At least on the scoreboard, the Magicians opened their season on a high note, beating the Lynn English Bulldogs 21-6 at Manning Field on Friday evening.
But coach James Rudloff believes his team has some work to do.
“It was ugly,” Rudloff said after the game. “We’ve got a lot of things that we need to improve on.”
The Bulldogs won the toss, choosing to receive the opening kickoff.
Senior running back Xavier Beauchamp started the game with an explosive 13-yard run that was immediately followed up by a 12-yard carry by wide receiver-turned-quarterback Shane Knowlton Simard. However, the Bulldogs would squander their next set of downs when Knowlton Simard threw an incompletion and Beauchamp fumbled, forcing his quarterback to dive on the football for a 2-yard loss.
The Magicians returned the English punt for a short gain before bringing out their offense for the first time this season.
The visitors’ first play from scrimmage was a massive 55-yard run by senior Breydan Callahan, putting the ball deep into enemy territory. However, the momentum would swing hard in favor of the Bulldogs, with their defense sacking quarterback Finn Gallup for a 25-yard loss on fourth down.
With spectacular starting field position, the Bulldogs once again stormed down the field with a 16-yard rush from Beauchamp and a second 12-yard plunge by Knowlton Simard. However, the English drive stalled out yet again, with a failed fourth-down conversion attempt, which handed the ball back to Marblehead. However, the Magicians would punt it away.
After a rock fight of a first quarter, Marblehead finally broke through for the game’s first score midway through the second frame. Callahan snagged a dump-off pass from Gallup, found open grass and thundered 37 yards to the endzone for the first score of the season, putting the Magicians up 6-0.
The English offense followed the score with a solid — but ultimately fruitless — drive that concluded with a 23-yard run by Knowlton Simard to take the game to the halftime gun.
After trading possessions to open the half, the Marblehead offense would finally find its footing. James Machado picked up his first touches of the evening, with successive 9- and 3-yard runs to bring the Magicians within striking distance.
Gallup made sure not to squander the advantage given to him by the sophomore rusher, finding Owen Coyne between the hashes for a 28-yard touchdown reception. Callahan kept his legs churning to make his way into the endzone amidst a swarm of Bulldog defenders to complete the two-point try, bringing the score to 14-0 with 4:27 to play in the third.
The Bulldogs offense had their best drive of the day following the second Marblehead score, driving 52 yards along the ground to take the game into the final quarter.
Upon their return from the break, the Bulldogs made a strong bid for a fourth-down score on a deep pass to the front of the endzone. However, amidst strong hand-fighting, the Marblehead defender in the area batted the ball down to give the Magicians possession at their own 32.
After throwing an incompletion, Gallup found Coyne on a short slant route that the junior turned into a massive 68-yard score to put the game completely out of reach of the Bulldogs. Kicker Finbar Bresnahan put the ball through the uprights to bring the score to 21-0.
Knowlton Simard broke off a big play of his own, making a 56-yard house call to give English their first points of the season and spoil Marblehead’s shutout bid.
After regaining possession, Knowlton Simard threw the ball into the waiting arms of Marblehead’s Madden Lyons. The safety would return the ball deep into Lynn English territory to seal the win for the visitors.
The 21-6 victory is the first opening night win for the Magicians since their 25-6 win over Concord-Carlisle in 2022.
The Magicians make their return to the Piper Field turf next Friday night at 7 p.m. when they face off against the Crusaders of Bishop Fenwick.
Check out this photo gallery from the game by Eyal Oren of Wednesdays in Marblehead.
