The sixth-seed Marblehead Magicians football team returned to form at the perfect time with a 42-14 victory over the Shepherd Hill Rams in the Round of 16 of the MIAA Division 4 state tournament at Piper Field on Friday.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the kids,” said head coach Jim Rudloff. “[Last week] was a great opportunity for us to learn that you only get these things when things are hard. You only get better when things are hard. I couldn’t be prouder of this team and the way they responded all week long.”
Marblehead came out of the gates red hot, with Breydan Callahan running 25 yards into Shepherd Hill territory on the opening play from scrimmage. The Magicians would keep the ball along the ground for the entirety of their first drive, with Callahan pounding the ball through the Rams defensive line to give Marblehead the early lead.
Shepherd Hill’s offense would have no need to run out onto the field following the Magicians’ score as the Rams’ senior captain, Aiden Tyler, sprinted 98 yards to the endzone on the ensuing kickoff, the second such score Marblehead has let up this season. The Magician defense would come up with the stop on the two-point try, allowing the hosts to hold onto a narrow 7-6 lead.
Callahan would find the end zone for the second time in two Marblehead possessions. The senior kept his legs churning as he pushed the ball over the goal line to up the advantage to 14-6.
After Shepherd Hill won a controversial fourth down conversion, the Marblehead defense would come up with a key stop on the next set of downs, taking over on their own 36-yard line.
Marblehead would make quick work of the ensuing drive. After rapidly moving the ball across midfield, quarterback Finn Gallup would find Landon Dosch on the far hash, giving the junior space to maneuver and find the end zone for a 32-yard touchdown reception, his first of the season.
Gallup connected with Dosch again on the following Marblehead possession, this time for a 75-yard scoring catch to push the lead to 28-6 midway through the second quarter.
After forcing a fourth down stop in Rams territory, Marblehead drove down the short field in just two plays. Owen Coyne would snag a pitch and rumble 28 yards to put the Magicians goal-to-go at the six-yard line before Callahan took the ball the rest of the way home for a first half hat trick, giving Marblehead a 35-6 lead heading to the halftime interval.
The Magicians defense would make yet another fourth down stop to bring the offense back on the field just past the halfway mark of the third quarter.
The scoring frenzy would continue with Gallup hitting Callahan on a perfectly executed screen pass. The convoy of blockers ahead of the senior would give him the room he needed to run 58-yards untouched for his fourth touchdown of the game.
Dosch and Coyne would come up big on defense, with the former making a touchdown saving tackle on the ensuing kickoff and the latter making a game sealing interception at the two-yard line to bring the third quarter to a close.
With the clock running from the first snap of the final term, the Magicians drove the majority of the way down the field before being stopped on fourth down with just under four minutes remaining.
The Shepherd Hill offense would shatter the second-string Marblehead defense, breaking off a 75-yard touchdown as time expired to cut the winning margin to 28.
With the bounce-back 42-14 win, the #6 Magicians advance to the quarterfinals of the Division 4 state tournament where they will travel to the #3 Canton Bulldogs on Friday at 7 p.m. to battle for a spot in their first state semifinal since their 2021 Super Bowl winning season.
