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Newburyport Clippers Football '07

Newburyport looks to forget last season

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In the long run, last year's Thanksgiving Day football game may prove to be the best thing that ever happened to Newburyport quarterback Joe Clancy.

The returning starter, a junior, certainly isn't ready to chalk up the 20-0 loss to rival Amesbury as a learning experience just yet.

For now, Thanksgiving 2006 is probably at the top of Clancy's list of worst days of his athletic career. His statistics tell the story of a sloppy day on a muddy field that capped one of the worst seasons during the Ed Gaudiano era, which begins its 21st season. Clancy completed 1 of 8 passes for 0 yards and four interceptions. Now for the good news.

Clancy returns for a second season under center. With him return four offensive linemen | one of which is a perennial All-Cape Ann League selection in Richie Pace and two others who are four-year starters in Chris Barry and Kevin Ryan. Sophomore Kyle LeBlanc figures to get the brunt of the carries after an impressive freshman campaign. After playing on the gold-medal baseball team in this summer's Bay State Games, he is already considered one of the top athletes at the school.

And after finishing on the wrong side of several close games last fall, Newburyport has a chance to flip its 3-8 record if it can change the result of four losses that came by less than seven points.

"We lost a lot of close games last year," Gaudiano said. "It's atypical for a Newburyport team. What we have to do this year is find ways to win those close games. Hopefully another year of experience will help in those areas." Having Clancy and LeBlanc back for the next two seasons shouldn't hurt.

The Clippers will open the season against Northeastern Conference foe Saugus tomorrow night (7 p.m., World War Memorial Stadium). Saugus finished 3-7 last season, but returned many two- and three-year starters.

"They're a lot like us," Gaudiano said. "They were down last season. They have a lot coming back. They run a wide-open option from the shotgun formation. That's a pain in the neck to defend. It should be an interesting night."

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