Published in the November 22, 2017 edition
NORTH READING — The Hornets had a great 2017 season with plenty of highlights. The following is a week-by-week recap of each game courtesy of our man on the gridiron, Andrew Mounter.
THE CAL KINNEY CHAMPION Hornet football team is looking forward to the annual Thanksgiving Day showdown with Lynnfield. Members of the team are seniors Thomas Patch, Kyle Conley, Ryan Edison, Xavier Scribner, Alec DeGregorio, Jake Bedell, co-captain Kyle Bythrow, Nicholas Arena, Nicholas Powell, Joshua Bedell, Kevin Brown, co-captain Jackson DeAngelo, Matthew Jaroncyk, Michael Luciano, Timothy Sanger, Kevin Farrelly, Daniel Sweeney, Colin Boucher, Michael Brown, Lionel Beane and Matthew Solecki. The juniors are Alex D’Ambrosio, Michael Mikula, Michael Sheridan, Michael DiStasio, Dylan Cole, Matthew Capozzoli and Matthew Penley. The sophomores are Cameron Randazzo, James Currier, Aidan Carucci, John Cuddy, Ryan Kavanaugh, Christopher Gwozdz, Gerald Callagy, Jack Keller, Gregory Demetri, Matthew Luciano, John Muise, Matthew Conley, Jared Zimmerman, Sean McCullough, Daniel Ryan, Michael Luker, Jordan Madden, Giovanni Colucciello, Brandon Ouellette, Brendan Downer, Eric Benecke, Nicholas McGovern, Michael Duquette, Jack Rich, Nicholas Tormey and Stuart Glover. The freshmen are Brian Heffernan, Jack Donohue, William O’Leary, Brayden Scribner, Robert Tammaro, Jacob Doolin, Michael Sparkes, Grayson Budny, Donny D’Alessandro-Peterson, Zachary Sampson, Christopher McGrath, Peter Wyatt, James Brooks, Ryan Good, Kyle Baker, Sean Brown, Frank Cassarino and William Taylor.
Beat Brighton, 31-8 (1-0)
Senior quarterback and co-captain Kyle Bythrow got the Hornets off to a great start by gaining 281 all-purpose yards (191 rushing, 90 passing) as North Reading crushed Brighton on the road, 31-8 in the season opener.
“Kyle is a tremendous athlete,” said head coach Jeff Wall. “He is a leader in the classroom as well as on the football field, and he is respected by his teammates and coaches alike.”
Bythrow found senior Lionel Beane for a 30-yard touchdown to open the scoring. Then he threw a 28-yard TD pass to fellow senior Jake Bedell to make the score 16-0 at the half. In the second half, the Hornets kept rolling as senior running back Ryan Edison ran one in from 10 yards to make it 24-0. Bythrow found Bedell in the end zone again, this time from 13 yards out to account for the final score of 31-8.
CAPTAINS CORNER. The Hornets’ Senior Captains are Jackson DeAngelo (left) and Kyle Bythrow. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)
Conquered by Generals, 28-14 (1-1)
The Hornets came into the game with a five-game winning streak against Hamilton-Wenham, who proved to be a different team than the Hornets are used to seeing, as they controlled this game from start to finish and beat North Reading 28-14.
“I told them after the game: ‘sometimes you can’t have progress without having some downfalls’ and this was a downfall,” said Wall. “Hopefully we’ll learn from our mistakes, grow from this and become a better team.”
The Generals took an early 7-0 lead and after a Hornet touchdown was erased due to a penalty, Hamilton-Wenham capitalized with another touchdown to take a 14-0 lead into halftime.
The Hornets showed some fight to begin the second half as Bythrow found junior Alex D’Ambrosio for a 39-yard touchdown pass, and after a failed two-point conversion, the Generals led 14-6. Hamilton-Wenham put their foot down as the second half wore on, getting two unanswered touchdowns to take a commanding 28-6 lead into the fourth quarter. Bythrow hit Bedell for a 29-yard touchdown, but it wouldn’t be enough as the Hornets’ home-opener was spoiled.
Shut out by Lynn English, 14-0 (1-2)
The Hornets played another non-league game in week three, as they traveled to Lynn English, where the Bulldogs’ defense stole the show.
“It was a tough game,” said Wall. “We hung in there but didn’t capitalize on field position when we needed to. We knew they were going to be big and strong, but we just didn’t show up to play.”
