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Gloucester rolls past rival Danvers, sight set on playoffs

Thursday, November, 22 By Matt Langone
Sports editor

GLOUCESTER | In terms of the standings, yesterday's Thanksgiving Day contest between Gloucester and winless Danvers meant absolutely nothing.

But that held very little water with the Northeastern Conference Large champion Fishermen.

Despite having already locked up a Division 2A postseason berth, Gloucester played like a team on a mission against the rival Falcons (0-11) and captured its third straight Turkey Day victory in convincing fashion, 48-7.

With the win, the Fishermen upped their perfect record to 11-0 and can now turn their attention to their playoff game with Masconomet on Tuesday, which as of now will be played in Lowell at 4 p.m.

"I wasn't concerned with our team looking past Danvers," said Gloucester coach Paul Ingram in regards to his team's preparation leading up to yesterday's game. "Our kids love to play football, they know how they are expected to perform and I don't think they want to play any other way."

The tone of this game was set early by Gloucester senior captain Adam Quinn. The defensive lineman picked off a Greg Ladd pass on the fourth play of the game from scrimmage and rumbled 43 yards all the way down to the Danvers 4-yard line.

Fellow senior captain Andrew Fulford (five rushes, 30 yards) then scored on a 4-yard touchdown run on the next play for the quick 7-0 Gloucester lead.

Anthony Enderle (three rushes, 83 yards) would tack on a 48-yard TD run with 5:24 left in the first quarter and Fulford added a 3-yard score one minute later for an imposing 21-0 Fishermen lead after the first quarter.

"With the field being mucky and chewed up, we figured it would be a good idea to defer to the second and let their offense try to move the ball first," said Ingram. "Quinn's interception got us off to a good start."

The second quarter was more of the same as junior quarterback Rick Gallant, who only attempted two passes in the game, found junior Taylor Burbine wide open in the end zone. Gallant fired a rocket from 12 yards out and hit Burbine right in the numbers for the score.

Brian Harnish also added a 6-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, leading to a 34-0 halftime lead.

"Gloucester is a very strong team with a very strong running game," said Danvers coach John Sullivan. "we tried to shorten the game as much as possible and keep their offense off the field. But it didn't work out that way."

Danvers was held to just 132 yards of total offense, while Gloucester's Cam Marston, Giacomo Romeo and Robert Lowe all recorded sacks on the Falcons' quarterbacks.

The Fishermen added another touchdown on the opening kickoff of the second half, as sophomore Jared Wright took it to the house from 75 yards out. Ross Carlson later added a 1-yard TD.

Gloucester now has a short week of preparation as it gets ready for Cape Ann Large champion Masconomet on Tuesday in the playoffs. However, the Fishermen scrimmaged the Chieftains in the preseason and will become even more familiar with them by watching film.

"When we scrimmaged Masco in the preseason, they were a young team," Ingram said. "They've improved a lot. We'll exchange film with them and start breaking it down immediately after we get it."

Additional stories:

• Winless Danvers no match for unbeaten Gloucester