AMESBURY — For opposing teams, it’s bad enough when the Amesbury offense punishes you by chewing up entire quarters.
And if the Redhawks start forcing turnovers on defense … look out.
On a blustery Friday night at Landry Memorial Stadium, No. 6 Amesbury was basically looking into a mirror when it welcomed in No. 11 Blue Hills for the first round of the Division 7 playoffs. Both programs line up, block, and run on mostly every play, and with the windy conditions, the ball only got off the ground three times all night.
But thanks to a dominant performance from an opportunistic defense, the Redhawks are still dancing.
Ethan Kirby forced two fumbles that were recovered by Parker DeLong and Connor Mazzaglia, senior captain DJ DiCarlo came away with an interception, and Amesbury all together forced four turnovers to cruise past Blue Hills, 30-8. The Redhawks now advance to the Division 7 quarterfinals for the fourth straight year, and will travel down to No. 3 Mashpee next week.
“We were just scrapping it up and going at them every play,” said Kirby. “Obviously we’re always trying to get turnovers, and we’re starting to put it together as a defense. It’s right there for us, everyone has been locked in.”
Amesbury (7-2) is now winners of five in a row.
And during this current winning streak, the Redhawks are only surrendering 7.6 points per game.
“It’s always tough when you face teams that try to do to you, what you try and do to people,” said Amesbury coach Colin McQueen. “It’s not fun to be on the other side of it. So, we knew we had to get guys in the box, play downhill, and when we had opportunities try and get that ball out. I think over the past couple of weeks the defense has come around in a big way. Understanding assignments, running to the football and then running people over. That changes games when you can get the ball out of their hands and they can’t score.”
Friday night, it was one of those games where every yard mattered early on.
Blue Hills (4-5) started the game with the ball, and chewed up over seven minutes of clock before turning it over on downs. Kirby had a huge tackle-for-loss on third down that led to the turnover, and Amesbury would then cap its opening drive on the first play of the second quarter when DiCarlo burst up the middle for a 33-yard touchdown. Linemen Marcus Colon, Kalan Noseworthy, Braden DeLisle, Stacey Peck Jr. and Johnny Mancini opened up a gaping lane, and DiCarlo jogged into the endzone before taking care of the conversion himself to make it 8-0.
A score that would stand until halftime.
The Redhawks would recover two straight fumbles on consecutive Blue Hills drives in the second quarter, and DiCarlo’s interception set them up at the Warriors’ 35-yard-line with 50 seconds left until the break. That was plenty of time for QB Justin Dube to drive them down near the goal line, but a pair of penalties — one of them negating a TD — kept points off the board.
A tough blow, for sure.
But in the second half, Amesbury pulled away early.
The Redhawks’ opening drive of the third quarter ended in a Ben Berg 18-yard touchdown run, and following DeLong’s fumble recovery, Dube ripped off a 20-yard TD while toe-tapping down the sideline. Joe Puleo would then cap the team’s scoring when he fell in from the 1 with eight minutes left to make it 30-0 and initiate a running clock. A junior, Puleo led the Amesbury backfield with 109 yards on 17 carries, whle DiCarlo added 97 yards on 13 totes.
“It’s been a great year,” said Puleo, who now has 732 yards on the season. “The O-Line has been great, they’ve been doing a great job blocking. I give it all to them.”
Blue Hills would score on the final play of the game when Lamarri Sanchez-Coleman fought his way in from the 5.
Amesbury 30, Blue Hills 8
Blue Hills (4-5): 0 0 0 8 — 8
Amesbury (7-2): 0 8 14 8 — 30
Second Quarter
A — DJ DiCarlo 33 run (DiCarlo run), 11:53
Third Quarter
A — Ben Berg 18 run (run failed), 8:54
A — Justin Dube 20 run (DiCarlo run), 1:11
Fourth Quarter
A — Joe Puleo 1 run (Dube run), 8:03
BH — Lamarri Sanchez-Coleman 5 run (Declan Sheehan run), 1:00
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: AMESBURY (46-291): Joe Puleo 17-109, DJ DiCarlo 13-97, Joe Dube 7-43, Connor Scialdone 8-24, Ben Berg 1-18; BLUE HILLS (28-206): Lamarri Sanchez-Coleman 15-78, Declan Shehan 2-64, Reinaldo Sepulveda 7-49, Damion Howitt 3-12, Brayden Mahoney 1-3
PASSING: A — Dube 1-2-0-0, 17; BH — Mahoney 0-1-0-1, 0
RECEIVING: A — Scialdone 1-17