HORNET COACHING STAFF, from left: Chuck Campobasso, Eddie Blum, Head Coach Jeff Wall, Eric Archambault, Matt Dorothy and Jim Brown. Missing from photo: Elias Reinoso. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)
Come back to beat Triton, 40-31 (2-2)
Despite a rocky start to the season, the Hornets shifted their focus to league play and showed up to Arthur J. Kenney Field ready to play against Triton. In the end, it was an exciting comeback that really set the tone for the season, and showed Hornet fans what this 2017 team was all about.
Jake Bedell was the star in this game as he scored four second half touchdowns to help dig his team out of a 14-7 halftime deficit. This performance was especially vital because Bedell was filling in at QB for Bythrow who had a serious leg injury that could potentially end his season.
D’Ambrosio scored form three yards out to score North Reading’s only touchdown of the first half, but Triton’s Tom Lapham threw two first half touchdowns to give the Vikings a 14-7 lead. Lapham is often considered to be the best passing QB in the CAL alongside Lynnfield’s Matt Mortellite, who the Hornets’ secondary must be ready for on Thanksgiving.
A Triton field goal in the second half made it 17-7 but the Hornets responded with a 25-yard TD run from D’Ambrosio to make it 17-14. In an attempt to take control of all the momentum, the Hornets called an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff, as Matt Solecki, a senior coaching the special teams after an injury ended his season, saw an opening on the right side and suggested that coach Wall call an onside kick. The coach gave D’Ambrosio the nod, who kicked a perfect ball that the Hornets recovered.
Bedell scored his first TD of the game two plays later to give North Reading a 21-17 lead. Bedell got his second on a two-yard run to make it 28-17 and even though Triton responded with a touchdown, the Bedell train was in full speed running behind a great offensive line including Sean McCullough, Dylan Cole, Colin Boucher, Matt Capozzoli, Tim Sanger and co-captain Jackson DeAngelo. Bedell would run two more in for the Hornets to account for the final score of a 40-31 shootout victory.
Crush Pentucket, 30-12 (3-2)
The Hornets dominated from start to finish against Pentucket to bring their record to 2-0 in the CAL Kinney Division. Despite another slow start offensively (The Hornets only first-half points came from a D’Ambrosio 24-yard field goal) the defense dominated to give the offense some time to figure it out.
The Hornet defense played their best game of the year as they held the Sachems to zero or negative yards seven times, including two sacks each from Boucher and DeAngelo.
In the second half, Edison punched one in after a four-play 60 yard drive highlighted by a 47-yard carry from D’Ambrosio to make it 10-0. Bedell added a 39-yard scamper for a 17-0 lead and after a Pentucket touchdown made it 17-7, Bedell took the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for the Hornets only kickoff return for a touchdown of the season. Edison capped off the scoring with his second touchdown as the Hornets cruised to a 30-12 vctory.
Hold off Masco in OT thriller, 20-14 (4-2)
In what many called the game of the season (until the D4 quarterfinals), the Hornets beat visiting Masconomet, 20-14 in a heart-pounding overtime victory.
“We came in as underdogs and undermanned,” said Wall. “We had a lot of injuries so we didn’t know what we had going into this game but the kids stepped up and I’m really proud of them.”
Jake Bedell was nursing a leg injury and wasn’t sure he would get the OK to play, but luckily for the Hornets, who were still without Bythrow, Bedell played and played well as he ran for 89 yards and scored the game-tying touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Masco scored on their opening drive to make it 7-0, but the Hornets got the equalizer from freshman Brian Heffernan who stepped up and threw a great 16-yard TD pass to Mike Mikula. It was the first of what will most likely be many for the young quarterback.
Masco responded with a 63-yard touchdown on a screen pass later in the game to take a 14-7 lead. After a game of tug-of-war between the two defenses, the Hornets ended up tying it with 4:53 left to go in the game on a 5-yard run from Bedell.
Masco went for a game-winning drive and they got it into field goal position with five seconds left, but the Hornets blocked the 25-yard kick to force overtime. It was the biggest of many great plays this season from the special teams unit.
After they won the toss, Masco made the mistake of giving North Reading the first chance of scoring a touchdown as the Hornets scored on three plays and D’Ambrosio found pay dirt from three yards out. During Masco’s chance, the Hornets shut down three straight passing opportunities as Mike Sheridan knocked down the last pass and North Reading held on to win 20-14. It was an exciting game that clinched at least a share of the division title for the Hornets who had won their third game in a row.
