Amesbury takes apart depleted Royals

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October 14, 2012

Amesbury takes apart depleted Royals

By Jeff Hamrick sports@eagletribune.com The Eagle-Tribune The Eagle Tribune Sun Oct 14, 2012, 12:05 AM EDT

HAVERHILL – When injuries decimate a roster as they have at Georgetown, a team is left with two basic choices: fold up the tent or turn the adversity into a learning experience.

Although yesterday’s 43-12 manhandling by Amesbury might not look like it on the surface, the Royals have chosen the latter option.

“We’re playing all youngsters now,” Georgetown coach Paul Sobelowski said. “It’s becoming tough. We’re playing a bunch of freshmen and sophomores right now on a varsity schedule. There’s no way we can be competitive with teams like (Amesbury). When you have nine guys out with injuries and only 45 players in the program, it gets tough.”

Things have gotten so bad for the snake-bit Royals that sophomore running back Cooper Martens, who was starting because of injuries, was knocked out of the game with a concussion on his second carry of the afternoon.

Amesbury (4-2) took advantage of the youthful Royals early, scoring on each of its first four possessions – none of which lasted more than six plays – to take a 29-0 lead with 7:34 left in the second.

“Hats off to (Amesbury) for not rubbing it in on us,” Sobelowski said. “It’s not fun for them either when they come in and can score at will.”

Showing promise: Overcoming the slow start, Georgetown (1-4) put together the game’s best drive late in the first half, going 77 yards on 11 plays in 5:36. Tom Zargaj, one of only two seniors that contributed to the offense, capped things off with a 17-yard scoring run.

The Royals added another score midway through the fourth on an 18-yard scoring pass from sophomore Zack Curtain to junior Patrick Bjork.

“We have to get some kids back healthy,” Sobelowski said. “You keep these guys motivated by teaching them the game of football and try to help them get better for the future.

“Every kid in our program comes back next year with the exception of five of them. You just have to concentrate on the future, getting better and getting the younger kids to step up.”

Changing numbers: Another sign of how tough things have been on Georgetown could be seen on the roster. Starting at fullback was a player with the number 33, which was not listed on the program. It turned out that senior Kenny Haskell had to change his number from 54 when he was forced to move from the offensive line to the starting backfield. He ran for 10 yards on five carries.

Amesbury 43, Georgetown 12

Amesbury (4-2): 15 14 14 0 — 43

Georgetown (1-5): 0 6 0 6 — 12

First Quarter

A — Matt Talbot 25 run (Mac Short kick), 5:35

A — Perry Mroz 42 run (Devlin Gobeil pass from Talbot) 1:25

Second Quarter

A — Talbot 11 run (Ben Cullen run), 10:02

A — Cullen 10 run (run failed) 7:34

G — Tom Zargaj 17 run (run failed), 1:58

Third Quarter

A — Talbot 22 run (Talbot run), 8:58

A — Brad Kelleher 1 run (furn failed), 0:00

Fourth Quarter

G — Patrick Bjork 18 pass from Zack Curtin (pass failed) 6:13

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING: A (34-264) — Perry Mroz 5-85, Tommy Connors 4-60, Talbot 3-58, Cullen 4-33, Doug Masi 2-21, Alex Mercier 3-7, Spencer Fournier 5-7, Bram Robinson 1-3, Nathan Masi 1-2, Robert Cuote 1-2, Bobby Campbell 1-1, Brad Kelleher 2-1, Ryan Foley 1-(-3), Jess Daumanian 1-(-13); G (39-129) — Zargaj 9-48, Fritz 11-33, Robert DiMento 8-19, Cooper Martens 2-13, Kenny Haskell 5-10, Curtin 4-6

PASSING: A — Talbot 1-2-31 (0 interceptions); G (1-6-18, 0) — Curtain 1-3-18, Fritz 0-3-0

RECEIVING: A — Connors 1-31; G — Bjork 1-18