Amesbury football posts third straight shutout, beats Pentucket

Mac Cerullo, The Daily News of Newburyport, Mass.
·3 min read

Apr. 18—AMESBURY — For nearly a month now, nobody has been able to score on Amesbury football. The Indians came into Saturday's rivalry game with Pentucket coming off two straight shutouts, and it was clear from the jump they had no intention of letting Pentucket break that streak.

In what was the most dominant defensive performance in a season full of them, Amesbury smothered Pentucket for a 22-0 win and the team's third straight shutout. In the process Amesbury held Pentucket to just 18 total yards and a single first down on offense.

"Defense is about an attitude, and our kids have that," said Amesbury head coach Colin McQueen. "They love the game, they play the game hard, they run and tackle. They love running to the football, we practice it all the time, and these guys who are seniors have been practicing it for four years, every rep of every practice. That stuff matters to us and these guys take pride in that."

Much like in Week 4's throttling of North Reading, Amesbury took control of the game right away and never allowed Pentucket an opportunity to compete. The Indians forced a three and out on Pentucket's opening possession and immediately marched down the field to take an 8-0 lead, with JT Tilton scoring a 32-yard touchdown and a Kyle Donovan two-point conversion.

Amesbury made it 16-0 midway through the second quarter when Donovan finished a 12-play, 75-yard scoring drive with a 1-yard touchdown and a two-point conversion reception.

,Pentucket's defense did step up in the second half to keep the game within reach. When Amesbury opened the third quarter with the ball, the Indians drove to the Pentucket goal line again before Andrew Melone and Joe Lynch got a third down tackle for a six-yard loss and then Will Sutton grabbed a fourth down interception in the end zone.

The offense couldn't capitalize, however.

Amesbury finished with 444 yards of total offense. With the win Amesbury improves to 4-1, but with Newburyport ending its season due to a COVID-19 outbreak, next week's annual rivalry game will not take place for the first time since 1930.

McQueen said he feels horrible for Newburyport, but with the situation being what it is, he is hoping to find an alternative opponent so the Indians can finish up with one more game.

Pentucket is now 0-4 and will wrap up its season next Friday against Triton.

Amesbury 22, Pentucket 0

Pentucket (0-4): 0 0 0 0 — 0

Amesbury (4-1): 8 8 0 6 — 22

First Quarter

A — JT Tilton 32 run (Kyle Donovan run), 3:40

Second Quarter

A — Donovan 1 run (Donovan pass from Drew MacDonald), 4:24

Fourth Quarter

A — Brady Dore 8 run (run failed), 7:40

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING: Amesbury (46-322) — Brady Dore 12-77, Kyle Donovan 11-70, JT Tilton 7-53, Jeremy Lopez 4-29, Drew MacDonald 3-26, Thomas Buetow 1-22, Nick Marden 2-13, Henry O'Neill 2-13, Luke Arsenault 1-8, J'Quan Neal 1-7, Shea Cucinotta 2-4; Pentucket (13-8) — Dylan O'Rourke 6-16, Andrew Melone 2-0, Johnny Igoe 2-(-2), Chase Dwight 3-(-6)

PASSING: Amesbury — Drew MacDonald 7-10-1, 122; Pentucket — Chase Dwight 2-5, 10

RECEIVING: Amesbury — Kyle Donovan 2-55, Tyler Mazzaglia 3-37, Brady Dore 1-21, Tim