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Chelmsford’s Gennaro runs wild in tough win over Hillies

Friday, November, 06 By Christopher Smith
Staff writer

CHELMSFORD — Haverhill knew that stopping junior tailback Joe Gennaro was the key to shutting down Chelmsford. And for nearly three quarters, things wre going as planned.
But Gennaro, who rushed for 216 yards and four touchdowns, put the Lions on his back in the final 13 minutes of a 25-13 win over Haverhill.
Gennaro had just 46 yards at the half on 10 carries before exploding midway through the third quarter. The Hillies held a 7-6 lead over the heavily-favored Lions with 13 seconds left in the third quarter before Gennaro’s second score, a 4-yard scamper, to put Chelmsford ahead for good.
“Depth had a lot to do with it, but we have to continue to play,” Haverhill coach Tim Briggs said. “For the first three quarters we were getting in their faces and making hits with our hats. We get into the fourth quarter, we don’t have much depth, and guys are getting tired so we start trying to make tackles with our arms and [Gennaro] is too good to do that.”
Briggs continued, “But what can I say? I have a team full of guys who gave me everything that they had and it still wasn’t enough. Chelmsford is a great program in a city that really loves and supports its athletics.”
After 13th-ranked Chelmsford made it 12-7, Haverhill threw interceptions on consecutive possessions and Chelmsford converted both to put the game out of reach.
“We have a lot of younger guys in our starting lineup,” Briggs said. “Our guys did a great job making players early in the game.”
Before the interceptions, Connor Tufts was an extremely efficient 5 of 6 for 75 yards.
Miles Miller made 12 tackles at linebacker, helping stifle Gennaro for the better part of three quarters. Mackenzie Milewski (middle linebacker) and Aaron Bard (outside linebacker) each made nine tackles.
In the fourth quarter, Tufts injured his left leg playing defensive back and his regular backup, receiver Timothy Nutter, was already on the sideline with a sling. Austin Campbell entered at quarterback and connected with Blaine Joia on a 30-yard score late in the fourth quarter for both players’ first varsity touchdowns.