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Ipswich, Georgetown

Sunday, November, 02 By Mac Cerullo

IPSWICH — It was right back to square one for Georgetown, just days after picking up one of the team’s biggest wins in recent memory.

Ipswich ran all over the Royals in the lopsided 41-14 victory, with running back Charlie Gillis leading the way with 180 yards rushing and two touchdowns Thursday night. Georgetown had only eight yards of total offense at halftime, and other than a spurt at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the team was never able to get anything going.

“The kids battled, that’s all I can say,” said Georgetown head coach Justin Spurr. “They battled every play.”

The first quarter went by quickly, as the two teams held the ball for one possession each and mainly kept the ball on the ground. Georgetown managed to convert a fourth and short, but otherwise wasn’t able to muster anything and was forced to punt after eight plays. Ipswich, on the other hand, marched 68 yards down the field on the strength of Gillis and wide receiver Robbie Glavin, scoring with five second to play in the quarter on a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Jake Long.

Things went more or less the same for Georgetown in the second quarter as well, as the Royals went three and out on their next possession and proceeded to allow the Tigers to rush 67 yards down the field again. Gillis once again carried the load for the Tigers, breaking free for a 38-yard rush that only wasn’t a touchdown thanks to a lunging tackle by DePasquale. It didn’t matter — Gillis scored four plays later, and after a missed extra point the Tigers led 13-0.

Turnover and penalties have been an issue for Georgetown all season, and late in the half the Royals got burned by their own carelessness again after quarterback Cooper Martens was stripped of the ball by Long, who took it 44 yards the other way to make it 20-0 Ipswich going into halftime.

Having kicked off to start the game, Ipswich received the ball to start the second half, and it didn’t take long for them to score again. Three plays in, running back Tyler Starr got free on the outside and ran for a 56-yard touchdown to extend the Tiger lead to 27-0.

Georgetown was ineffective on its next drive as well, and when Ipswich got the ball back, they continued to run it right at the Royals, who couldn’t do anything to stop it. Gillis rushed the ball every play on the drive, culminating in a 10-yard touchdown to make it 34-0.

The Royals punted on their next possession, but caught a break when the ball bounced all the way to the Ipswich two, pinning the Tigers back against their own end zone. After a couple of short runs, the Tigers fumbled the ball, allowing a pile of Georgetown defenders to jump on the ball in the end zone for a touchdown.

Desperate to get back into the game, Georgetown went for an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff and recovered it. The very next play, DePasquale broke out for a 49-yard touchdown run, and just like that, the Royals had scored 14 points in under a minute. But that’s as close as the Royals would get, as Ipswich responded with an 11-play, 60-yard drive consisting mainly of Gillis runs. Once in the red zone, the Tigers started feeding the ball to their big fullback Ryan White, who plunged into the end zone on a two-yard touchdown run to score the final points of the game and put his team ahead 41-14.

Georgetown and Ipswich are now each 1-3 on the season, and next week the Royals will head to Lynnfield to face the undefeated Pioneers on the road.

Ipswich will look to make it two in a row when they host Amesbury.