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Amesbury hammers Royals for first win

Sunday, November, 02 By Mac Cerullo

AMESBURY – The Amesbury football team finally put it all together last night, dominating Georgetown from the opening whistle to pick up the team’s first win of the year by a score of 40-6.

Amesbury (1-5) started off hot, running the ball all the way down from their own 25-yard-line to score on their opening drive. Junior running back Brandon Doucette capped off the drive with an eight-yard scoring run, and just like that Amesbury had a 6-0 lead.

Georgetown (1-5) went three and out on its first drive, and after the ensuing punt was returned to their own 40, Amesbury needed just four plays to get back to the end zone again. After a 22-yard run by Doucette to get into the red zone, sophomore quarterback Jared Dupere found senior captain Pat Scanlon in the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown pass to make it 12-0.

The sequence more or less repeated itself in the next drive, as Georgetown went three and out again, punted short to give Amesbury good field position again, and then Amesbury went right back down and scored again in five plays. Dupere finished the drive with a 14-yard scamper, rushing out to the left and making it just inside the pylon. Dupere converted the following two-point conversion, and with 1:23 to play in the first quarter the Indians already had a 20-0 lead.

Amesbury got the ball right back on the ensuing kickoff after Scanlon booted the ball straight at a Georgetown player. The ball bounced right off the player’s chest and bounced straight back towards the Indians, who recovered the impromptu onside kick to take over again.

Though Georgetown would stop Amesbury on its next drive, the Royals wound up going three and out again. Dupere reached the end zone again on the Indians next drive, sneaking in for a one-yard rush to put Amesbury up 26-0 midway through the second quarter.

Amesbury nearly scored again just before halftime, but a 26-yard touchdown pass from Dupere to Scanlon wound up being called back after an Amesbury player was called for a chop block. The Indians drove right to the goal line, but on the last play of the half, Dupere was intercepted by Georgetown’s Nick DePasquale as time expired.

At that point, the penalty and the interception were essentially the only blemishes on what had otherwise been a perfect half for the Indians. Amesbury outgained Georgetown 251-8 in total yardage, and the defense didn’t allow the Royals to record one first down.

Things continued to go Amesbury’s way in the third quarter, as the Indians forced the Royals into another three and out. Senior Doug Masi returned the ensuing punt for a 70-yard touchdown, but the play was called back after the Indians committed another penalty.

No matter. Amesbury wound up scoring again shortly afterwards anyway thanks to a series of big runs by Doucette, who picked up 54 yards in three plays, including his second touchdown of the day on an eight-yard rush to put Amesbury up 34-0. Doucette finished the game with 124 yards and two scores on 12 carries.

Georgetown finally got on the board midway through the fourth quarter, after senior running back Ben Prescott escaped up the middle for a 52-yard rushing touchdown. It was the only big play the Indians would allow for the entire game.

After that point, the Indians utilized their backups for the rest of the game and ran the ball to try and run out the clock. But with under a minute to go, sophomore running back Scotty Franco made the most of his playing time when he broke free for a 37-yard rushing touchdown to make it 40-6, charging into the end zone as his teammates cheered wildly from the sidelines.

“He’s one of those kids who works really hard and he really deserved it,” Scanlon said after the game.

The win was the first of the year for Amesbury and the first for Dupere as starting quarterback. The sophomore signal caller finished the game 5-for-8 with 82 yards passing and a touchdown with 29 yards rushing and two more touchdowns on the ground.

“It feels really good,” Dupere said. “We’ve worked so hard and we finally came through and got the win.”

Amesbury coach Glen Gearin said he was pleased with his team’s effort and noted that they had cleaned up a lot of the mistakes that have plagued the team all season.

“The kids did very well, they deserved it and they stayed together,” Gearin said. “You have your first five weeks and don’t get a win, it can easily go south, and I give these kids a lot of credit, they stuck to the plan, they all stayed together, every one of them showed up every day for practice and good things happened.”

Amesbury will look to build on its momentum next Friday when the Indians take on Manchester Essex at 7 p.m.