LYNN — With under 20 seconds to play in the opening half of Friday night’s clash against St. Mary’s, Gloucester’s odds at remaining unbeaten on the young season were looking good.
The Fishermen had a two touchdown lead and the ball, albeit deep in their own territory.
And then, an unfortunate fumble swiftly shifted the odds.
Spartans’ defender Cameron Charest pounced on the loose ball, and one play later the hosts were in the end zone to make it just a one score game going into the break.
The decisive turn of events swung the momentum in St. Mary’s favor, giving them a visible boost of confidence heading into the final two quarters. The Spartans then scored twice more down the stretch — including the game-winning TD on fourth down late in the final frame — before ultimately hanging on for a 20-16 victory on a picture perfect evening at Manning Field.
“Costly turnover to end the half. We got a little bit flat after that and lost confidence in ourselves,” said GHS head coach Brian Anderson, his team now 1-1 on the year. “It was a tale of two halves; we started fast but we didn’t continue that.”
Despite an overall disappointing second half, Gloucester was still very much in the game until the final whistle.
Clinging to a 14-12 lead with just over four minutes to go in regulation, the Fishermen needed one more stop to get the ball back and give themselves a chance to run out the clock and preserve the win.
But St. Mary’s had other plans.
On what was the 13th play of a lengthy fourth quarter drive, Spartans’ junior Jackson Barrett got the call on 4th-and-4 from the GHS 5-yard-line, cut to the outside, and lunged towards the pylon for six.
Barrett had picked up just four yards on four carries up to that point — with workhorse back Rowan Merryman (30 carries, 127 yards) largely shouldering the load all night — but made this one count when it mattered most.
“(Barrett) made an unbelievable cut there to get into the end zone, and he was fresh,” said St. Mary’s coach Sean Driscoll. “He didn’t get a lot of carries, but we have faith in him and Rowan (Merryman) was the decoy so that was a big thing. It was a good play and a good call.”
Almost certainly anticipating another handoff to Merryman, Anderson admitted that his defense may have been caught a bit off guard by the play.
“They had been running middle, running middle, running middle, and I think we got a little lazy on our keys there and they took advantage of it,” said Anderson. “They’re high school kids, they’re gonna make mistakes, it’s just about being able to bounce back from them. But they got one on us tonight.”
Gloucester was able to move the chains a couple of times on its ensuing possession, but an interception by St. Mary’s Jamel Reese with 62 seconds to play put a halt to a potential go-ahead scoring drive.
St. Mary’s then went 3-and-out, but opted to take a safety by running through the back of their own end zone rather than punting away and giving the Fishermen a short field.
It worked, as the Spartans were then able to get off a clean boot from their own 20 that dribbled into the GHS end zone, forcing the Fishermen to start from their own 20. Four plays later, a sack by Reese near midfield sealed the deal.
“We fought for a full four quarters, it was a grind it out game and the kids didn’t quit,” added Anderson. “We bounced back when we made mistakes, but there’s certainly things to build on. We have a lot of high character kids here and we’ll continue to work.”
Gloucester had started the game off hot, scoring on its opening drive on an 8-yard scamper to paydirt from Elijah Brooks. The Fishermen defense then forced two straight turnover on downs before quarterback Cole Mosley-Wynn broke free for a 69-yard touchdown run up the middle midway through the second quarter. Brooks added the 2-point rush there for a 14-0 GHS lead.
“That was nice by Cole. It was one of those deceptive plays where Cole found some space, got into open space, and he’s an athlete when he finds that,” said Anderson. “It was a well executed play, I just wish we had a few more of them.”
St. Mary’s other touchdown came on its first drive of the third quarter on a 29-yard pass from QB Tegh Sembhi to Merryman. Merryman was the difference maker all night, churning out the majority of his yards after contact, with Gloucester regularly needing multiple players to bring him down.
Merryman’s yeoman’s work on the ground allowed St. Mary’s to extend drives and eat up precious time off the game clock — something Gloucester was hoping to do more of themselves.
“It’s two run heavy teams, both of us trying to run the clock and keep our defense on the sideline. They just did a better job of that tonight,” said Anderson. “(Merryman) was a workhorse; he drove his legs, he fought for all those extra yards.”
Gloucester will look to bounce back next Friday when it travels to Revere (6 p.m.) for the third of three straight non-conference clashes to open the year.
St. Mary’s 20, Glouester 16
at Manning Field, Lynn
Gloucester (1-1);6;8;0;2;16
St. Mary’s (1-1);0;6;6;8;20
Scoring summary
G — Elijah Brooks 8 run (Kick failed)
G — Cole Mosley-Wynn 69 run (Brooks run)
SM —Rowan Merryman 29 pass from Tegh Sembhi (Pass failed)
SM — Merryman 14 run (Rush failed)
SM — Jackson Barrett 5 run (Merryman run)
G — Safety
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Gloucester — Cole Mosley-Wynn 0-80, Elijah Brooks 11-35, Nico Alves 7-25, Carlos Velazquez 4-15, Nash Marshall 1-2; St. Mary’s — Rowan Merryman 30-127, Hagen Parent 9-40, Jackson Barrett 6- (-6).
PASSING: Gloucester — Mosley-Wynn 2-4-22-0-1; St. Mary’s — Tegh Sembhi 5-12-64-1-0; Merryman 0-1-0-0-0.
RECEIVING: Gloucester — Brooks 1-22, Alves 1-0; St. Mary’s — Merryman 1-29, Parent 3-24, Anthony Guzman 1-11.