Published in the October 25, 2018 edition
By ANDREW MOUNTER
NORTH READING — Three’s a charm for the North Reading High School football team as they won their third straight Cape Ann League Kinney Division championship, defeating the Newburyport Clippers 32-6 last Friday night.
In front of a spirited home crowd at the Arthur J. Kenney Field, the Hornets totally dominated the second half in all three phases of the game, outscoring the Clippers 25-0.
“We went into halftime, regrouped and talked about what we needed to improve on,” said Hornet head coach Eddie Blum. “We stuck to what we were doing. We executed for whole drives, finishing those drives. The kids stepped up, the seniors lifted the team and underclassmen are working to get better. Great team win.”
North Reading won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half, giving the pigskin to Newburyport to start. The Clippers took advantage by scoring the first touchdown of the game on a fake handoff by quarterback Charles Cahalane who went 42 yards for the TD. The extra point try went wide; 6-0, Clippers.
THE HORNETS hold up their “three-peat” signs after winning their third straight CAL Championship. (John Friberg Photo)
North Reading would end up tying the game on the first play of the second quarter, with a short pass from senior captain quarterback Matt Solecki to senior tailback Alex D’Ambrosio for the 3-yard touchdown. The Hornets took the lead on D’Ambrosio’s point after. The halftime score was 7-6.
The third quarter was all D’Ambrosio. The captain would score two touchdowns in the quarter, the first a 1-yard plunge that completed the opening drive of the second half; the other to cap a 5-play, 56-yard drive. The second TD was scored on a screen pass from Solecki for a 30-yard score.
D’Ambrosio would be the yardage leader of the game as he ran for 116 yards on 16 carries and caught three balls for 61 yards for a total yardage of 177 and three touchdowns.
The Green and Gold would take two more trips into the end zone in the fourth quarter to clinch their three-peat of division titles, one from sophomore Will O’Leary a 3-yard touchdown.
On the very next drive, junior slot receiver Ryan Kavanaugh caught a 59-yard touchdown from Solecki for the hat trick of touchdown passes.
The defense played excellently for the second straight week as the Clippers could not get anything done in the running game or passing game as they were held to just 101 yards of total offense. Senior captain Mike Sheridan played with a lot of edge as he was always near the ball, making good reads and tackles.
“The defense stepped up and played very well again,” said Blum. “For two straight weeks we have guys like Sheridan who have been stepping up, doing their jobs, taking responsibilities, and that’s all we can ask for.”
The division champs are now 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the Cape Ann League and now are on to the M.I.A.A. Division 4 playoffs for the fourth straight year.
North Reading will be hosting the Revere Patriots tomorrow night at 7 p.m. Revere is 4-3 on the 2018 season and coming off a win over Somerville, 28-8 last Friday night.
