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Andrew Morency sat in the Donaldson Field stands on Sunday and watched the Masconomet football team dismantle a very good Bishop Fenwick club.

Before Morency had even made it to his car in the parking lot after the Chieftains' 35-14 victory, he was already thinking of ways to make sure his Hamilton-Wenham Generals weren't Masconomet's next victim.

HAMILTON | It was hard to tell who had worked harder, sweat more or was more exhausted at game's end.

On the one hand, you had Nate Masterson. A senior captain for the Hamilton-Wenham football team, Masterson scored two touchdowns, booted a 40-yard field goal and scored all 16 of his team's points against North Andover.

One weekend, 83 carries and a mind-boggling 907 yards rushing.

No, it's not what you probably think one college running back tearing up the hapless Notre Dame or Michigan defenses last week.

Rather, it was the combined rushing totals of four of the North Shore's elite running backs on the opening weekend of the high school football season.

WEST NEWBURY | At halftime, there were more than a few puzzled expressions among the 300 fans at Pentucket on a sweltering opening day Saturday afternoon.

At the house where defensive dominance and ball-control offense are revered, there was a bona fide shootout going on between the Sachems and Hamilton-Wenham.

After back-to-back 6-5 seasons, the Hamilton-Wenham Regional football team improved to 7-3 last season under first-year head coach Andrew Morency. But the Generals fell just short in their goal of winning the Cape Ann Small League title and earning a spot in the state playoffs.