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Masconomet football routs North Andover, makes playoffs

Thursday, November, 22 By Mike Grenier
Staff writer

TOPSFIELD — Earning a playoff spot was of paramount importance to the Masconomet football team yesterday in its annual Thanksgiving Day tug-of-war against North Andover.

But even if Masco had come into the game with a 25-game losing streak, North Andover would've been as big a target as the Grand Canyon.

"For this senior class, we haven't beaten North Andover since seventh grade," explained Masco running back T.C. Mannetta. "For some reason, they've had (Masco's number) since youth football. We really wanted this one."

The jinx, curse or whatever you might want to call it was dissolved in a big way on a foggy holiday morning as the Chieftains shredded the Scarlet Knights with three second quarter touchdowns and went on to a 42-14 win.

Coach Jim Pugh's Chieftains finished the regular season 10-1 and advanced to the playoffs for the second straight season and the third time in the last five years. They'll play Gloucester, a team they scrimmaged in preseason, in Tuesday's playoff game at a site to be announced today by the MIAA.

"It was like they made no mistakes today and we did," said North Andover (7-4) coach John Rafferty. "Masco is really good and they'll represent the Cape Ann League well in the playoffs."

Sophomore quarterback Chris Splinter, who is often the catalyst for Masco, had another spectacular outing, finishing 11-for-12 through the air for 158 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also carried the ball eight times for 69 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown.

But Splinter had plenty of help in what was an overwhelming performance by the Chieftains. Sophomore Evan Bunker threw a 29-yard scoring pass to Steve Sylvia in the second quarter and also hauled in six passes for 74 yards. Mannetta contributed a 79-yard touchdown run in the second half and collected 117 yards in eight carries. Clay Cleveland took a screen pass from Splinter and turned it into a 29-yard score and reserve running back Mike Fauci chipped in a 21-yard touchdown run.

Defensively, Masconomet choked off North Andover's running game, holding the Scarlet Knights to 38 yards. North Andover quarterback Steve Boudreau had good passing numbers — 13 for 19 for 142 yards and a touchdown — but he was also picked off by Evan Bunker and Splinter, respectively.

"That's as well as we've played this season in all facets of the game — offense, defense and special teams," said Pugh. "We didn't want this game to be the end of the road for us."

North Andover took a super aggressive approach on defense, playing close to the line of scrimmage, practically daring Splinter to throw the ball. The strategy worked for the first quarter, which was scoreless, but then the Chieftains went wild in taking a 21-0 lead by halftime.

Evan Bunker loosened up the North Andover defense on a toss sweep, throwing the 29-yard scoring pass to Sylvia with 7:44 left in the second quarter. Nick Salvo followed with the first of his six extra points for the 7-0 lead.

"They came out with nine guys in the box, which was different," Mannetta said of North Andover. "We went with the (option pass) and it was wide open."

Said Splinter, "We wanted to stretch the field against them."

Masco's defense was already in a shutdown mode when Bunker made "a perfect read," according to Pugh, and intercepted Boudreau, setting up Splinter's 13-yard scoring run for a 14-0 lead.

The Chieftains weren't about to play it safe with the two touchdown lead late in the half. Splinter unloaded a 55-yard pass to Bunker, which put Masco in business at the North Andover 5-yard line. Splinter went back to Bunker for the touchdown on the next play, pushing the lead to 21-0 with only five seconds remaining in the half.

"That was huge," Splinter said of the late second period touchdown. "A 14-0 game is still close, but 21-0 gave us a nicer cushion."

The fired up Chieftains kept deflating North Andover in the second half. Splinter's screen pass to Cleveland, which went up like a Manny Ramirez popup before settling into Cleveland's sure hands, expanded it to 28-0 with 6:18 left in the third period. North Andover finally scored five minutes later on Boudreau's 26-yard pass to Dave Sousa, but Mannetta's 79-yard touchdown run just 13 seconds later was the exclamation point for Masconomet.

"We were so focused today," said Splinter. "We had our best week of practice all season."

The Chieftains responded with a brilliant all-around performance in their biggest game so far. It's something to build on as they prepare to play a tremendous Gloucester team that ruled the Northeastern Conference.

Additional stories:

• Masconomet football defense stymies North Andover