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MANCHESTER — Whittier coach Kevin Bradley’s plan against Manchester Essex was simple.

Hold onto the ball.

“We wanted to keep the ball out of their hands,” Bradley said. “Everybody likes to talk about our passing game but we can run it too, I have a lot of confidence in the run game and it worked well today. We played smashmouth football on both sides of the ball.”

 PEABODY — Greater Lawrence failed to hold on to a 13-0 halftime lead ,and a 20-13 lead with just two minutes to play, and fell to Manchester Essex 26-20 in overtime.

Trailing 13-7, Manchester tied the score at 13 when quarterback Alex Carr hit Brian Ciccone for a 76-yard score. Greater Lawrence, however, took the lead on the ensuing kickoff when Anthony Ocasio went 76 yards for the TD.

GLOUCESTER — Following the game, Andover coach John Rex shrugged and summed up his team’s performance.

“We need to tackle,” he said. “We need to get back to tackling.”

FOXBOROUGH— In the Division 4 Super Bowl against Tri-County, the Manchester Essex football team did what the New England Patriots couldn't do in Super Bowl XXXXII vs. the New York Giants last February.

FOXBOROUGH — The Gloucester football team had their bid for a second straight Division 2A Super Bowl derailed by Duxbury this afternoon. After a back and forth three quarters the Dragons took over the game in the fourth en route to a 46-26 win at Gillette Stadium.

Playoff-bound Hornets can knock Georgetown out of postseason by winning. A Royals victory could create a three-team tie for top of the CAL Small.

For the third straight year, pregame Georgetown-Manchester Essex talk centers around the QBs: Royals senior Joe Esposito and Hornets standout Pat Orlando.

This time around, though, the matchup won’t decide the Commonwealth Small title. Manchester, 10-0, already has that sewn up, while 8-1 Georgetown has moved on to the Cape Ann League.

Brian Miller, Andover: The sophomore basketball standout continues to grow as a receiver. Against Methuen, the 6-foot, 170-pounder made two catches for 45 yards and a 25-yard touchdown from John Hennessy (200 passing yards).

MANCHESTER — There were two bits of bad news for the Georgetown High football team yesterday.

First, unbeaten Manchester Essex blitzed the Royals 40-21 in a showdown boasting two of the most acclaimed quarterbacks in Eastern Massachusetts.

Host Danvers may be a big underdog against NEC Large champion Gloucester, but they've won four of the last nine games between the two teams at Deering Stadium.

Chris Newton, Andover: After seeing little playing time earlier in the season, the sophomore linebacker made the best of his opportunity in the Golden Warriors’ 29-21 loss to Dover, N.H. He made nine tackles and notched a sack.

GLOUCESTER - The Gloucester football team is in a pretty familiar situation after last night's victory over Lynn English.

The Fishermen have clinched a share of the Northeastern Conference Large, and more importantly, their second straight trip to Division 2A playoffs after a 35-7 dismantling of the Bulldogs at Newell Stadium. Gloucester will begin their quest for a second straight Division 2A Super Bowl when they meet the winner of the Cape Ann League in the semi finals.

GLOUCESTER - In case anyone forgot what kind of dimension Taylor Burbine adds to the Gloucester High football team's offense, what happened on Friday night at Newell Stadium served as a reminder.

Nick Enxing, Andover: The junior linebacker picked off a pair of Lowell passes in the first half, returning one for a 35-yard touchdown. He added eight tackles for the Golden Warriors, who lost to the Red Raiders, 27-20.

John Hennessy, Andover: The junior delivered his best all-around game as a starter in Andover’s 40-27 win over Haverhill. The QB rushed for 133 yards and three touchdowns and was 8 of 11 passing for 140 yards and two more scores. The five combined touchdowns were a career-high, besting the four against Billerica.