RallyNorth.net

Hamilton-Weham football slowed by injuries

Saturday, October, 13 By Mike Grenier
Staff writer

HAMILTON | No one has to tell coach Andrew Morency and his Hamilton-Wenham football team that this is the most arduous part of the season.

The Generals were feeling it physically and mentally here Saturday after Cape Ann League power Wilmington dominated them in every phase of the game in a 31-7 thumping.

Hamilton-Wenham has bruised bodies and bruised egos. The Generals (2-3) have lost three straight games following a promising start and while the setback to Wilmington didn't hurt them in the CAL Small division standings, they didn't play like like the contender they hope to be down the stretch.

"It's frustrating for us right now," admitted senior captain/running back Jake Cotter, who accounted for Hamilton-Wenham's lone touchdown with a 60-yard run in the second quarter. "Guys are a little down, but we have to pick it up."

Football can be a cruel game when injuries slam a team because there isn't a break in the schedule. That's the position that the Generals currently find themselves in. They're fighting a war of attrition as well as a war on the field.

Their best linemen have been knocked out of commission. Two-way tackle Corey Daff (6-3, 235) is out for the year with a knee injury, junior guard/defensive end Dave Littlefield is sidelined indefinitely with a high ankle sprain and starting guard/defensive tackle Paul Littlefield sustained a concussion on the opening series against Wilmington and missed the remainder of the game.

Morency was forced to go with young, inexperienced linemen against the Wildcats (5-1) and it took its toll in the second half, when Wilmington wore down the Generals, stretching a 14-7 lead to 28-7 by the end of the third quarter.

Wilmington played the kind of all-around game that coaches love to see. Senior Ernest Mello chipped away at the Hamilton-Wenham defense with the run (28 carries, 108 yards, one touchdown), clearing the way for senior quarterback Kyle Moon to be effective with play-action passes. Moon was on target, hitting 8 of 10 for 150 yards, including a 70-yard hookup with Stephen Stewart after the Generals defense bit on the run fake.

"That's about as balanced as you're going to see us," said Wilmington coach Bob Almeida. "We're not big enough to be smashing people (for an entire game)."

The Wildcats were big enough, however, to control the line of scrimmage and the clock in the second half. Hamilton-Wenham had the ball for just a dozen plays after intermission. You aren't going to win many games with 12 snaps in a half.

Morency is being very realistic about all this. He was calm after the game, walking off the field with Cotter, explaining to him that Hamilton-Wenham has played the most demanding part of its schedule shorthanded. The Generals don't have to do anything drastic. They have to get healthier and play through the adversity. Nobody is going to spot them points in the remaining games, so they have to do everything they can to help themselves.

"We're getting tested," said Morency. "Today was tough. Mello is one of the best backs in the league and Bob Almeida is one of the top coaches in the league. Wilmington has averaged about nine wins over the last 10 years. That's a tribute to Almeida and the kids who play for him.

"We have injuries, but there are no excuses. The teams we've played so far have a combined record of 25-6 (heading into the past weekend). We've been dealing with all the good teams in the (CAL Large) and now we have to put that behind us and move on. "We still have opportunities in our own division. The schedule gets a little easier, not that Amesbury (Hamilton-Wenham's next opponent this Saturday at home) will be an easy team. But at least we're done with the big teams."

Playing teams in their own division isn't an automatic cure-all for Hamilton-Wenham. The Generals have to dig down and find ways to compete into the fourth quarter so that they have a chance to come out on top. And it has to start with the Amesbury game because Hamilton-Wenham is starting to run out of chances.

"I'm sure this is killing kids like Jake (Cotter) and Nate (Masterson)," said Morency, referring to two of his captains. Yet the statement applies to the rest of the team, too. Hamilton-Wenham knows it can do better than this. "These kids aren't going to quit," said Morency, "and the coaches aren't quitting on them."