By Dan Harrison
staff writer
—
HAMILTON — Newburyport may have had the size advantage in Saturday's Cape Ann League Small battle against Hamilton-Wenham, but the host Generals showed they definitely had more heart.
Despite being outsized on the offensive and defensive lines, Hamilton-Wenham racked up 170 yards and two touchdowns by way of the ground game to start the season off with a big 14-7 win over the Clippers.
The smaller Hamilton-Wenham line simply dominated Newburyport's twin 270-pound heavyweights, Timothy Lawler and Tyler Souther, as well as 265-pound Kyle Monhan.
"It was pretty pure," Newburyport head coach Ed Gaudiano said about why his team came up on the short end Saturday. "(H-W) wanted it more than we did. Our guys ducked and they took it to us — and you can make that the headline."
A defensive battle, the game boiled down to two separate 4th-and-short plays. On both occasions, the Hamilton-Wenham trenchmen dug down deep and were able to push around the Newburyport linemen to win the battle up front — and eventually, the game.
The first came with the Generals trailing 7-6 when Elliot Burr rumbled his way in from two yards out on 4th-and-goal behind center James Brao capping off a 10-play, 61-yard drive. The drive came immediately after Newburyport took its first lead of the game, 7-6, in the third quarter.
"That was one thing, as a coach, that I couldn't be more proud of," said H-W head coach Andrew Morency. "We go down late in the third quarter of a conference game after a big gap in scores, and then the seniors took control. That drive was methodical. It made me feel good about what we can do when we face a little adversity."
The second big fourth down play came on the defensive side of the ball, when the Generals put a halt to the Clippers' final drive of the game. They stuffed quarterback Ryan O'Connor a yard short of the first down on 4th-and-2 with the visitors threatening on the H-W 21-yard line. The Bule-and-White then took over on downs with just a minute to play, and quarterback Dylan Keith took a knee for the win.
"Our line is our strength and we have some kids who have been in the trenches before. You saw that presence in the last (scoring) drive," said Morency. "We let (our line) dictate what we can do, and they push it to the end. They went out and had a great game. Football is decided in the trenches and today, our line won the battle."
Morency also spoke about Burr's fourth-quarter touchdown and the job the junior did in taking the majority of the carries after starting running back Tucker White was sidelined with an injury.
"When you have James (Brao) leading (through the hole), you've got a lot behind your horse, and Elliot made a nice cutback on that sweep (to score)" said Morency. "Elliot's more a downhill runner (than White), more of a rumbler while Tucker is a slasher. We had to rely on (Burr) — and he rose to the occasion."
White capped off a 74-yard drive to open the game with a 5-yard TD run, but missed the extra point to make it 6-0.
Newburyport's offensive struggles, especially in the first half, were in large part due to the tremendous pressure the Generals were getting on O'Connor. Morency and Generals defensive coordinator Scott Burnham brought the heat all game and turned senior defensive end Jake Prince loose, and he responded by sacking the Clippers' signal caller three times (all on third down) in the first half.
"Jake (Prince) is a kid who worked hard in the off season and he came in demanding to be known," said Morency. "Now he's a two-way starter. He is a smart kid, a leader and he proved it with his pads today."
