AMESBURY - Ipswich High's Ted Flaherty spent part of his postgame speech here last night quoting legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi.
But it didn't matter. The Tigers coach could've been talking about the life and times of Whoopi Goldberg, and his players still would've been hanging on every word.
That's what happens when you win a classic athletic contest that borders on the surreal.
In what has to rank as one of the most remarkable regular season games in Ipswich football history, the Tigers out-battled a valiant Amesbury team, 37-34, in a four-overtime thriller at Landry Stadium.
Making it even sweeter was the fact that it was Ipswich's first win, snapping a three-game losing streak to begin the season.
The decisive blow for Ipswich was struck by senior Brenden Gallagher, who nailed a clutch 24-year field goal on fourth down in the fourth overtime, giving the Tigers a 37-34 edge.
Was the lead safe? Of course not. Amesbury had four attempts to cover 10 yards for a touchdown that would've handed the Indians a dramatic victory of their own. But the Ipswich defense, punctuating a marvelous stretch of football, forced a long field goal try by Amesbury's Mac Short, which was deflected and didn't come close to sending the game to another extra session.
"I've been in this (coaching) since 1991 and I've never been involved in a game like this," said Flaherty. "Never four overtimes. Never an ending like this. It's really unbelievable.
"We could've (lost) this game so many times. It was back and forth, back and forth. Just crazy. But our kids just stuck with it — and stuck with each other."
On a night when Amesbury's defense was worn out by Ipswich workhorse Peter Moutevelis (32 carries, 153 yards and 4 touchdowns, including two in OT), the Indians seemingly had the best chance to deliver the knockout punch at 26-all in the second overtime. Amesbury had the ball on the Ipswich 1-yard line on fourth down, but the Tigers' defense stopped Delante Castle cold on an inside run.
"It was exciting and a game you won't forget, and we had our opportunities," said Amesbury (2-3) coach Thom Connors. "We've had a lot of success running that type of play (referring to Castle's run), but we couldn't put it in.
"Ipswich just out-toughed us."
The Tigers played like a desperate and determined team all night, grabbing a 13-0 lead late in the third quarter. One of those touchdowns came on freshman Nick Andreas' first touchdown pass of the season, a 5-yarder to Moutevelis with just two seconds left in the half.
Andreas (7-for-17 passing, 76 yards, 1 TD and no interceptions along with a rushing touchdown) played his best game of the season, remaining calm in all sorts of tense situations. He managed the game beautifully and directed four drives in excess of 60 yards. He often fed the ball to Moutevelis, who kept pounding away at the Amesbury defense.
Derek Chamberlain added 50 yards on seven carries and the Tigers kept the Indians guessing by also spreading the ball around to Cam Murray, Louis Galanis and Gallagher.
To its credit, Amesbury stormed back from 13-0 and 20-13 deficits, knotting the game at 20-20 on Matt Talbot's 10-yard scoring pass to Devlin Gobeil with 54 seconds left in regulation.
In the end, it was Gallagher who came through with the huge field goal to close it out in overtime No. 4.
"Gallagher is a kid you want in that situation," said Flaherty. "He's athletic and a senior and he's been in tough situations before. There was a little talk about, 'Oh, should we not go for a field goal in that situation?' But no, we wanted him out there. The only thing we talked about was his protection up front along with the snap and the hold. The kids came through — and Gallagher came through."
There's no question in Flaherty's mind that his team can build off this stunning game. In fact, he's counting on it.
"You can use all those coaching cliché©s and all that stuff after a game like this," said Flaherty. "We really believe this could be a turning point for this program and for this season. We have one non-league game left (against Newburyport) and then we feel we can make a run at the (league) title."
