The Magicians varsity football team took an 18-15 loss in their season opener to the Lynn English Bulldogs at Piper Field on Thursday Night.
“We killed ourselves with penalties and mistakes,” said Marblehead head coach Jim Rudloff. “Hats off to Lynn English. They did a great job tonight. They outplayed us, they out-physicaled us for sure.”
English hastily marched the ball down the field on the game’s opening possession, racking up three first downs in four plays to start the game. The Magicians struggled against the run, but the game’s opening score would come through the air when Josiah Peralta found Jairo Fernandez on an outbreaking route to give the Bulldogs a 6-0 lead.
After forcing Marblehead and quarterback Sawyer Adams three-and-out, English went on an Odyssean drive, chewing over nine minutes off the clock to send the game deep into the second quarter. The Magicians defense bent but never broke, forcing a turnover on downs in the red zone thanks to a quarterback hurry by Armany Villar that caused an overthrow on a shot to the endzone.
The Magicians, with Marcus Waitekus now under center, made quick strides on their second possession, coming up with three consecutive chunk plays started by a well executed screen pass to James Machado.
Marblehead entered enemy territory for the first time on the strength of a nine-yard sweep by Owen Coyne but an unforced fumble by Waitekus saw the visitors take over at the Magician 41-yard line. The Bulldogs would find the endzone as time expired, ending the half with a 12-0 lead.
The teams would trade punts to start the half, but Marblehead would take the initiative, finding themselves knocking on the door of the endzone after tipping an English kick at the line.
Waitekus guided the team over the abbreviated field until the drive seemed to stall at the eight-yard-line. Undeterred, Waitekus scrambled to the wide side of the field to find a waiting Owen Coyne in the corner of the endzone for the first Magician touchdown of the season, making the score 12-7 with two minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Marblehead continued to build momentum, nabbing another fourth down stop to take over at the midfield stripe in the fourth quarter. Machado showed incredible tenacity on one of the first plays of the drive, turning what could have been a five-yard loss into a 13-yard gain after evading a swarm of English tacklers.
The lead would change hands for the first time on another incredible running play, this time on the heels of Adams, who evaded three tackles on his 25-yard romp to the endzone to put the Magicians ahead by a point before Machado put the hosts ahead by a full score with his two-point rush.
With six minutes on the clock, the Bulldogs took the “do what works” approach as Peralta connected with Fernandez no less than four times on the drive, including a 50-yard shot that flipped put the Headers on their heels. The Bulldogs would take the lead with 97 seconds to go when Peralta found Ogunbowale in heavy traffic to go up 18-15.
Marblehead’s chances at a last second comeback were dashed when Marcus Waitekus’s pass was intercepted in the defensive backfield, allowing the bulldogs to kneel out the final seconds of the game and hand the Magicians their first loss of the season.
Marblehead will look to rebalance their 0-1 record in their week two contest with the Medway Mustangs next Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Piper Field.
