Around the CAL Baker: Week 5

By Tom Condardo

After a couple of weeks of league play there are only two teams in the Baker undefeated at 2-0: the Pioneers and Hamilton-Wenham. The game with the Generals on October 18 is beginning to loom large on the horizon - if both teams can take care of business this weekend. But before we get to that, let's review this week's action and take a look at the Division Four Power Ranking. First, here are the Baker League standings.




The most interesting game was played in Hamilton on Saturday where the Generals held off an Amesbury team that has been dealt a tough hand by the schedule makers. The Indians have played in succession Triton, Pentucket, Lynnfield and now Hamilton Wenham, teams with a combined record of 11-5. They appear to be coming on however as they battled the Generals before falling 14-12.

After a scoreless first quarter, H-W drew first blood on a Thomas Rostad to Jimmy Campbell 12 yard TD pass late in the second period. The Indians got on the board early in the third with a defensive TD when Rey Melis caught a fumble and returned it 52 yards for a score. The PAT was no good and the Generals led 7-6.

H-W answered shortly before the end of the third when Jimmy Baras rumbled 50 yards to put the Generals up 14-6. The Indians fought to the end. After recovering a fumble deep in their own territory with under three minutes to play, they marched 85 yards behind improving sophomore quarterback Jared Dupere. He capped the drive with a 4 yard scoring pass to  Dan Welch. Amesbury went for the two pointer to tie but the pass fell incomplete and H-W was able to run out the clock.

The Generals travel to Manchester-Essex to take on the Hornets Friday night and Amesbury heads over to Ipswich Friday night in what should be a very interesting contest.

As for the Tigers, they also started with a tough slate of games losing to North Reading, Newburyport, and Hamilton Wenham. They took it all out on Georgetown Friday night in an explosive 41-14 rout.

Ipswich started to come alive last week against H-W when their defense didn't allow a score in a 24-7 loss. All the General TD's came on special team or defensive plays.

This week the Tigers put it all together against Georgetown. The two teams battled through most of the opening quarter scoreless until the Tigers' Jake Long scored on a quarterback sneak with seconds to play to take a 7-0. Charlie Gillis scored early in the second to make it 13-0. Long returned a Cooper Martens fumble late in the first half to make it 20-0 and the rout was on.

Three plays into the third quarter, Tyler Starr raced 55 yards to give Ipswich a 27-0 lead. They made it 34-0 on their next possession when Gillis found the end zone again.

The Royals got on the board after a good punt that pinned the Tigers at their own two yard line. Ipswich fumbled on third down and Georgetown recovered it in the end zone for the score. After recovering an onside kick, the Royals made it 34-14 when Nick DePasquale got loose for a 49 yard TD.

Ryan White's two yard blast accounted for Ipswich's final points in the game.

The Royals have the honor of traveling to Lynnfield this week to help christen the new stadium. I'll have a preview of that game Thursday night.

Division Four Power Rankings

Due to their anemic opponent points, the Pioneers fell to fourth place in the power rankings behind the W's - Winthrop, Watertown, and Weston. If Winthrop continues to win, they will run away with the top spot since they play all Division Three teams in the Northeast Conference. That's worth 12 points for every win.

Meanwhile, the Pioneers victories have come over four teams with a combined 4-12 record so they only have 12 opponent points, fourth fewest in the division.

You'll also notice that my rankings differ from those you might see elsewhere. That's because I have Hamilton-Wenham bumping Newburyport for the eighth and final spot. If the season had ended last weekend, the Generals would again make the playoffs because they are tied for first in the Baker. The Clippers are currently tied with Stoneham and I'm not sure of the tiebreaker, but I went with most "own" points.

That's it for now. Check back on Thursday.