Newburyport (1-1) at Triton (0-2) tonight, 7
Tough start for Triton | a team that has yet to record its first points of the season. The Vikings have struggled to run the ball, struggled to pass the ball and have issued too many turnovers. Sounds a lot like the Notre Dame offense. But here’s the good news: Triton has very few problems on the defensive side of the ball.
How’s this for keeping your offense in the game? The Vikings have yet to issue a point in the first half. They have allowed opponents to complete just 5 of 21 passes. And they have the fewest points allowed of any local team through two games.
So eventually the offense will catch up to the defense, and Triton will pull off an upset. Will it happen this week? I’m not so sure.
Newburyport showed a lot of courage in last week’s 27-17 loss to Wilmington. Make no mistake, that’s a solid Wilmington squad. And the Clippers actually led 3-0 at the end of the first quarter and had chances to make things interesting late. I’m picking Triton soon, take my word for it, but not this week. Not against a team that has the feel of an 8-2 team.
Final score: Newburyport 13, Triton 7
Pentucket (1-1) at Amesbury (0-1) tonight, 7
I’m not 100 percent sure what happened to Amesbury last week. The week started with me billing them as the team to beat in the Cape Ann League Small. Then I picked it over Lawrence in what I figured to be an easy one to pad my stats. Then Amesbury came out of the tunnel in Lawrence and built a 7-0 lead through the first half.
And then it gave up 16 unanswered points and dropped its opener.
So, I’m wondering which Amesbury team we’ll see the rest of the year. My guess is, we’ll see more of the team that came out strong in the first half than the one that faded in the second. The Indians will get their legs under them as the year goes on, and they’ll be able to sustain some of that adrenaline that carried them through the first 22 minutes last week.
But let me tell you the team you least want coming to town if you’ve struggled with energy in the second half. Pentucket. When the legs are tired, the last thing you want coming at you out of the backfield is 205 pounds of speed. That’s what Pentucket has in Nate Bunnell. And I think that’ll be the difference.
Final score: Pentucket 26, Amesbury 14
Middlesex School (0-0) at The Governor’s Academy (0-0) today, 2:15
Just when I’m starting to get a feel for the local teams, the prep school season starts and I’m faced with a new swarm of teams to research. Here’s what we know about GA: The school has a proud football tradition that is not far removed from a New England championship season (2004). The Govs went 6-2 last season. They graduated their quarterback Brian Day, their tailback Tim Langmaid and their best offensive lineman in Scott Cody.
And they have the following local guys: Herbie Kent from Amesbury, Colin and David Doggett from Byfield, George Tsakergis from Newbury and Thomas Adams-Wall from Byfield.
Here’s what we know about Middlesex School: The school’s in Concord. It was founded in 1901 by Frederick Winsor. It became coed in 1974. For years, it was a feeder school for Harvard University. Now its students are “settling” for Brown, Cornell, Tufts, Trinity and, of course, Harvard.
Oh, and the football team lost to GA, 21-7, last fall on its way to a 4-4 season.
Final score: The Governor’s Academy 14, Middlesex School 0
Last week’s record: 3-2
Season’s record: 6-3