Clip Newburyport, 32-13 (5-2)
The Hornets traveled to Newburyport with plenty on the line and they came home with a convincing 32-13 victory and their second-straight CAL Kinney Division crown.
“We seem to rely on different players each week and the payers seem to always step up,” said Wall. “The kids played hard tonight. We’ve been through a lot of adversity this year so it is great to see this group come together. They did what they needed to do to win. I’m proud of them.”
The Clippers took a 7-0 lead before the Brian Heffernan show started. The freshman threw his second TD pass of the season to D’Ambrosio for 18 yards, and after Jack Keller picked up a blocked PAT and ran it in, the Hornets took a 8-7 lead. Keller then recovered the onside kick, the third successful onside recovery of the season. (Expect to see at least one from the Hornets on Turkey Day and don’t be surprised if they go in for seconds.)
Heffernan found Mikula from two yards out to give the Hornets a 15-7 lead before the two connected again from 16 yards to take a 22-7 lead at the half. Expect Heffernan to be a secret weapon on Thanksgiving as the Pioneers will certainly look to stop the Hornets’ ground game first and foremost.
A D’Ambrosio field goal gave the Hornets a 35-13 lead, and one final 32-yard TD scamper from Edison completed the scoring from the Hornets who won it 32-13 for their fourth straight win a perfect record in league play.
Beat Wayland on last-second kick in D4N quarterfinals, 17-14 (6-2)
North Reading hosted Wayland in the D4 North quarterfinals and won on a last-second field goal from D’Ambrosio. The Hornets marched down the field led by Bedell to get themselves in position.
“We went down the field and took it to them,” said Wall. “We relied on the seniors to take care of business and they did.”
Bedell scored from three yards out in the second quarter to give the Hornets a 7-0 lead.
North Reading got another great defensive effort against an explosive Wayland offense. DeAngelo, Tim Sanger and Nick Arena were especially strong for the Hornet defense.
With the score tied at 7 in the fourth quarter, Edison ran for an 18-yard touchdown to take a 14-7 lead. The Warriors would respond and tie it with 3:23 left to play, plenty of time for Bedell and the Hornets to go to work. Nine plays later, it looked like the Hornets came up short on the one yard line with time expired, but a Wayland offsides gave the Hornets one more un-timed play, and coach Wall sent D’Ambrosio in for the game-winning try. In practice, a missed PAT means laps for the team so D’Ambrosio was no stranger to big kicks.
“That’s more pressure than that kick at the end of the game,” joked the junior, who coolly hit the field goal for the win.
Come up short against Melrose, 27-26 in D4N Semifinals (6-3)
In the heartbreaker of the year, the Hornets came up short on a 2-point conversion after a touchdown pass from Bythrow to Mikula with 15 seconds left.
Melrose scored on their first drive to make it 7-0. The Hornets responded with a 5-yard TD run from Bedell, set up by two 40 plus runs from Bedell and Bythrow, who made a triumphant return from the injury report by gaining over 120 yards rushing on the day.
Melrose took a 14-7 lead into halftime and built on it in the third quarter as they made it 20-7.
The Hornets battled back starting with Bedell’s second touchdown run, this time from 15 yards to make it 20-13. Melrose took a 27-13 lead but Bedell scored his third TD from 7 yards to make it 27-20 late in the 4th. Bedell also ran for over 100 yards as the offensive line was fantastic once again.
The Hornets went to their specialty onside kick once again, and recovered with 2:35 left. North Reading drove all the way down to the goal line and finally scored to pull within one, but the two-point conversion failed and the Hornets were knocked out of the playoffs in heartbreaking fashion.
Lose to Wilmington in consolation, 21-7 (6-4)
The Hornets were clearly still hurting from their close loss to Melrose in the semifinals as they were handled by Wilmington last week.
Heffernan’ 10-yard pass to Mikula accounted for the only score of the day. This game could actually be considered a good thing for the Hornets as they got their first game after a tough loss out of the way. The Pioneers lost a heartbreaker to Watertown in the D5 North Finals after they were leading by ten with a minute and half left. The Raiders scored, got an onside recovery and scored the winning touchdown with just seconds left. Both losses were tough, but the Hornets got an extra week to put it out of their memories while the sting is still lingering for the Pioneers.
