RallyNorth.net

Masconomet Chieftains Football '14

Thu, Nov 27, 2014 10:00 AM @ North Andover
Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Masconomet 0 7 14 0 21
North Andover 7 6 0 0 13

Masco outmuscles Knights in series finale

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Friday, November, 28 By Dave Dyer

NORTH ANDOVER — For much of the season, North Andover won with toughness and strength up front.

But Thursday morning, the Knights (8-4) got beat at their own game as Masconomet won the battle in the trenches. Masco rolled to a 21-13 victory that ended the 40-year holiday rivalry on a high note for the Chieftains, who finished with a fine 9-2 record.

Division 2 North champion North Andover will face Andover on Thanksgiving next year while Masconomet will be searching for a new opponent.

“This is just too amazing,” said Masconomet quad-captain Steve O’Reilly. “We never lost to this team in my high school career and now we never will. I’m just really happy.”

The 6-foot, 240-pound O’Reilly along with senior classmates Kyle Taggart (6-2, 260) and Jack Butt (6-5, 240) were the heart of an interior line that made the difference after a slow start that found North Andover leading 13-0.

With Gavin Monagle rushing for 129 yards and a TD on 30 carries and junior Scott Foden adding 71 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries, Masco outgained North Andover 248-69 on the ground.

“Gavin and Scott do a really nice job running the ball, but we won all nine games up front,” said Masconomet coach Jim Pugh. “Those three guys — O’Reilly. Taggart and Butt — can all play and I think they’ll be playing (college football) somewhere.

“I think we played tough. physical football for 44 minutes and that’s why we won.”

North Andover coach John Rafferty didn’t disagree.

“They were superior up front and that’s the difference,” said Rafferty. “We had a good season, but this is a tough way to end it. You have to block and tackle — that’s what this game is about.”

The first quarter, however, belonged to North Andover. The Knights stopped Masco on three plays on its first two possessions and took a 7-0 lead on their second possession.

A short Masco punt followed by a 24-yard return by Bubba Shkliew gave the Knights the ball on the Masco 33. Although it took 10 plays, the Knights scored on a beautifully conceived 3-yard pass from Seamus Lambert to Tim Deveaux.

Then, on its nest possession, Masco went nowhere and shanked a punt that went zero yards, giving the ball over on its own 24-yard-line.

Three plays later, following a procedure penalty, Shkliew caught a backward pass and then connected with Bill Marcotte on a tricky 28-yard TD pass play. That made it, after a blocked extra point, 13-0.

But from that point on, it was all Masco, which has beaten their former league rivals in four straight and seven of the last eight matchups.

The Chieftains narrowed the gap to 13-7 at halftime as Monagle capped off a 71-yard drive with a 12-yard scoring run.

Masconomet carried that momentum forward. The Chieftains scored twice in the third quarter on runs of 5 and 9 yards by Foden, finishing off drives of 64 yards (six plays) and 62 yards (four plays).

So what turned it around for Masconomet?

“We’ve been working on a new offensive scheme and I thought we used  more of it (after the first quarter),” said Monagle. “We were more old school in the first quarter. Plus, the blocking was great.”

North Andover, meanwhile, never got untracked offensively in the second half. It did reach the Masco 34 on its first possession of the third quarter, but a fumbled handoff on 4th-and-1 ended the drive.

“We knew we had to come back and we did,” said Monagle. “This feels incredible. Words can’t describe how great this is.”

Game Statistics:

First Quarter

NA — Tim Deveaux 3 pass from Seamus Lambert (John Boudreau kick), 1:35

Second Quarter

NA — Bill Marcotte 28 pass from Bubba Shkliew (kick blocked), 9:58

M — Gavin Monagle 12 run (Jason Slattery kick), 3:30

Third Quarter

M — Scott Foden 5 run (Slattery kick), 7:58

M — Foden 9 run (Slattery kick), 1:59

 

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING: NA (31-69) — Bubba Shkliew 16-60, James Foote 8-17, Breyin Nichols 4-10, Jukka Morales 1-2, Seamus Lambert 2-(-20); M (48-248) — Gavin Monagle 30-129, Scott Foden 10-71, Corey Tines 2-60, Declan Judge 5-(-14), Aubrey Leake 1-2

PASSING: NA — Lambert 3-10-0, 39, Shkliew 1-1-0, 28; M — Judge 3-7-0, 23

RECEIVING: NA — Joe Samuelman 1-20, Rim Deveaux 1-3, Bill Marcotte 2-44; M — Foden 1-2, Tines 2-21

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