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Georgetown hands Shawsheen first loss

Saturday, October, 06 By Bob Albright
Staff writer

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.

That's the only conclusion one could possibly come to as the Royals rolled up a three-touchdown lead on previously undefeated CAC Large power Shawsheen Tech and held on for an impressive 21-14 win which sent shock waves rippling throughout the conference.

"I think in the beginning of the season there was that concept of small and large," said an elated Georgetown coach Matt Bouchard. "Now every time that they walk on the football field they are confident that if they execute they can win."

Still, that doesn't make knocking off the team many predicted to be the last one standing in the CAC any less thrilling.

"This is amazing. I know a lot of people doubted us," said Royal quarterback Joe Esposito, who rushed for a pair of scores. "But our team knew. We were the only ones who knew that we could knock this team off. All 11 players executed all day."

Excuse the visiting Rams (4-1) if they thought there were more like 13 or 14 Royals out there, especially on defense. After harnessing the Whittier Tech running game a week earlier, Georgetown (3-1, 2-1 CAC) held a Shawsheen ground game that was averaging better than 150 yards a game to just 85 on 24 carries. After rushing for nearly 450 yards in his first four games, Rams' feature back Chris Clark was held to just 53 yards on 12 carries as he met one swarm of Georgetown tacklers after the next.

"Defense and special teams won this game," said Bouchard. "They're a good rushing team, but our guys were downhill today. They bought into the game play and they went at it. "This is huge," the Royals' coach continued, while trying to fully drink in what his team had just accomplished. "I have to take a step back here. I'm just so proud of these guys."

After a scoreless first quarter which saw both teams feel each other out, Dave Kenneally's 5-yard run capped an 11-play 60-yard drive and staked the Royals to a 7-0 lead at the half. A 35-yard punt return by Brandon Wade set up the next score for Georgetown (3-1) which held on to the ball for all but two minutes of the third quarter. Staring at a second-and-goal at the Shawsheeen 8-yard line out of the shotgun, Esposito coolly scooped up a bad snap and knifed into the end zone behind the blocks of pulling guard Nathan Brudnick and fullback John Boutin.

The score made it 14-0 with 10:05 to play and with the way the Royals defense was playing the Rams looked flustered, especially after Royal cornerback Nadjee Harrigan made a juggling interception at midfield and returned it all the way to the Shawsheen 20. Two plays later, Esposito was in the end zone again with the Royals' third score with just 5:53 to play.

"They believe that offensively they can put the ball in the end zone and they believe defensively that they can stop people," said Bouchard. "Last year there were moments of that, but it wasn't on every down like it is this year."

Playing with a sense of urgency which seemed to be lacking for the first three quarters, the Rams made it interesting behind the arm of QB Joe Gore (14-for-23, 224) with two late aerial strikes. But when the Rams' last ditch onside kick sailed out of bounds with 22 seconds left, the Royals were celebrating their first back-to-back wins over CAC Large opponents since 2001. The Royals will try to make it three in a row next Saturday at Greater Lowell. Captain Jeff Rollins, for one, thinks it's more than doable.

"It's a great feeling of team effort," said the senior two-way lineman. "You start with one guy and you have to go to the next and the next, everyone is doing it. We're never satisified. We want to keep improving each game."