Around the CAL Baker: Week 1

by Tom Condardo

There was no head to head action in the Baker this week, but the other five teams in the division all played. Lots of different looks, especially on offense, but only one came away with a win. We'll take a look at those five games but first the Week 1 standings.



The only other Baker team to pick up a win in week one was Manchester-Essex. New head coach Jeff Hutton and the new Hornet wing T offense won a hard fought 13-0 victory over Northeast ending a streak of seven straight losses to the Knights dating back to 2010. M/E held Northeast to under 150 yards of offense in the shutout.

The Hornets scored in the first quarter on a Chris Carr 27 yard run. That was all the scoring for either side until midway in the fourth when Carr romped to a 31 yard score. M/E hosts Greater Lowell in their home opener Friday night.

The Pioneers beat Northeast 37-0 in their final scrimmage of the preseason.

Hamilton-Wenham rolled out their new "double-quarterback" offense and hung in against Bishop Fenwick until the Crusaders exploded for 26 fourth quarter points to roll 42-25. General coach Andrew Morency has said in a couple of interviews that he has two solid quarterbacks in Tom Rostad and CJ Cooper so he devised an offense where they are both on the field at the same time in a spread offense. One lines up at QB and the other beside him at RB. The theory is that defenses will be confused not knowing who is actually the quarterback on any given play.

Rostad was 7 for 13 for 71 yards with a TD and Cooper was 7 for 12 for 75 yards and a touchdown. Both relied on Cam Peach who caught seven passes for 109 yards including a 20 yard score. Rostad hit Hunter Ascolillo in the second quarter for the Generals' first score of the year cutting the BF lead to 8-6. After another Fenwick score, H-W pulled to 16-13 early in the third on the Cooper to Peach connection.

It was all BF from there as the Crusaders scored twice in less than a minute early in the fourth and added another TD later to break open the game at 36-13. Rostad ran one in to cut the lead to 36-19 and BF recovered the onside kick and added another score to make it 42-19. The Generals added a JV touchdown late to account for the final score.

The Generals travel to North Reading to take on the Hornets this Friday night.

Ipswich hosted North Reading in their home opener Friday night and both teams trotted out new offenses. The Hornets have returned to their traditional Power I formation, ditching the single wing offense that was so successful when it was installed by former offensive coordinator/single wing guru Ed Melanson.

The formation seemed to work well for junior running back Matt McCarthy who torched the Tigers with 234 yards rushing and three TD's. They let 20-0 at the half and David Smith made it 27-0 when he returned the second half kick for a score.

Meanwhile new Ipswich head coach Kevin Fessette had the Tigers surprisingly come out in the Triple Option - think Saugus - but without much success, picking up less than 100 yards of offense.

The Tigers host Newburyport Friday night in a battle between two teams looking for their first win.

Amesbury lost a heartbreaker to Pat Sheehan's young Triton team 31-28 on a Viking score late in the game. An experienced Indian team matched an early Triton score on a 41 yard pass from Adam Incontri to Dan Welch. Triton then pulled out to a 23-8 advantage but Amesbury fought back to take a 28-23 lead on another Incontri to Welch hookup. But they couldn't contain Viking quarterback Lewi L'Heureux who broke loose for a long gain to set up a three yard winning TD plunge by Mike Talbot late in the game.

The Indians travel to Pentucket on Saturday in search of their first win.

Georgetown got off to a fast start in new head coach Eric McCarthy's debut against Essex Tech jumping out to a 7-0 lead on a Nick Calvani to Jimmy Sherman TD pass. Unfortunately for McCarthy and the Royals, that was the night's only highlight. Former Pioneer defensive coordinator Greg Haberland's Hawks quickly roared past the Royals scoring five unanswered touchdowns to win going away 34-7. Essex Tech kept the attack on the ground, rolling for over 300 yards and throwing only twice.

Georgetown hosts Greater Lawrence on Friday night.

That's it for now. Check back Thursday night for my Danvers game preview.