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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.”