IPSWICH — Staying true to form, the Manchester Essex football team won another wild contest last night.
This time it was a 50-28 shootout victory over Ipswich High on the road. Manchester Essex improved to 5-1 while the Tigers continued their tough times, losing for the 28th straight game.
Senior running back Brian Ciccone enjoyed a huge game for the Hornets with 302 yards on 15 carries, including five rushing touchdowns. He scored on runs of 71, 29, 4, 58 and 85 yards. The last three of those runs came in the second half.
Ciccone also added six extra points on his huge night. On touchdown runs alone, he ran for 247 yards. He averaged 20.1 yards per carry on the night.
The Hornets also got TDs from senior Ben Kekeisen on a 5-yard run and a 77-yard TD pass from Alex Carr to Jim Finn. Kekeisen added a two-point conversion on his TD.
The game was actually a lot closer than the score would indicate. It was tied 22-22 at the half, and Ipswich actually led, 28-22, in the third quarter on Nate Bocko's 50-yard TD run. Bocko finished with a team-high 147 yards on 15 carries.
After that, Manchester Essex scored 28 straight unanswered points.
Ipswich's first half scores came on a James Riel 75-yard run and his ensuing 2-point conversion rush; a 16-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brenden Gallagher to Aaron Jessen to give the Tigers a 15-7 lead; and a Riel 17-yard scoring run.
Riel finished with 108 yards rushing on just seven carries for the hosts.
