NR is now 2-0 in CAL Kinney Division

Published in the October 12, 2017 edition

SENIOR Alex D’Ambrosio (5) picks up nice yardage on this run. (John Friberg Photo)

By ANDREW MOUNTER

WEST NEWBURY — The wild ride of the 2017 North Reading High School football team was on full display last Saturday afternoon on the boarder of West Newbury and Groveland, as they defeated Pentucket Regional High School 30-12. After scoring three points in the first half, the Hornets erupted with 27 points in the second half to win going away.

For the second straight week, North Reading was without senior captain and quarterback Kyle Bythrow, so the offense ran two different play books to see what sticked. The only points scored in the first half came on a field goal as the second quarter expired while junior Alex D’Ambrosio kicked it from 24 yards out to give the Green and Gold a 3-0 lead at the half.

The defense for North Reading was dominant, as they held the Sachems offense to plays of no yards or negative yards seven times, including two sacks by senior captain Jackson DeAngelo and senior Colin Boucher.

The second half was a different story in terms of scoring, as the Hornets scored the first touchdown of the game just 1:18 into the third quarter. Senior Ryan Edison punched it in to complete a four-play, 60-yard drive highlighted by a D’Ambrosio 47-yard run, who was only stopped from going into the end zone by a push out of bounds. D’Ambrosio added the extra point to give the Green and Gold a 10-0 advantage.

The lead extended to 17 on the next drive, thanks to Jake Bedell’s 39-yard touchdown run and a D’Ambrosio extra point, giving North Reading a 17-0 lead.

The game got more interesting after Pentucket picked up their first touchdown on a beautiful 42-yard bomb from quarterback Gus Flaherty to wide receiver Nate McGrail. The Sachems got within 10 points, but the Hornets stopped any talk of a comeback as soon as the pursuing kickoff, as Bedell would take the ball 96 yards for a special teams’ touchdown. D’Ambrosio added another extra point to get the lead back to 17, at 24-7.

The Green and Gold would get one more score before the day was through, as Edison added his second TD from two yards out to put the cherry on top of a great second half.

The Hornets are above .500 for the first time this season at 3-2 and hope to go two games above .500 as they play the always tough Masco tomorrow night. This game is huge in terms of the division, as both teams are 2-0 in the Cape Ann League Kinney Division, and Masco owns the tiebreaker for now, with the overall record of 4-1. If North Reading wins, they would hold the tiebreaker. North Reading will have revenge on their mind as they lost this contest last year, 21-6, for their only regular season loss. Kickoff at  Arthur Kenney Field is set for 7 p.m.