RallyNorth.net

AMESBURY — With the latest chapter of the Newburyport vs. Amesbury rivalry complete, we are left to wonder about the legacy each school’s senior class will leave.

Fair or not, Thanksgiving is the day when heroes are made on the high school football circuit. Amesbury captain Steve Serwon will always be remembered for sparking Thanksgiving Day upsets in 2006 and 2007 with defensive touchdowns. Indians quarterback Jared Flannigan will always be thought of as the game manager who took care of the football and kept the chains moving in victories in 2007 and 2008.

With a win, Newburyport would capture the wild CAL Small race and go to the playoffs. If Amesbury wins and gets a few breaks it could win the tie-breaker on the three-way tie.

This is one of the biggest showdowns in the modern history of this storied rivalry. With a win, Newburyport would capture the wild Cape Ann League Small race and go to the playoffs. If Amesbury wins and gets a few breaks it could win the tie-breaker on the three-way tie.

AMESBURY — The Amesbury football team wasn't ready to put on its Newburyport hat just yet following its fourth straight victory last evening.

The Indians (8-1) scored touchdowns on five of its six offensive possessions in a 35-13 victory over Hamilton-Wenham at Landry Stadium. The Indians improved to 3-1 in the Cape Ann League Small with the lone loss coming to Georgetown Oct. 11. The Royals (7-0, 4-0) and Newburyport (4-5, 4-0) are the lone teams in the CAL Small without a league loss. Those teams face off next Friday evening at World War Memorial Stadium. For the Indians to win the league, they will need Newburyport to beat Georgetown, and then they will need to beat Newburyport on Thanksgiving Day.

"I'm just worried about North Reading next week," Amesbury coach Thom Connors said in reference to his team's Thanksgiving tune-up with North Reading (4-4, 1-2) next Saturday. "We can only worry about the things we can control. I've been saying that for weeks. We'll let the cards fall where they may, and we'll play the hand we're dealt. That's all we can do."

The Indians captured the CAL Small title last fall with a Thanksgiving Day defeat of Newburyport. Amesbury middle linebacker Steve Serwon is not yet concerned with playing for similar stakes in a few weeks.

"We're not thinking about Newburyport, because we can't control what they do," Serwon said. "We don't even think about that. We just do what we do."

Last evening, Amesbury's running game was the key in its near-perfect offensive execution. Senior tailback Kevin Johnston had 15 carries for 111 yards and two touchdowns. Senior quarterback Jared Flannigan added eight carries for 53 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Jesse Burrell brought the power running game, logging 10 carries for 57 yards.

Hamilton-Wenham also had success running the ball, abandoning the spread offense the team had executed in the previous three games. K.C. Collier had 11 carries for 82 yards and a touchdown. He had seven carries for 53 and a one-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, before he left the game for the entire second quarter with a leg injury.

Stephen Dangora added 20 carries for 83 yards and a touchdown for Hamilton. His second-quarter touchdown narrowed Amesbury's lead to 14-13 with 2:17 remaining in the second quarter.

Amesbury responded with a seven-play, 55-yard scoring drive that only took 1:05. Flannigan finished off the drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Johnston, who also had two 2-point conversions on the evening.

"That touchdown before the half was huge," Connors said. "We didn't play poorly in the first half. They came in with a game-plan to smash right at us. We had to counter their toughness, and we did, but it wasn't an easy victory by any means. They played as well as they could play. Our offense needed to score as much as it did just to counter their toughness."

The Amesbury football team avoided fourth-drama last evening for the first time in four weeks. The Indians (7-1 overall, 2-1 Cape Ann League Small) cruised to a 31-13 victory over winless Ipswich (0-7, 0-4).

AMESBURY —The Amesbury football team appeared doomed last evening at halftime of a Cape Ann League Small matchup with bottom-feeder Lynnfield.

Not only did the Indians trail 12-0, but quarterback/safety Jared Flannigan’s second-half return appeared questionable after he missed all but nine seconds of the closing 9:21 of the first half due to a head injury.

