Published March 18, 2021
By DAN ZIMMERMAN
NORTH READING — Last Saturday, Mother Nature dealt the North Reading football team a pristine late winter day for their season-opener, featuring cool temperatures in the mid-40s and a bright, warming sun. The Hornets made good use of it, handily defeating a visiting Manchester-Essex squad, 33-13.
On the heels of a 16-month hiatus, North Reading showed little rust, busting out with an impressive scoring drive in the first two minutes. The Hornets added yet another TD on their second possession and never looked back on the way to the first win of the COVID-abbreviated season.
Powering the North Reading offense was senior tailback Will O’Leary, who amassed four of his club’s five scores on the afternoon. O’Leary frequently bowled over would-be tacklers in the red zone, resulting in TDs from 7, 2, 2, and finally, 3 yards.
“Will certainly led the way today but I’m sure he would agree, a lot of the credit for his achievement should go to the offensive line,” said North Reading head coach Ed Blum. “You have five guys who haven’t played too much varsity football and they’re working hard and communicating and it all started with them.”
The offensive line – Owen Delano, Adam Bakr, Justin Bailey, Sam Morelli, and Zach Sampson – also supplied the protection for crafty senior QB Brian Heffernan, who was an exceptional 9 of 15 for 96 yards, including a pair of early completions to Ryan McCullough and Jack Donahue to put the Hornets in range for O’Leary’s first end zone visit.
While the offense poked holes in the Manchester-Essex line, which was brawny to say the least, the Hornets’ defense effectively derailed their opponent’s game plan, handcuffing QB William Levendusky. His tailback tandem of Gavin Glass and Joe Daly combined for only 75 yards on the ground and one rushing TD.
“We have athletes and we tried to play to our strengths,” answered Blum, when asked about the obvious size disparity between his players and that of M-E linemen. “Even some of our linemen are good athletes. We’re certainly not the biggest team but we make up for it with a lot of heart and hard work.”
After a three-and-out on its initial possession, M-E punted into a stiff wind gust, handing North Reading a short field, from the 40. At first, the defense held the Hornets in check but on a 3rd-and-long, Heffernan lofted one in the direction of John Jennings who won the battle for the ball. The drive stagnated again until O’Leary was literally pushed across from the 2 by his entire offensive line. Robert Tammaro added his second PAT, putting the Hornets in front 14-0 with 4:01 left in the first quarter.
Early in the second frame, O’Leary added his third, once again from the 2, to polish off another short field that featured Heffernan finding William Taylor on a clutch fourth down slant.
As halftime loomed and North Reading threatened to run away with it, Manchester-Essex finally answered, stringing together a 57-yard drive that culminated with a 1-yard QB keeper from Levendusky. In the midst of this prolonged 14-play series, Levendusky began to sling the ball, adding six completions to his total of 15 for 123 yards.
Manchester-Essex, also nicknamed the Hornets, got the ball after the break but soon lost it when Levendusky was picked off by Donahue. North Reading quickly converted the takeaway, covering 26 yards on five plays, with O’Leary deftly following his blocks to daylight and a 27-6 lead.
“It all came down to the offensive line and the blocking,” said the senior tri-captain, who piled up 103 yards on 17 carries. “In the beginning, obviously we were a little shaky. It has been a year-and-a-half since we last played. But we put together a great game and I give all the credit to the O-line.”
Manchester-Essex had a chance to slice into the deficit in the third, starting at midfield and effectively covering ground to reach the 6. But a collision between a man in motion and Levendusky in the backfield proved costly. Ultimately, M-E gave up the ball on downs and North Reading obliged, taking it the other way 96 yards, including a 43-yarder from McCullough, who wrapped up the Hornets’ scoring with a fan-pleasing TD romp.
Speaking of fans, school officials granted permission for limited spectator admission; namely two family members per player. Both team’s cheering squads were also on hand to add to the sense that this pandemic might finally be on the run and “normal” is just around the corner.
With the game in hand, Blum deployed his second string to close it out. Manchester-Essex added a late score but most noteworthy in the waning moments was the running of freshman William Batten who began his varsity career with 45 yards on six carries.
“We had a pretty good idea of what Manchester-Essex was going to try to do against us,” said Blum, who travels to face Ipswich next Saturday at 1 p.m. “We just wanted to make sure that for each play, every guy was where they needed to be and for the most part, that’s what we did.”
