The Magicians picked up their second win of the season Friday night, 26-20, over the Bishop Fenwick Crusaders at Piper Field.
“It’s a great win for us,” said Head Coach James Rudloff. “We haven’t beaten them in two years so this was a big win for the program.”
Marblehead’s offense came out with a bang when quarterback Finn Gallup found Rylan Golden for a 40-yard reception on the third play of the game, setting the Magicians up in the red zone early. The opening drive concluded with a 30-yard Finbar Bresnahan field goal, his first of the season, to give the hosts an early 3-0 lead.
The Crusaders methodically drove their way down the field before wide receiver Jamie Dubie beat his man in single coverage down, scampering 32 yards to the endzone to cap off a 13 play, 95 yard drive.
Marblehead attempted to match the Crusaders’ with a long drive of their own, but their push into the Bishop Fenwick red zone would end in a lost fumble at the five yard line.
However, some Magicians’ special teams unit would reach deep into their bag of tricks on the ensuing drive. On fourth down deep in their own territory, the Crusaders would have their punt blocked by James Machado who would fall on the ball in the end zone to hand the lead back to Marblehead late in the first half.
The celebrations would be short-lived, however. A quick pass from Andrew Kiricopoles to Tyler Connolly would turn into a 55-yard touchdown, putting the visitors up 13-10 heading to the half.
After taking the ball in strong field position, the Magicians initial drive of the second half would net points thanks to a 38-yard field goal, tying the ballgame at 13-13.
Following a critical fourth down stop, Gallup opened Marblehead’s next possession with a run that would net 30 yards following an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty called on the defense. The Magicians capitalized on the big play, wrapping up the brief five-play drive with a nine-yard Callahan plunge into the endzone to put the hosts up by two scores late in the third quarter.
After Madden Lyons made his second pick of the evening, Bresnahan would give Marblehead fans yet another reason to cheer. Following a bad snap, the junior made the unbelievable, but ultimately correct, decision to boot the ball away from 30 yards behind the line of scrimmage, ending up with what could be described as the most exciting 10-yard punt in the history of football.
“All I thought was to punt it,” said Bresnahan. “I didn’t think of anything else. I could’ve ran with the ball, but I was not trying to get hit or anything so I just kicked it.”
The Magicians put the game away on their next possession when Gallup launched a 50-yard touchdown pass to Golden to put Marblehead ahead by 13 with just over six minutes to play.
“[Golden] has been my guy since seventh grade,” said Gallup following the game. “We were working on that play all week. We knew we could get them over the top for a touchdown. Any time you give Rylan a chance he’s going to come down with it. It’s always great when you have [number] six on our side.”
The visitors scored late in the fourth quarter to make the final score 26-20. The Magicians move to 2-0 on the season while the Crusaders begin the year 0-1.
Marblehead will make the trek to Dudley next week to face off against the Shepherd Hill Regional High School Rams at 6 p.m. on Friday.
