“No block, no rock.”
It’s a phrase Gloucester High football coach Dan O’Connor and his staff have repeatedly preached to bruising fullback Thomas Cribbs. In layman’s terms, if he doesn’t do his job blocking, he won’t receive the carries he so eagerly yearns for.
And Cribbs clearly has no issues with that.
As good of a blocker as he is, the senior captain is an even better runner — and he proved that in a big way during the Fishermen’s season opening 15-7 victory over rival Beverly Friday night at Newell Stadium.
With his team trailing for most of the game, Cribbs was rewarded for his blocking by garnering 10 carries on a methodical and decisive drive that began early in the third quarter and concluded with a touchdown with 5:26 remaining in regulation. Cribbs punched in that score, too, barreling his way over the goal line from a yard out.
Instead of kicking the game-tying PAT, Gloucester opted to go for two, and Joe Allen paid it off with a nice run up the middle for an 8-7 lead. One defensive stand later plus a last minute touchdown from Cribbs for good measure allowed the Fishermen to put the final nail in Beverly’s coffin.
“He wants the rock, and he blocks when he doesn’t have it. That’s what we talked about; no block, no rock,” O’Connor said of Cribbs, who rushed 23 times for 120 yards and the two TDs. “He does it all. It means a lot to him, this team means a lot to him, this program means a lot to him … it’s always, ‘give me the ball coach, give me the ball’. And that’s what you want.”
Cribbs’ second touchdown of the contest came from seven yards out with just 53 seconds on the game clock and Beverly reeling. He leaped over a defender on his way to the end zone, putting the stamp on a terrific all-around performance.
“I don’t think I’ve ever hurdled a man in my life,” Cribbs said with a laugh. “But after that first half we had a couple missed opportunities and we knew we could win this game. We just out-gritted them in the second half. We’ve waited a year to play these guys again and we showed them what’s up.”
Friday’s clash was a rock fight from start to finish.
In the first half, Gloucester drove the ball inside Beverly’s 25-yard line three separate times but was unable to finish the job. They turned it over on downs once, coughed it up on an interception just in front of the end zone another time, and simply ran out of time at the end of the first half before reaching the promised land.
And so, despite the hosts dominating time of possession and moving the ball well at times, it was Beverly who struck first.
That opening score came via a 77-yard drive that started late in the first and carried over to the second. Sean Costa, who has battled a myriad of injuries throughout his carry, found paydirt on a 20-yard scamper. The senior finished with a team-high 49 rushing yards on 10 attempts.
“He’s always been a hard worker, it’s just these weird injuries that just happened; some kids are just snake bitten I guess,” Beverly head coach Jeff Hutton said about Costa, who was injured in his team’s 2024 season opener against Gloucester and never returned for his junior year.
“It’s not like he’s a wimp, he’s one of our toughest kids, a strong kid, wants to play, plays physical … and he played great tonight; I thought he was awesome. It was good to have him out there.”
As well as Costa played, Beverly simply made too many mistakes to come out with the win.
The Panthers took six penalties, none more deflating than a roughing the kicker call as Gloucester attempted to punt from their own end zone early in the third.
If there was no whistle, Beverly would’ve gotten the ball back near mid field with a lead. Instead, Gloucester regained possession and proceeded to rip off its pivotal, go-ahead touchdown drive.
“First half we kind of killed ourselves with a couple penalties and it comes back around,” said O’Connor. “We got fortunate and that’s the way football goes sometimes: you get some, and sometimes they go against you.”
“That sums it up, right?,” added Hutton. “You can’t blame that, but did we make some dumb plays and make it harder for us? Sure. You certainly would’ve liked to get the ball back inside the 50 on a punt from their own end zone and see what would’ve happened.”
Gloucester also benefited from another 15-yard penalty against Beverly for unnecessary roughness during that initial scoring drive.
But while the Fishermen undoubtedly cashed in on some timely blunders by the opponent, they also earned every bit of the win, too.
Cribbs was fantastic, Allen (13 carries, 55 yards) provided a nice change of pace, and Jaylen Severino (15 rushing yards, 20-yard catch and a PAT) did some damage on limited touches. Quarterback Cam Rodolosi made the one mistake on the interception, but played a strong game overall and showed poise managing the huddle.
Defensively, Gloucester’s players were flying all over the field with a purpose. Everyone seemed to know their assignments and put themselves in the right spot, and the line delivered plenty of pressure against capable Panthers’ signal caller Danny Pierce.
Max Thomas had a big sack that helped force a Panthers’ turnover on downs late in the fourth, while Carlos Velazquez came up with a nice special teams tackle on the previous kickoff.
It was a terrific way for Gloucester to start the season, especially after falling at Beverly to begin last fall, and especially having done so in front of an absolutely jam packed and energetic Newell Stadium.
“The comment that was made by one of our players was that we haven’t seen people here almost an hour before kickoff in a while,” said O’Connor. “And I think there’s a little bit of a buzz, I hope there’s a little bit of a buzz because we’re excited about what’s going on here.”
“It was absolutely electric seeing the other student section and ours yelling at each other all game; it’s awesome,” added Cribbs. “That might have been the most people I’ve seen at a high school game in my life.”
Gloucester 15, Beverly 7
at Newell Stadium, Gloucester High School
Beverly (0-1);0;7;0;0;7
Gloucester (1-0);0;0;0;15;15
Scoring summary
B — Sean Costa 20 run (Alexander Marquez kick)
G — Thomas Cribbs 1 run (Joe Allen run)
G — Cribbs 7 run (Jaylen Severino kick)
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Beverly — Sean Costa 10-49, Sean Okhuozagbon 1019, Pierce 6-4, Brody Lehmann 1-1, George Frost 1-0, Jerome Sutton 1-(-1); Gloucester — Thomas Cribbs 23-120, Joe Allen 13-55, Jaylen Severino 3-15, Vincent Mannone 2-10, Cam Rodolosi 4-6, Nash Marshall 1-3, Cameron Olsen 1-0.
PASSING: Beverly — Pierce 4-10-49-0-0; Gloucester — Rodolosi 2-4-32-0-1.
RECEIVING: Beverly — Xavier Auk 2-33, Floyd White 2-16; Gloucester — Severino 1-20, Gavin Bren 1-12.