| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marblehead | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Georgetown | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
Saturday, October, 04
By Chuck Frye
Staff writer
GEORGETOWN — What else can Joe Esposito do to win games?
His offensive exploits are already notable as shown again yesterday against non-league opponent Marblehead, this despite wearing a bull’s-eye as the Royals’ only productive member.
But the senior was a terror on the other side of the ball as well, which ended up being a much more important factor in a 28-14 victory over the Magicians.
Georgetown remains unbeaten with the win (3-0) while its Northeastern Conference foe drops to 2-2.
Upstaging a 262-yard contribution of total offense, having a hand in all four touchdowns and all but 10 of Georgetown’s yards, Esposito was the team leader in tackles with 11. Four of the stops went for negative yardage as the co-captain almost intercepted a pass in the first half, then pounced on a loose ball in his own end zone late in the third quarter to preserve a two-score advantage.
"Even last year, I would have loved to have used him even more on defense," Royal head coach Matt Bouchard said. "This year we needed him, and playing safety sometimes he ends up free depending on (the opposition). You put Joe in a situation where he has a little bit of freedom and he can make some plays."
The defensive effort helped stabilize a playing field where Georgetown’s offense was either wildly successful (eight plays of 10 yards or more, four for touchdowns) or depressingly ineffective (three turnovers with one returned 91 yards for a Magician touchdown, four drives starting inside the opponent’s 30-yard line but only one score resulting).
Royal special teams also suffered as a blocked punt gave Marblehead the ball at the 1 with 11/2 minutes left in the third quarter, scoring a play later to cut the gap to 21-14.
But Georgetown remained sturdy behind Esposito, defensive back David Kenneally (five tackles, three for lost yardage), linebacker Andrew Sinkewicz (six tackles), Mike Ruh (forced fumble) and tackle Eric Gesualdi (fumble recovery). Despite running 67 offensive plays and holding a six-minute advantage in time of possession, Marblehead was held to a paltry 5 of 14 on third-down conversions and a even more stingy 1 of 6 on fourth-down attempts.
"One of the big things you look for when evaluating a team is how they respond when times get tough," Bouchard said. "With three drives inside the 10 that we didn’t convert ... it was a little surprising, but we have a veteran group that’s had to deal with some tough situations.."
And that gave the Royals offense enough breathing room to succeed behind Esposito, who scored in all four quarters on runs of 49, 70 and 19 yards, adding a 14-yard pass to junior Tyran Harrigan for the eventual winning points. The senior also had four perfect point-after kicks, giving him 65 points, or almost 22 points scored per game.
First Quarter
G — Joe Esposito 49 run (J. Esposito kick), 1:29
Second Quarter
M — Nick Haller 91 fumble return (Ian McKinley kick), 8:54
G — J. Esposito 70 run (J. Esposito kick), 6:54
Third Quarter
G — Tyran Harrigan 14 pass from J. Esposito (J. Esposito kick), 5:13
M — McKinley 1 run (McKinley kick), 1:26
Fourth Quarter
G — J. Esposito 19 run (J. Esposito kick), 2:15
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Marblehead (37-84) — Nick Haller 11-45, Brandon Lee 13-35, Evan Comeau 4-13, Hayes Richardson 2-12, Ian McKinley 7-(-21); Georgetown (34-224) — Joe Esposito 22-214, Anthony Conte 3-6, Chris Esposito 3-5, David Kenneally 2-3, Jaymie Spears 3-1, Tyran Harrigan 1-(-5)
PASSING: M (10-27-1, 126) — Richardson 1-3-0, 5; McKinley 9-24-1, 121; G (3-11-1, 48) — J. Esposito 3-10-0, 48; Spears 0-1-1, 0
RECEIVING: M — Taariq Allen 6-89, Lee 1-21, Alex Haigis 1-12, Haller 1-2, Dan Comeau 1-2; G — Conte 1-28, Harrigan 1-14, Mike Ruh 1-6
sir i believe that statement needs to be reevaluted because it seems that all the tools in the box rusted...:/
#2 10/11/2008 03:50 PMGeorgetown was an absolutely HORRIBLE team, and Amesbury had an absolutely terrible game. Nothing at all like we fans (neutral or not) had expected. The Indians absolutely slaughtered teams that this Royals team would not ever have had the slightest the chance to score against. Very disappointing showing by both teams today. Very boring game, many failures on both sides; sad actually. As they say.....on any given Sunday. Esposito was unimpressive, I was disappointed; what a wasted trip.
#3 10/11/2008 05:43 PMUnfortunately Football Fan is correct. The Royals got very lucky this afternoon; although I can't say we're not happy to capitalize! We'll take it. The Indians were merely outcoached, and the lesser talented Georgetown players (just being honest here....I love my town) were lucky enough to have that happen. Glad to take advantage......sorry, sometimes the truth hurts. Additionally, my camcorder shows that our qb was not anywhere near the end zone on his 2 pt conversion...very, very.......VERY lucky afternoon for our guys. Very close game.
#4 10/11/2008 06:06 PMI love these posts - just like in hoops last winter. Georgetown kicks Amesbury's butt, and the posters say how HORRIBLE Georgetown is and how lucky they are! If the Indians were half as good as they thought they were, they would have blown out the Royals. C'mon guys, just be honest...the Indians are overrated, and all that matters in evaluating these 2 teams is to gander at the scoreboard. Gtown 15 Amesbury 14. It's over.
#5 10/11/2008 08:19 PMIbleedblue34 I think we all know youre not really a Georgetown fan. And in no way was this game terrible. It was not an offensive explosion because both teams held the ball for very long drives. And Football Fan, you team has slaughtered everyone because they have not faced a defense like the royals' this year. This game came down to who could make the bigger stand on defense. In my opinion as a player both quaterbacks were very impressive, and so was the running back for Amesbury. Both teams played great and it was an amazing game to watch. Its sad to see poor losers come on this site and complain how bad everything was when a great game was played by both sides.
#6 10/12/2008 09:42 AMThat Amesbury running back ran all over us (Triton here) as well as the N Andover & Lawrence teams. He is probab]y the BEST big back in the region. He is a junior so we're stuck facing him for one more year. And on defense he took TWO of your guys out of the game; one CRAWLED off of the field in agony. You were lucky that your coach outsmarted the Amesbury coach; I still don't know why he ran these guys up the middle with eleven on the line; Amesbury passed really well against all of the other teams. The coach definitely lost this one.
#7 10/12/2008 07:12 PMamesbury haz no passing... i likez to pasS to mai wiDe recievers... they Suck too cuZ we'Re manCHESTer d4
#8 10/14/2008 08:03 PM
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Always nice to see a team improve such as the Royals have, and move up a division. Just not so sure about them yet; as, they haven't really played "anyone" yet". Their schedule will get harder, and a team like Amesbury's schedule is going to get easier. I think it will be a tough contest next Saturday. Amesbury's got a FULL TOOLBOX and better balanced stats....more spread out among the many tools; the 2 best backs in the region included, who remain at the top even though sharing carries.; whereas Georgetown seems to be one-dimensional...with one lone star producing.. and no one else holding a spot in the Eastern Mass Leaderboards.....and if you combine Burrell and Johnston, they blow away the Royals QB as far as yards and pts., but like football goes, you never know. I
Report! #1 10/04/2008 09:02 PM