AMESBURY – Complete with throwback uniforms and packed stands on either side of historic Landry Stadium, the one hundredth Thanksgiving feast between archrivals Amesbury and Newburyport lived as much as the billing.
Unfortunately for the hosts, Newburyport’s vaunted working sport additionally lived as much as the hype because the Clippers posted six speeding touchdowns, 4 by senior Kane Brennan, to seize the extremely anticipated showdown, 44-26.
“You could just feel it in the air during the warmups,” mentioned Newburyport coach Brian Smolski, whose household tree dates again to his grandfather have performed on this storied rivalry, which dates again to 1891. “There’s no rivalry like Amesbury and Newburyport.”
Up by simply 10 with three minutes to go and going through a vital third down on his personal 46, Brennan adopted a crushing lead block from Angus Webster and sprinted down the Amesbury sidelines for the clincher for the Clippers (9-2), who now lead the all-time collection 53-41-6.
“The last two years we lost to Amesbury and most of the seniors were playing in those games so it feels awesome to get a win,” mentioned Brennan.
Along with the spectacular floor assault, Newburyport’s large line of defense and proficient linebacking crew was stout all sport lengthy, turning again the Redhawks on all three of their conversion rushes. Senior defensive finish Peter Osazuwa was particularly disruptive up entrance. Brothers Max (2 TDs) and Mike Sanchez ran onerous within the loss.
Down 36-18 with 6:28 to go, it regarded like Amesbury (9-2) would possibly empty the bench in preparation for subsequent week’s Div. 7 Super Bowl, however the Redhawks had different concepts. Justin Dube discovered Robby Dalton on a 31-yard scoring strike and the duo reprised the trouble on the conversion.
The Clippers, who fell to Foxboro within the Div. 5 playoffs, scored on their first two possessions on a pair of one-yard plunges from Sean Miles and Brennan and the guests transformed every time on a pair of halfback choice passes.
Trailing 16-0 within the second, Amesbury marched 52 yards on 12 performs, culminating in Max Sanchez’s first rating. The Clippers wasted little time answering again, nonetheless, as Brennan darted 9 yards round finish to make it 22-6. Undaunted, the hosts would make it a 22-12 sport as QB Justin Dube scored on Amesbury’s model of the brotherly shove to make it 22-12 on the half.
Senior captain Jack Sullivan made it 30-12 for Newburyport late within the third on this historic tilt.
“Throwback jerseys, all the people in the stands, that’s all we heard all week long,” mentioned Sullivan, who mentioned a pep discuss by a 99-year-old alumnus was particularly significant. “That really hit home for us.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com