The Marblehead Magicians dropped the final game of the regular season to the Danvers Falcons, 21-7, at Piper Field on Friday night.
“[It was] just embarrassing,” said head coach Jim Rudloff postgame. “Obviously, the turnovers killed us … but we didn’t perform tonight. We didn’t do, you know, any of the things we’ve done all season. We just played really poorly.”
Danvers opened the scoring with their first possession, marching 73 yards and running 8:37 off the clock. The drive ended on a two-yard quarterback sneak by junior signalcaller Nate Wise to give the Falcons a 7-0 lead late in the first.
The Magicians played decidedly more up-tempo than their opponents. Marblehead’s two-headed backfield monster of Breydan Callahan and Finn Gallup combined for 52 yards with Callahan punching the ball in for a two-yard score to tie the game as the first quarter came to a close.
Danvers’ option attack dominated the Marblehead defensive line, driving 80 yards across the ground with Wise diving over the line for his second score of the game late in the second quarter.
After the Falcons booted the succeeding kickoff out of bounds, the Magicians began their drive with strong field position. The Marblehead offense drove into enemy territory on the strength of a 20-yard run by Callahan to set them up on the brink of the red zone. The possession would end up fruitless, however, as the Falcons would come up with an enormous fumble recovery to send the game to the half.
Out of halftime, Marblehead’s struggles continued. After picking up a quick first down, the Danvers defense came up big, sacking Gallup for a 15-yard loss.
After trading punts, Marblehead cornerback, Trent Brown, made a massive pass break-up in the end zone on Danvers’ sole aerial attempt of the game to force a turnover on downs.
Gallup appeared to come up with an enormous fourth-down conversion, but a holding penalty turned the first down into a fourth-and-medium. Marblehead came inches away from gaining a first down, but Gallup’s pass would fall incomplete, giving the Falcons the ball at the Magicians’ 22-yard line.
Danvers would make quick work of the short field with wingback Zachary Fultz poking the ball over the goal line for a one-yard score, giving the visitors a 21-7 lead with just over three minutes to play.
Marblehead would again start with strong field position after a fouled kickoff from Danvers. Callahan turned a quick pitch-and-catch into a 25-yard gain on third down to put the ball at the Falcons’ 40-yard line. With the ball in enemy territory and needing to convert a third-and-10, the Danvers defense would win a wild tip drill and come away with an interception to put the game away.
With their second loss in a row, Marblehead heads to the state tournament with a record of 6-2. The Magicians will learn who they will play in the Division 4 tourney when brackets release on Sunday at 1 p.m.
