Marblehead 2022 Thanksgiving Football

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.”