LYNN — For the majority of this season, Marblehead High has been a second half football team.
But in last night's Division 3 state semifinal against a run-oriented Rockland High squad, the Magicians took control early on with three first-half touchdowns and held on for a 21-12 victory in their first ever playoff game.
The triumph allows the 10-2 Magicians to advance to their first ever Super Bowl this Saturday. They'll face Bishop Feehan (9-2), which crushed Dighton-Rehoboth, 42-13, in last night's other Division 3 semifinal, at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro at 11 a.m.
For everyone on the Marblehead sideline, it was a celebration that seemed too good to be true when the final seconds ticked off the scoreboard clock.
"When you say 'Marblehead is going to the Super Bowl', I can't even believe it," said joyous Magicians wideout Matt Perlow after the game. "I mean, it's actually happened, but I'm still speechless."
First-year Marblehead head coach Jim Rudloff recalled wondering what it would be like to see his team play on the Patriots' home field when he was at Gillette Stadium a few weeks earlier to see the Pats play the Dolphins.
"I remember looking down at the field and saying 'Could you imagine?'" he said. "(At the time) it was a fleeting thought — but now it's really going to happen. It's unfathomable."
Marblehead scored three times in its four first half possession, jumping out to a 21-6 halftime lead they'd never relinquish. Although they didn't score again over the final 20 minutes, the Magicians held firm and never allowed Rockland back into the contest.
Rockland coach Ken Owens felt his team bounced back nicely in the second half, but given his club's offensive style he felt a comeback was a tough thing to ask of his players.
"We're not a comeback team with any sort of consistency," said Owens. "We ran out of time and lost to a pretty darn good football team."
From the very first play, it was clear that the Northeastern Conference Small champions were hungry for a trip to Foxboro as the visiting Magicians won the coin toss and elected to receive. With a burst of speed, Damarco Dooley returned the opening kickoff 52 yards down to the Rockland 36-yard line. Three minutes, six plays, and 36 yards later Magician quarterback Hayes Richardson found the end zone himself from one yard out, and after Mike Bernato put the extra point between the uprights, Marblehead found themselves with an early 7-0 lead.
It was something Rudloff felt was crucial to the Magicians' game plan.
"That was huge," noted Rudloff. "Right after (the TD), our offensive coordinator, Mike Giardi, called down to us and said 'We did it too fast'. We knew they wanted to pound it right at us, and we were afraid they would kill the clock. So we scored quickly and tried to hold on for dear life."
The Patriot Conference Champion Bulldogs (6-6) would responded with a 12-play, 62-yard touchdown drive of their own, capped off by an 11-yard rumble by 235-pound fullback Mike Driscoll. But place kicker Rick Witt botched the extra point kick, leaving Marblehead out front, 7-6.
Driscoll was impressive all night for Rockland finishing with 22 carries for 96 yards and two touchdowns.
The Marblehead offense may have been effective early, but it was Rudloff's defense — led by the 16-tackle performance of senior captain and linebacker Matt Evans — that consistently came away with big stops against a Rockland offense that came into the playoff bout having rushed for over 1,600 yards in 11 games. More importantly, the Magicians didn't give up a single play of over 20 yards.
"It was 'bend but don't break' for our defense'," said Rudloff ,who switched his defense to a 4-4 alignment after running the bear defense in the first half. "The one thing we wanted was to get them to throw the ball. We couldn't let them run on us."
Richardson would add to the Marblehead lead when he found a wide open Perlow streaking down the middle of the field for a 49-yard touchdown strike on the very first play of the second quarter.
After being forced to punt on their third series, the Magicians — who ran only 35 offensive plays all night — got the ball back with only 1:14 left in the half. Richardson would orchestrate a seven-play, 81-yard drive in which the man under center had a 25-yard run and three consecutive 14-yard passes (two to Perlow and one to Alex Haigis). Fullback Evan Comeau put the exclamation point on the drive with a 14-yard dash to paydirt.
With two of the biggest wins in school history coming just five days apart, the Magicians will look to ride the momentum to Saturday's Super Bowl matchup against Feehan. But Rudloff knows it is now time for his team to bear down and focus on the task at hand.
"We can't get ahead of ourselves. We have to focus on what we have to do this week to work on getting ready for our next opponent," he said.
Marblehead 21, Rockland 12
Division 3 playoffs
at Manning Field, Lynn
Marblehead71400 — 21
Rockland6060 — 12
M-Hayes Richardson 1 run (Mike Bernato kick)
R-Mike Driscoll 11 run (kick failed)
M-Matt Perlow 49 pass from Richardson (Bernato kick)
M-Evan Comeau 14 run (Bernato kick)
R-Driscoll 2 run (rush failed)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Marblehead — Hayes Richardson 8-47, Marcell Hardmon 9-43, Evan Comeau 4-34, Will Quigley 5-22; Rockland — Mike Driscoll 22-96, Terrence Gibson 15-64, Tim Fitzgerald 11-39, D.J. Austin 2-3, Jason Hall 1-(-1).
PASSING: Marblehead — Richardson 4-9-91-1-0; Rockland — Austin 3-10-16-0-1; Joe Carlier 0-1-0-0-0; Fitzgerald 0-1-0-0-0.
RECEIVING: Marblehead — Matt Perlow 3-77, Alex Haigis 1-14; Rockland — Gibson 1-10, Carlier 1-7, Fitzgerald 1-(-1).
