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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.

NEWBURYPORT — Newburyport sophomore Andrew Sokol earned some redemption last night to throw the Cape Ann League Small division up for grabs.
Burned on an 83-yard Georgetown TD pass, from Joe Esposito to Anthony Conte on the first play of the game, Sokol made a marvelous 39-yard scoring catch in traffic with 1:02 to play, and then clinched the victory with an interception in the closing seconds to provide a heart-stopping 27-26 victory.
The win puts Newburyport (5-5, 5-0) in the driver’s seat in the CAL Small. It can clinch the title with a Thanksgiving win at Amesbury. The Indians (8-1, 3-1) can throw the division into a three-way tie with Georgetown (9-1, 4-1) if it beats the Clippers.
“I feel good for Sokol,” said Newburyport coach Ed Gaudiano, a resident of Methuen. “He was kicking himself after falling on that first play, but I told him that he had to keep his head up, that we were going to need him later.”
Kyle LeBlanc kicked three extra points for the Clippers, and that ultimately made the one-point difference. Esposito narrowly missed one extra-point kick and another was foiled when a high snap necessitated a desperation pass that was intercepted.
“This is what high school football is all about,” said Georgetown coach Matt Bouchard. “Our kids played their hearts out, and we had opportunities to win, but I give them credit.”
The Royals held a 26-20 lead and had the ball and a four downs with 3:20 to play, but they failed to gain a first down. Then, after Georgetown buckled down on defense and forced a fouth-and-9, Clancy threw deep into the end zone to Sokol, who snuck between two defenders to make the grab.
“If we had just gotten one first down, it probably would have been the game, but we just couldn’t get it,” said Bouchard.
Until then, both teams moved the ball effectively for more than three quarters in what was an impressive offensive display.
Following the Esposito to Conte bomb to open the game, Newburyport scored on two TD passes from Joe Clancy (14-25-2, 288 yards) to Kyle LeBlanc, but the Royals scored twice more, on a 9-yard pass to Conte and a 39-yard burst by Jaymie Spears to grab a 20-13 halftime lead.
A 61-yard heave from Clancy to LeBlanc on the second play of the second half tied the score, but an 8-yard pass from Esposito to Spears late in the third quarter gave Georgetown the lead until the final minute of the game.
Esposito finished with 85 yards rushing and 139 yards passing to go over 1,000 yards in both rushing (1,082) and passing (1,054) for the second year in a row, while Spears enjoyed a fine overall game with 76 yards rushing on six carries, two receptions for 33  yards and an interception.
For Newburyport, Clancy now has 21 touchdown passes, which leads Eastern Mass. in Division 3A, and LeBlanc has 14 TD receptions and 101 points.
“I can’t remember a game with so many playmakers,” said Gaudiano. “They’re a great offensive team and I was saying during the week that we’d need to score 28 points to win the game.”

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.

GEORGETOWN — With the opportunity to play for a league title on the table, Georgetown would not be stopped.

Joe Esposito ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more in the first half alone as the Royals downed league rival North Reading 35-6 yesterday afternoon on their very muddy home field.

GEORGETOWN — A fan looked on in disbelief after another big play by Georgetown sophomore Jaymie Spears.

“He’s a football player?” she asked. “He’s so tiny!”

IPSWICH — If defense wins championships, then the Georgetown High Football team is on the right track.

The Royals flexed their muscles against Ipswich, downing the Tigers 34-8 in dominating fashion. The win improved Georgetown to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the Cape Anne Small.

GEORGETOWN — Going into Saturdays home game against non-league Murdock, Royal head coach Matt Bouchard was unsure of how his defense would hold up against the hard-running Blue Devils. Georgetown had lost two of its starting defensive players in middle linebacker Chris Esposito and defensive tackle Eric Gesualdi.

GEORGETOWN — With apologies to Sarah Palin, the Amesbury football team was probably muttering "Say it ain't so, Joe" Saturday afternoon after a heartbreaking 15-14 Cape Ann League loss to Georgetown in a terrific battle of unbeatens before nearly 1,000 fans on a beautiful afternoon. Georgetown standout Joe Esposito once again put on a highlight show, rushing for 107 yards, throwing for two touchdowns, kicking an extra point and, with 5:09 to play, running for the decisive two points after the Royals (4-0) had rallied from a 14-0 third-quarter deficit. Trailing 14-13 after completing a 21-yard scoring strike to Tyran Harrigan, the Royals didn't hesitate to go for two. "We're an aggressive team and we thought we would make it," said Esposito, who knifed through the right side of the line for the extra points. "I think this shows the kind of team we are, to fight back from 14-0. Right now, this is the biggest game of my life, to beat Amesbury here." Amesbury coach Thom Connors was impressed not only with Esposito, but with the Royals' overall effort. "He (Esposito) is everything we thought he'd be and more," said Connors. "But it wasn't just him — they were the better team today. We were up 14 points and we waffled to their pressure." Indeed, while Georgetown coach Matt Bouchard cited Esposito's superb play, he added: "The big thing today was that there were other people who performed. When you have a team keying on one guy so much, you need other guys to come through and they did." The Georgetown defense particularly delivered, perhaps no more so than at the end of the first half. With Amesbury already leading 6-0 — courtesy of a 28-yard quarterback sneak by Jared Flannigan in the first quarter — the Indiana put together an impressive 92-yard drive and had a first and goal on the 5-yard line in the closing seconds of the second quarter. Three running plays brought the ball down to the 1-yard line where, on fourth down with seven seconds left, the Royals held Kevin Johnston out of the end zone. "That was the biggest play of the game," said Bouchard. Agreed Connors: "We were ahead 6-0, but that gave them the momentum." Amesbury seemed to get it right back, however, when Georgetown fumbled the second half kickoff and the Indians got the ball on the Georgetown 32. Six plays later, Flannigan (10 carries, 62 yards) scored his second TD, this time on a 12-yard rollout. A pass to Stephen Serwon for two points made it 14-0. But the rest of the second half belonged to Georgetown. Jaymie Spears returned the ensuing kickoff to the 42 and Esposito needed only seven plays to reach the end zone, the TD coming on a 28-yard strike to Michael Ruh. Esposito's kick made it 14-7 with 2:53 left to play in the third quarter. Three plays later. thanks partly to an 11-yard sack by Joe Esposito, the Royals had the ball again, on their 28 after a nice 52-yard quick kick by Flannigan. Georgetown then clicked off four first downs with Dave Kenneally (2 carries, 14 yards and Spears (2 carries, 14 yards) help carry the load before the TD strike to Harrigan. Amesbury (4-1) got the ball two more times but managed only nine yards in seven plays, the final being an interception by Anthony Conte in the last minute of play. After trailing 14-0, Georgetown ran 28 plays to just 12 for Amesbury and outgained the Indians 163-1 in total yards. In addition to contributions from several backs in addition to Esposito, linemen Eric Gesualdi and Nathan Brudnick stood out on the line. "This win speaks volumes about the character of these kids," said Bouchard. "It's just a huge, huge win for us."

GEORGETOWN —  What else can Joe Esposito do to win games?His offensive exploits are already notable as shown again yesterday against non-league opponent Marblehead, this despite wearing a bull’s-eye as the Royals’ only productive member.