Looking back on Friday’s Division 5 first round game, Newburyport football coach Ben Smolski had to take a moment to laugh.
“Before the game, I had challeneged the offense to score on every possession,” began Smolski. “And they met that challenge.”
In another dominant showing from Colin Fuller and the Newburyport offense, the No. 8 Clippers scored every time they had the ball and steamrolled past No. 9 Bishop Stang, 53-19, to advance in the Division 5 playoffs. The Clippers are moving on to the state quarterfinals for the second year in a row, where next week they’ll travel down to take on No. 1 Shawsheen Tech.
And with the way this offense is moving, anything is on the table.
Over its last five games now, Newburyport (4-5) is averaging 41.4 points per.
“I think offensively overall, we’ve been consistent all year,” said Smolski. “We have a lot of confidence in Colin Fuller, and the line is getting better every week in front of him. We have a good slew of receivers, and Troy Varoudakis is coming on as a lead running back, along with Paul Suozzo.”
It’s safe to say that Newburyport met the clash of styles on Friday night.
Bishop Stang (4-5) runs the ball every play out of different packages, and midway through the second quarter, it was a tie game at 13-13 after both teams scored on their opening two possessions. The Spartans were on the doorstep of taking the lead back, but a huge fumble recovery from TJ Skiba gave Newburyport possession. That fueled a drive that put the Clippers up 20-13 at halftime, and after getting the ball to start the third quarter, Fuller found the endzone to make it 27-13.
“(Bishop Stang’s) gameplan was ball-control, take long drives down the field and try to keep it close,” said Smolski. “So we knew that if we got a two-score lead, that would maybe force them out of their comfort zone. That fumble recovery from TJ really allowed us to build some momentum.”
Fuller finished his day with 121 passing yards, 128 rushing yards and four total touchdowns (2 passing, 2 rushing). Varoudakis scored twice on the ground, and both Sam Craig and Eli Sirota hauled in TD catches. Then defensively, Sirota led the way with 11 tackles, but the major highlight was lineman Jack Smith coming up with a 28-yard interception return to the house — an accomplishment he was still getting kudos for while attending the Newburyport field hockey game the next day.
“That was a great moment,” said Smolski.
So now, it’s on to undefeated Shawsheen (9-0), which crushed Gloucester, 56-6, in its opener. The Rams were the Division 5 runners-up in 2022, then made it back to the semifinals last fall before losing to eventual-champion Foxborough.
“Early look at the film, they’re an aggresive football team,” said Smolski. “They get after the football on defense, and their offense has explosive plays. So we have to stop their explosive plays, and our guys just need to run around, not think to much, and play some hard-nosed football.
“They’re definitely going to be a challenge, but I like where we’re at.”