MANCHESTER — It was certainly worth the wait for the Hamilton-Wenham football team.
Winless in its first six games of the 2024 season, the Generals broke through Saturday as quarterback Caden McCollum ran for a touchdown and threw for two more in his team’s 28-21 triumph over Cape Ann League rival Essex Tech.
The contest, played at Hyland Field on the campus of Manchester Essex Regional High School, was Hamilton-Wenham’s only ‘home’ game of the season, due to their own athletic facilities being converted into a turf field this fall.
“We finally played a full game and didn’t let the mistakes snowball and get us down when things weren’t going our way,” Generals head coach Tim Freiermuth stated after the win. “Our playmakers made plays at critical times.”
The Generals, who never trailed, got on the board first when McCollum called his own number and took it into the end zone from four yards out. Martin Baum then boomed the first of his four extra points on the day. Junior tailback Caden Schrock (73 yards rushing) then doubled that lead with a 2-yard scoring jaunt in the second quarter.
Essex Tech (1-6) answered when Nick Branciforte (3 catches, 92 yards) collected a pass from quarterback Jacoby Casinelli-Tarasuik 43 yards to the house, slicing his team’s deficit in half. But the Generals responded before halftime when McCollum (104 yards passing) found Schrock on an 11-yard touchdown strike, making it 21-7 at the break.
The Hawks again made it a one-score game heading into the fourth quarter after Casinelli-Tarasuik scored from 12 yards out, and Kaio Dos Passos booted the point after. Hamilton-Wenham responded in the fourth quarter when McCollum found Griffin Hawks on a 5-yard scoring pass.
Essex Tech again cut it to seven points when workhorse back Jake Gilbert (129 yards rushing) ran it in from four yards out and Dos Passos booted the PAT. But they couldn’t punch in the tying score before the game ended as freshman Joe Flynn picked off a pass late to seal the win for Hamilton-Wenham.
“First shutout is to our offensive and defensive line,” said Freiermuth. “They’re an undersized group who continue to get better every week. For the most part, I felt like we controlled the line of scrimmage.
“Caden McCollum and Caden Schrock were difference makers on both sides of the ball, and it was nice to see other guys like Griffin Hawkins, Luke Molitano (a team-high 5 catches for 49 yards), Jack Cooke, Jamie Dube and Billy Brown make plays on offense. On defense I thought we were very disciplined and that the guys did their jobs very well.”
Each team will be on the road this Friday at 6:30 p.m. in the final game of the regular season before both squads. Hamilton-Wenham will face off against host Lynnfield, while Essex Tech travels to Byfield to take on Triton.