GHS Football drops season opener to Hamilton-Wenham
Team huddle at the end of a tough loss for Gloucester
September 13, 2022
GHS Football lost to the Hamilton-Wenham Generals 20-12 in their season opener. After an explosive first half, The Fishermen’s offense crumbled, costing them the game.
“For the most part, we had a lot of good performances, both on the offensive and defensive line,” Head Coach Dan O’Connor said. “Just have to be a lot more disciplined than we were.”
The Fishermen’s powerful running and offensive line got the ball rolling for Gloucester early. With about 4 minutes left in the 1st quarter, Captain Caleb Decoste finished a quick drive with a 45-yard rushing touchdown to put Gloucester up 6-0.
Hamilton-Wenham had an effective passing strategy all game, and early in the second quarter, they scored a touchdown plus making the extra point, putting them up 7-6. Just after that, Gloucester came down, and responded with a touchdown of their own, again scored by Decoste on a 3-yard run. Unfortunately, the Fishermen couldn’t capitalize on extra points again, failing to complete the 2-point conversion attempt. If they had finished their drives with extra points, the game would have looked a lot different.
Going into the 2nd half, Gloucester was up 12-6, looking to keep the pressure on. On their first drive, there were multiple strong runs by Frank DeSisto, but Gloucester eventually had to punt on 4th down. Hamilton-Wenham was locked up until they broke away with a 40-yard passing play after an uncalled, but very obvious holding on the line, preventing Gloucester from getting the sack. The Generals completed the drive with a short screen pass to the end zone, putting them up 13-12.
Gloucester couldn’t get anything going on offense in the 2nd half, having many miscues, committing some penalties, and allowing Hamilton-Wenham to hold on to the ball for a long time each possession. Gloucester only had 4 real possessions in the 2nd half.
“We wasted timeouts on bad plays, we had 12 guys on the field, we had a penalty that kept their drive going, we had 10 guys on the field at one point I had to burn a timeout for that.” Coach O’Connor said. “It’s mental, really, we got to check in a little bit, be more disciplined.”
In the 4th quarter, down 1, Gloucester’s Kayden Souza beat his man on the line for a sack, forcing a 4th-down punt. Unfortunately though, The Fishermen turned it over on downs and The Generals scored again with 24 seconds left. Down 8, needing a couple of miracles just to tie the game, Gloucester knew they had to be quick with their plays. They did just that, with a quick 10-yard catch by Brady Sullivan. They needed a hail Mary on the last play, which they went for and completed from a 51-yard pass by Nick Carey, but it was just short of the end zone and time ran out. The Fishermen lost 20-12.
Despite the loss, Gloucester performed very well, with big plays from Christian Howell on the defensive line, huge running contributions from DeSisto and Decoste, good returns by Brady Sullivan, and all around good play from the defensive and offensive lines. The Fishermen’s next game will be Friday at home against Chelsea.
