RallyNorth.net

There is always something to work on.

After blasting winless North Shore, 44-8, Georgetown now faces a trio of teams (Northeast, Chelsea and Minuteman) with a combined 1-17 record before meeting Manchester Essex Thanksgiving morning for the Commonwealth Conference small school title and a Super Bowl berth. But head coach Matt Blanchard will use this opportunity to keep his troops on the winning path while adapting his substitutes to varsity-level competition.

The Royals posted their first Commonwealth Conference crossover wins since 2001, going 3-1 against the CAC Large. Now the real season begins with a classic Turkey Day showdown coming with Manchester Essex.

Greater Lowell hunted high and low but couldn't seem to figure out where the ball went as it was pounded 41-8 by a deceptive Georgetown running game.

Royals quarterback Joe Esposito faked hand-offs and ran past a bewildered Greater Lowell defense for 163 yards. The fakes were so well executed that Esposito's fullback, John Boutin, was seemingly tackled more times without the ball than with it.

GEORGETOWN | One thing was made abundantly clear on a sun-splashed football field in Georgetown yesterday: The time has come to stop talking about large and small divisions and simply call the Royals one of the best teams in the Commonwealth Conference. Period.

Georgetown football coach Matt Bouchard likens it to the difference in going from a suit and tie job to one that requires a sweat shirt and a beat up pair of overalls.

On offense his Royals are all about precision, timing and spreading out the field. Defensively, where a majority of his offensive starters also play, he would like his team to drop that suit and tie mindset.

HAVERHILL | The raucous blue and white celebration at midfield at the conclusion of yesterday's Whittier Tech-Georgetown football game was befitting of the kind of outbursts you might see after a Thanksgiving game or a December playoff contest.

ANDOVER | The soggy turf at Greater Lawrence yesterday morning effectively slowed down 21 of the 22 players playing upon it in the Commonwealth Conference opener for both Greater Lawrence and Georgetown.

Tomorrow morning's Georgetown at Greater Lawrence battle will be a flashback to the days when these two dominated their divisions of the Commonwealth Conference.

Georgetown remains tiny Georgetown, with only 36 players dressed, but as Reggies coach Tony Sarkis emphasized, "they are very sound as usual and have played together for four or five years."

A couple of hidden gems culled from two of the bigger victories on the weekend.

First, there was the Saturday afternoon effort by Georgetown sophomore Tyran Harrigan in the win over Lynnfield. Listed on the Royals' depth chart as the backup safety and quarterback, Harrigan came through big, the way teams with 36-man rosters often need.

GEORGETOWN | Georgetown certainly knows how to get the most out of its limited resources.

Working with 36 dressed players in heat exhaustion-type conditions, the Royals utilized every part of their unit while riding the hot hand and fast footwork of quarterback Joe Esposito to a 28-20 season-opening win over Lynnfield.