The Marblehead Magicians moved to 3-0 on the season with a 35-22 victory over the Shepherd Hill Regional High School Rams at Carmignani Memorial Field in Dudley on Friday evening.
“The things that we thought we could do against them, we could do in the second half, but it was more about the execution in the first half,” said head coach Jim Rudloff postgame.
The Magicians defense made the first big play of the night late in the first quarter, pouncing on a fumble by the Rams quarterback to set up shop at their own 27-yard line.
The drive would be marred when quarterback Finn Gallup was shaken up by a hard hit while scrambling out of the pocket. However, sophomore Marcus Waitekus was only needed to come on in relief for one play before the starter would retake the field.
The Rams opened the scoring past the halfway mark of the second quarter, capping off a 73-yard scoring drive with an end-around run by wingback Devin Rowden from 11 yards out to put the hosts up 6-0.
Following a long kickoff return by Rylan Golden that put the ball at the midfield stripe to start the drive, the Magicians would march their way down to the 3-yard line before being called for holding.
Marblehead was able to regain composure, however, with Gallup finding Golden at the front of the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown. Finbar Bresnahan slotted the point after to give the Magicians the 7-6 lead heading to half.
The visitors made an early statement after the halftime interval, pushing their way deep into enemy territory by way of a 14-yard catch by Owen Coyne and a 15-yard facemask penalty. Gallup would make quick work of the short field, finding the goal line for his first rushing touchdown of the season, putting the visitors up two scores.
Upon regaining possession, the Magicians continued to pound their way to paydirt, this time by way of a 1-yard plunge by Breydan Callahan to give Marblehead a 21-6 lead in the dying seconds of the third quarter.
The Rams’ double-wing option rushing attack finally appeared to break the will of the Marblehead defense as the game wound into the final term. The hosts put together a lengthy scoring drive that was finished off by a 6-yard touchdown run by Aiden Tyler that, following a successful two-point conversion, brought the hosts within a score, 21-14.
The celebrations would be short-lived, however, as Callahan scored his second touchdown of the night, this time on a 35-yard run, on just the third play of the following drive, putting the Marbleheaders up by 14.
Not to be outdone, Tyler would make a 20-yard touchdown rush of his own to make the score 28-22 following another successful two-point try.
The Magicians offense put the game to bed when Golden made a spectacular play on a deep ball from Gallup, high-pointing the ball over a defender’s head before spinning out of a tackle and diving into the endzone to put the final points of the night on the board.
The victory sends Marblehead to 3-0 on the season while Shepherd Hill takes their first loss of the season. The Magicians return to Piper Field next Friday at 7 p.m. when they take on the 0-2 North Andover Scarlet Knights.
