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 NORTH READING — The Hornets’ first game on their brand new $2 million FieldTurf appeared as though it could not get any uglier after two bad snaps forced punter Nick Rosano to be tackled in the end zone for safeties.

NORTH ANDOVER — Quarterback Brandon Walsh gave North Andover the spark it needed midway through the third quarter but he did not do it with his right arm or legs.
He did it by alertly recovering a fumble on the North Reading 10 yard line after teammates Alex Blane and Kyle Kobierski stripped the ball from a Hornet running back.
“They just punched it out and it came right to me,” Walsh said. “I just fell on it. It was a big turning point. We then put in a big score right there. It kind of got us going.”
North Andover scored two plays later to build a two-touchdown lead, energizing the sluggish offense that had not posted any points since early in the first quarter.
The Scarlet Knights scored 21 second-half points to beat North Reading 28-0.
“On that fumble, they just came from the backside and just made a great play,” the Hornets’ Robert Rosano said. “I couldn’t find a hole and it was just stripped from me. We can’t make mistakes like I made on that fumble. We had to play a perfect game to beat them and we didn’t.”
North Andover failed to score after blocking a punt and recovering the football on the North Reading 25 in the first quarter.
“It doesn’t matter about those misses,” junior David Foote said. “We got it together.”
North Andover received a spark from fullback Jack Murphy, who ran for touchdowns of 45 and 39 yards. He finished with six carries for 92 yards.
The junior knew he needed to step up after struggling in the first half.
“I don’t feel like a played a very good first half defensively or offensively,” Murphy said. “I dropped an interception. I wasn’t getting off of blocks well and I blew a few tackles.”
But all that was soon forgotten.
“Any time he (Murphy) takes the weight off my shoulders, that’s fine,” said star tailback Zac Iovanella. “He hit the hole real hard and he showed us some speed I didn’t think he had.”

READING — A year ago, Pentucket was on the wrong end of the upset of the year, falling to tiny North Reading on opening day at its home field.

This season, led by a pair of surprise stars, the Sachems exacted their revenge.

HAMILTON — North Reading first squandered a 16-point, third-quarter lead then saw a possible game-tying drive crash at the 4-yard line with less than a minute remaining en route to a 24-16 defeat at Hamilton-Wenham yesterday afternoon.

ROWLEY — Despite playing in light rain and on a muddy surface, the undefeated Triton Vikings seemed unaffected by the playing conditions en route to its fifth straight win, 33-14 over North Reading. The now 5-0 Vikings got another steller performance by running back Brendan O'Neil, rushing for 169 yards and two scores while the Hornets were plagued by numerous turnovers.

 READING — Junior quarterback Ryan Havey of North Reading completed 9 of 12 passes for 177 yards and two touchdowns yesterday to lead Austin Prep past North Reading 36-6 at Reading High School field.

BROCKTON — North Reading played Cardinal Spellman tough last night, but it was not able to contain running back Blaise Branch in a 28-16 setback.

Branch rushed for 175 yards on 21 carries and scored on runs of 57 and 28 yards as Spellman (1-2) won for the first time this year.

NEWBURYPORT — For the second week in a row, the Newburyport football team’s defense carried the squad to a victory at Memorial Stadium.

The Clippers (2-0) forced four second-half turnovers en route to a 17-13 victory over North Reading.

IPSWICH — All it took last night was one halftime adjustment and one turnover and, in the space of eight minutes, North Reading had a bona fide blowout.