RallyNorth.net

Amesbury ready for Thanksgiving after victory over Ipswich

Friday, November, 09 By Dan Guttenplan
Sports editor

AMESBURY | Amesbury did its part last night in setting the stage for a huge Thanksgiving Day tilt with Newburyport.

The Indians (4-5, 3-1) kept their Cape Ann League Small hopes alive with a 35-13 victory over Ipswich at Landry Stadium. If Newburyport (6-3, 3-0) beats Lynnfield today (11 a.m., Lynnfield High), the annual Thanksgiving Day game between Amesbury and Newburyport will have a league title at stake.

"I think that's what everyone in this area wants every year," Amesbury coach Thom Connors said. "If Newburyport does what it's supposed to do (today), they'll get their wish."

Amesbury reaped the benefits of a breakout game from sophomore tailback Marion Wilder. The Indians leading rusher had 10 carries for 183 yards and two touchdowns along with a defensive touchdown that came off a blocked punt in the first quarter.

"We're trying to win a championship," Wilder said. "This was one more step along the way. This counts in the standings just like any other game. Now it's on to Newburyport."

Despite last night's outcome, Amesbury played the majority of contest on defense. Ipswich ran 63 offensive plays to Amesbury's 30, but the Indians thrived on big plays and turnovers.

The Indians made Ipswich quarterback Zach Gorrell's night miserable; he connected on 7 of 17 passes for 76 yards with three interceptions. Kevin Johnston, Wilder and Jared Flannigan had the Amesbury picks.

Wilder opened the scoring with 5:14 in the first quarter when he recovered a punt blocked by Flannigan at the Ipswich 4 and ran it in for a score.

Ipswich tied it 7-7 early in the second quarter on a 1-yard run by Jim Cadogan. Amesbury countered on the first offensive play from scrimmage when Wilder ran 55 yards for a score.

Cadogan (22 carries, 105 yards) added a 3-yard score with 1:56 remaining in the half, and after a missed extra point, Amesbury still led 14-13.

But the Indians took the momentum for good with 58 seconds left in the half when Johnston followed a Wilder 71-yard run with a 1-yard run for a score.

"We had huge running plays," Connors said. "We usually like to get the defense off the field, but we'll take the big plays when we can get them."

Amesbury stretched the lead with two more touchdowns in the second half | one on a 25-yard touchdown run from Wilder and one on a 53-yard score from Flannigan (5 carries, 62 yards).

Amesbury has salvaged its season after an 0-3 start before opening its CAL Small schedule. The Indians then posted a promising league victory over Lynnfield and another nonleague win over Triton.

An Oct. 20 loss to Hamilton-Wenham dropped the Indians to 2-4 overall and 1-1 in the league, and the season appeared to be slipping way. They have since posted two league victories to make Thanksgiving Day all the more promising.

"If you look back at all the hype from the beginning of the season | people saying we're the team to beat in the league | it didn't matter," Connors said. "We struggled for a while until we saw that games are won on the field. We've known since Hamilton-Wenham there is no room for error. And we've played like it."