early life under new head coach Justin Spurr Saturday morning battling a tough Cathedral team to a 6-6 tie at the half. The heat and lack of numbers apparently wore down the Royals in the second half when the Panthers scored 25 unanswered points to cruise to a 31-6 win.

Georgetown fell behind 6-0 but tied it up with a 23 yard halfback option pass from running back Cooper Martens, who will likely see some action at quarterback as well, to Robert Dimento.

Spurr, the successful baseball coach as Georgetown, is still trying to put the Royals football program back together but has been hampered by lack of numbers. They hit the road for the first time this weekend when they travel to Lawrence to take on Greater Lawrence in a non league game.

The good news for the Royals is that they will soon be playing on a new artificial turf, saying goodbye to a field that has seen better days. Until the field is ready, Georgetown is playing its home games at Haverhill Stadium.

Georgetown's Thanksgiving Day rival Manchester Essex was the only other Baker team playing this weekend and they had a tough time as well at home against Northeast Metro. The Hornets couldn't contain Knight running back Kevin Rosado who scored on the second play from scrimmage and finished the night with 238 yards and three touchdowns in the 30-0 win.

M/E managed only 140 yards of offense - 43 on the ground. Quarterback Craig Carter was 10 of 17 for 97 yards. Nick DiPietro was the Hornet's leading receiver with four catches and 31 yards.

The Pioneers shut out Northeast 26-0 in a three period scrimmage on Labor Day weekend.

The Hornets have a week to rest up before hosting Greater Lawrence on September 19.

The rest of the Baker teams get underway this weekend. Ipswich travels to North Reading, Amesbury heads over to Triton and Hamilton Wenham visits Bishop Fenwick all under the lights on Friday night.