WEST NEWBURY — Simply a classic.

Pentucket and Amesbury brought its "A" games yesterday and the 500 fans in attendance were the grateful beneficiaries. Unloading its playbooks and making quality adjustments, the game rightfully went into overtime where timely defense and Bill Medvitz’s 24-yard field goal led to an emotional 24-21 Indian triumph.

GEORGETOWN — With apologies to Sarah Palin, the Amesbury football team was probably muttering "Say it ain't so, Joe" Saturday afternoon after a heartbreaking 15-14 Cape Ann League loss to Georgetown in a terrific battle of unbeatens before nearly 1,000 fans on a beautiful afternoon. Georgetown standout Joe Esposito once again put on a highlight show, rushing for 107 yards, throwing for two touchdowns, kicking an extra point and, with 5:09 to play, running for the decisive two points after the Royals (4-0) had rallied from a 14-0 third-quarter deficit. Trailing 14-13 after completing a 21-yard scoring strike to Tyran Harrigan, the Royals didn't hesitate to go for two. "We're an aggressive team and we thought we would make it," said Esposito, who knifed through the right side of the line for the extra points. "I think this shows the kind of team we are, to fight back from 14-0. Right now, this is the biggest game of my life, to beat Amesbury here." Amesbury coach Thom Connors was impressed not only with Esposito, but with the Royals' overall effort. "He (Esposito) is everything we thought he'd be and more," said Connors. "But it wasn't just him — they were the better team today. We were up 14 points and we waffled to their pressure." Indeed, while Georgetown coach Matt Bouchard cited Esposito's superb play, he added: "The big thing today was that there were other people who performed. When you have a team keying on one guy so much, you need other guys to come through and they did." The Georgetown defense particularly delivered, perhaps no more so than at the end of the first half. With Amesbury already leading 6-0 — courtesy of a 28-yard quarterback sneak by Jared Flannigan in the first quarter — the Indiana put together an impressive 92-yard drive and had a first and goal on the 5-yard line in the closing seconds of the second quarter. Three running plays brought the ball down to the 1-yard line where, on fourth down with seven seconds left, the Royals held Kevin Johnston out of the end zone. "That was the biggest play of the game," said Bouchard. Agreed Connors: "We were ahead 6-0, but that gave them the momentum." Amesbury seemed to get it right back, however, when Georgetown fumbled the second half kickoff and the Indians got the ball on the Georgetown 32. Six plays later, Flannigan (10 carries, 62 yards) scored his second TD, this time on a 12-yard rollout. A pass to Stephen Serwon for two points made it 14-0. But the rest of the second half belonged to Georgetown. Jaymie Spears returned the ensuing kickoff to the 42 and Esposito needed only seven plays to reach the end zone, the TD coming on a 28-yard strike to Michael Ruh. Esposito's kick made it 14-7 with 2:53 left to play in the third quarter. Three plays later. thanks partly to an 11-yard sack by Joe Esposito, the Royals had the ball again, on their 28 after a nice 52-yard quick kick by Flannigan. Georgetown then clicked off four first downs with Dave Kenneally (2 carries, 14 yards and Spears (2 carries, 14 yards) help carry the load before the TD strike to Harrigan. Amesbury (4-1) got the ball two more times but managed only nine yards in seven plays, the final being an interception by Anthony Conte in the last minute of play. After trailing 14-0, Georgetown ran 28 plays to just 12 for Amesbury and outgained the Indians 163-1 in total yards. In addition to contributions from several backs in addition to Esposito, linemen Eric Gesualdi and Nathan Brudnick stood out on the line. "This win speaks volumes about the character of these kids," said Bouchard. "It's just a huge, huge win for us."

AMESBURY — North Andover had no answer for quarterback Jared Flannigan’s naked bootleg pass-run option, so Amesbury coach Thom Connors pointed out, “so you keep running it.”