Marblehead 2022 Thanksgiving Football

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2 ESSEX MEDIA GROUP THANKSGIVING FOOTBALL 2022
THANKSGIVING FOOTBALL 2022 ESSEX MEDIA GROUP 3 WEEK 1 O’Neil throws 4 touchdowns in debut; Marblehead routs Concord-Carlisle 25-6 By Ryan Vermette Marblehead Weekly News Back in the preseason, senior wide receiver Zander Dandorth said that his team was not satisfied with last year’s Division Three Super Bowl Win. They proved it last Friday night. The Magicians put on quite the opening act in their season debut last Friday against Concord-Carlisle, taking down the Patriots by a final score of 25-6. The score was not indicative of how dominant Marblehead really was on both offense and defense throughout the night. Concord-Carlisle started the game with a first play pass by quarterback Holdon Miller that was thought to get Concord into Marblehead territory but was ruled an offensive pass interference. That first play of the game would shift the momentum as the Patriot’s offense went three and out and would not be able to get anything going offensively for the next three and a half quarters. After a Concord-Carlisle punt, junior quarterback Myles O’Neil stepped onto the field to make his debut as the Magicians starting signal caller. His first throw of the day was a completed nine yard slant to get it to second down and one. Marblehead would run the ball for the next few plays and advance the line of scrimmage up to the 45 of Concord-Carlisle. After a couple of short gains and an incomplete pass, O’Neil’s offense found themselves in a fourth down and long from Concord-Carlisle’s 29 yard line, and Coach Jim Rudloff decided to test his new quarterback’s nerves early, and it paid off big time. With three receivers lined up on his left side, O’Neil dropped back in the pocket, stepped up to avoid the pressure coming at him on the flank, and lobbed a ball towards the back left pylon in the endzone. Wide receiver Shane Keough was in a one on one matchup, with no safety help and had position on the defensive back. O’Neil put the ball directly in a spot where only Keough could come down with it as the receiver climbed the invisible ladder, grabbing the ball over the defending back, and holding on as he came to the ground. Touchdown Marblehead. Concord-Carlisle got the ball back with 6:32 left in the first quarter and went on a drive that lasted over ten minutes. The Magicians defense could not get off the field as they got the Patriots to multiple 3rd downs but couldn’t keep them from converting. Concord-Carlisle got up to the Marblehead 12 yard line and had a chance to tie the game but an incomplete pass brought up fourth down. With a fourth and goal from the 12 yard line, Head Coach Josh Reed liked what he had been seeing from his offense and STAFF PHOTO | SPENSER HASAK Marblehead’s Aidan Tardie, left, Connor Cronin, center, and Andy Palmer, right, stop the progression of Concord-Carlisle’s Blake Newcomb as Christian Pacheco comes in to assist. decided to roll the dice. Miller dropped back and attempted a back left corner throw into the endzone that sailed 5 yards to far out of bounds, resulting in a turnover on downs for the Patriots. The Magicians made them pay quickly as they stormed down the field, scoring a touchdown in two plays. First, O’Neil ran with the ball outside and to the right, with Conner Cronin trailing him. Baiting the defender, O’Neil waited until the defensmen was about to tackle him before pitching the ball to Cronin, who exploded down field for 34 yards. O’Neil would feed the ball to Cronin again on the very next play as the wide receiver ran about ten yards out before cutting towards the sideline when O’Neil slung a lead pass to Cronin. He made the catch and turned upfield, breaking tackles and trucking defenders on his way to a 29 yard touchdown to put the Magicians up 13-0. “I knew my pattern, I mean I always get open cmon,” Cronin joked. “No one stopped me in the open field so I just lowered my head and got across the goal line.” In the third quarter, O’Neill threw a touchdown pass that might already be the play of the year. Doing his best Patrick Mahomes impression, O’Neil saw two defenders blitzing off the left side of his line and was able to slide right and start running up toward the line of scrimmage as he launched a ball from Concord-Carlisle’s forty yard line that found receiver Andy Palmer, who was wide open. “I saw a bunch of guys coming at me so I knew I had to get out of there,” O’Neil said. “I saw my receiver Andy Palmer, and he just caught it, I trusted him.” Marblehead impressed in the first half of their season opener, but it’s offense slowed in the second half, turning the ball over on fourth down multiple times and not being able to move the ball as effectively as they did in the first half. O’Neil noted that if they want the same outcome as last year, they will need to keep improving. “I thought we played a great first half, but second half I feel like we gotta pick it up more,” the quarterback said. “Coach was saying the same thing that I was saying, just because we’re up at halftime doesn’t mean we can slow down, we gotta keep the energy rolling.”
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Marblehead 2022 Thanksgiving Football

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