It just felt like for the entire game, Amesbury was chasing points.
And as the competition ramps up the deeper you get into the tournament, the harder it gets to pull off a comeback.
Something the Redhawks weren’t able to do Friday night down on the Cape.
For the second time in four years, the Amesbury football team was eliminated by Mashpee in the Division 7 quarterfinals. The No. 6 Redhawks couldn’t come up with the stops on defense, and weren’t as efficient in the two-point conversion game in an eventual 30-20 loss to the No. 3 Falcons.
“(Mashpee) was very fast and had a very physical defense,” said Amesbury coach Colin McQueen. “The difference through a lot of it was that they were really good on their two-point conversions, and we weren’t. We had an opportunity to get it to one-score game a couple of times, and just couldn’t convert. But (Mashpee) had alot to do with that.
“They’re physical and they’re good.”
Unfortunately, Amesbury (7-3) was chasing from the beginning.
The Redhawks received the opening kickoff, but were quickly forced to punt. Mashpee (8-2) would then drive down and take a lead it ultimately would never give up, as QB Dominic Matteodo rolled out off play-action and found Maxx Smith for a 1-yard touchdown. Following a successful conversion, it was an 8-0 ballgame.
Amesbury would respond with a patented 60-yard drive that chewed up 11 minutes of game clock, and would find the endzone on a 1-yard score from sophomore Connor Scialdone. But the conversion rush was stuffed, and the Falcons would immediately strike back with a 6-yard TD from Matteodo to Ben Squarcia — followed by another successful conversion — to make it a 16-6 game at halftime.
“We were just chasing points all night,” said McQueen. “They were good on their conversions.”
Then to start the second half, the challenge only got harder for Amesbury.
After receiving the third-quarter kickoff, Squarcia capped another scoring drive with a 5-yard rush to make it 22-6. Senior captain DJ DiCarlo would rumble in for a 7-yard TD on Amesbury’s ensuing drive, and a Justin Dube conversion made it a one-score game at 22-14. But on a 4th-and-3 late in the third quarter, the Falcons went for it and were rewarded when Matteodo found Ryan Triveri for a 14-yard strike to make it — yet again after another good conversion — 30-14.
“For the most part I did like how our guys played defensively,” said McQueen. “Ethan Kirby set the edge really well, and he was a beast coming downhill and getting into their backfield. Then I thought Connor Mazzaglia tackled really well coming down from his secondary spot in the third level. We did have some good physicality.”
But in the end, it wasn’t enough.
Amesbury continued to fight, getting a 21-yard touchdown pass from Dube to Ollie Peters with 7:22 left in the fourth. But after a failed conversion run, it was still a two-score game at 30-20. The Falcons were then able to run out the rest of the clock, and punch their ticket to the Division 7 Final Four.
The loss was a tough pill to swallow, but the season isn’t over for Amesbury.
Of course, the Redhawks will now gear up for the 101st annual Thanksgiving Day meeting against archrival Newburyport. The Clippers came out on top in the much-celebrated 100th game last year, so you can bet the Redhawks will be eager to pay that back when they travel over to James T. Stehlin Field for the 10 a.m. kickoff.
“It’s going to be a lot of lasts for this senior group,” said McQueen. “I consider myself very proud and very lucky to have coached these six seniors that we have. I told them to savor every moment, and hopefully we’ll come out ready to put our best fot forward against a really talented Newburyport team.”
Mashpee 30, Amesbury 20
Amesbury (7-3): 0 6 8 6 — 20
Mashpee (8-2): 8 8 14 0 — 30
First Quarter
M — Maxx Smith 1 pass from Dominic Matteodo (run good)
Second Quarter
A — Connor Scialdone 1 run (run failed)
M — Ben Squarcia 6 pass from Matteodo (Ryan Triveri pass from Matteodo)
Third Quarter
M — Squarcia 5 run (run failed)
A — DJ DiCarlo 7 run (Justin Dube run)
M — Triveri 14 pass from Matteodo (Squarcia pass from Matteodo)
Fourth Quarter
A — Ollie Peters 21 pass from Dube (run failed)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: AMESBURY (45-132): Joe Puleo 10-48, DJ DiCarlo 15-42, Connor Scialdone 13-36, Justin Dube 7-6
PASSING: A — Dube 5-7-1-0, 94
RECEIVING: A — DiCarlo 1-28, Ollie Peters 2-27, Scialdone 1-22