RallyNorth.net

Momentum on Amesbury's side vs. Greater Lawrence

Monday, November, 26 By Dan Guttenplan
Staff writer

One day after clinching its first Cape Ann League title in school history, the Amesbury football team learned its playoff fate.

The Indians (5-5) will face Commonwealth Athletic Conference Large champion Greater Lawrence on Tuesday afternoon (4 p.m.) at Arlington High.

Greater Lawrence (10-1) had clinched its EMass. Division 3A playoff berth prior to its Thanksgiving Day loss to Lawrence. Knowing his team would face Greater Lawrence after its Turkey Day upset over Newburyport, Indians coach Thom Connors sized up the semifinal matchup.

"We know they're good because they've already clinched," Connors said Thursday. "We're thrilled to be in the thing, but we'll have our work cut out to represent the Cape Ann League Small in a positive way."

The teams will enter Tuesday's semifinal riding on two opposite extremes of momentum. Amesbury will have posted its biggest win in program history just four days earlier | the 17-12 defeat of Newburyport.

The Reggies' 28-21 loss to Lawrence (3-8) was a shocker for many Merrimack Valley fans, considering the underdog Lancers raced to a 21-0 lead against Greater Lawrence's starters. Still, Reggies coach Tony Sarkis didn't appear to be depleted by the loss.

"One more minute left and it might have been the difference," said Sarkis, who saw the clock run out with his team inside Lawrence territory. "We got beat by a good team. It shows a lot of character for our guys to come back and score 21 points and shut them down in the second half. That shows they have character and that's a good sign."

The 4 p.m. start time will be the earliest weekday game for either team all season. It is scheduled for that time since the Division 3 semifinal | Swampscott vs. Arlington Catholic | will be held on the same field at 7 p.m.