Clutch When it Counts: O'Neill's late TD lifts Amesbury to gritty season-opening win over Wayland

Sep. 18—AMESBURY — Late fourth quarter, it's 4th-and-2, and the Amesbury football team is in desperate need of a play.

How did it come to this?

Leading all night, the Indians watched as visiting Wayland fought back to tie Friday's game late in the third quarter, and were now just one stop away from potentially earning what could have been a game-winning drive at the buzzer.

But with a full student section on their feet at Landry Memorial Stadium, junior Henry O'Neill took that 4th-and-2 handoff from quarterback Drew MacDonald and bounced to the outside. He raced past his right tackle and the receivers throwing blocks, then won a footrace with the safety down the sideline to hurdle in for a 24-yard touchdown with exactly two minutes left.

That put Amesbury up 22-14 after Nick Marden ran in the conversion, and minutes later Wayland saw two last-second Hail Mary attempts fall short in what ended up being a thrilling season-opening win for the Indians.

"We had to fight all game," said O'Neill, who ended up being his team's leading rusher with 90 yards on 12 carries. "We knew we had to dig deep. That was the biggest play of the game right there, I knew I had to get those two yards.

"But the guys are unbelievable on the edge. They block so well and it was wide open for me. That touchdown goes to the boys on the O-line as much as anyone."

No matter who wants to take credit, the main takeaway from Friday night's game was that it was an undeniably gritty performance by Amesbury.

The Indians made all of the big plays when they had to.

And yes, as O'Neill alluded to, it was an especially gritty performance from the Amesbury offensive line.

Led by seniors Antonio D'Arcangelo and Devin Gannon, as well as sophomores Will Arsenault and Aiden Donovan, the Indians rushed for 253 total yards on 46 carries (5.5 per carry), and all three of their scores came on the ground.

"It's all about teamwork," said D'Arcangelo, who also starred as the team's nose tackle on defense. "We all know our assignments, we play them very well and we have a great time doing it."

Going into the game, Amesbury coach Colin McQueen knew it was going to be imperative for his team to control the clock in order to win.

Based on that, Friday's opening drive couldn't have gone better.

The Indians took the opening kick and went 17 plays on a drive that nearly lasted the entire first quarter and ended when Marden burst into the end zone from four yards out.

The four-headed monster of O'Neill, Marden (11-59), Shea Cucinotta (10-55) and Luke Arsenault (6-31) carried the rock most of the night for Amesbury, which found itself up 14-0 with three minutes left until halftime after Cucinotta broke off a 28-yard TD run.

But Wayland (1-1) answered back on the first play of its next drive when QB Adam Goodfellow hit top target Finn O'Driscoll on an 81-yard bomb.

After the break, the two teams traded stops until senior back Shayne Sutton rushed in a 10-yard score to tie the game at 14-14 late in the third.

"They lived up to their nickname. They're Warriors," said McQueen of Wayland. "But the toughness and the resilience and the character of our guys is incredible. We've got some special guys."

After Sutton's score, Wayland forced Amesbury into a 3-and-out to get possession immediately back and swing momentum completely in its favor. The Warriors put together a drive, but the Indians came away with a huge 4th-down stop at their own 15-yard-line.

That set up the 14-play, 85-yard drive that was capped by O'Neill's game winner.

Even still, the Warriors drove to the Amesbury 30 with 8.7 seconds left and had two shots at the endzone. But the first pass was knocked away by Arsenault, and the second bounced in front of the intended receiver well short of the endzone.

"We've got a lot to fix up, but this was a really great start," said McQueen. "And how great was it to have fans back in the stands? The student section was awesome tonight!"

Amesbury will travel to Hamilton-Wenham for a 1 p.m. kickoff next Saturday.

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Amesbury 22, Wayland 14

Wayland (1-1): 0 6 8 0 — 14

Amesbury (1-0): 8 6 0 8 — 22

First Quarter

A — Nick Marden 4 run (Marden run), 1:03

Second Quarter

A — Shea Cucinotta 28 run (run failed), 3:13

W — Finn O'Driscoll 81 pass from Adam Goodfellow (kick failed), 2:52

Third Quarter

W — Shayne Sutton 10 run (Jake Kennedy pass from Goodfellow), 3:20

Fourth Quarter

A — Henry O'Neill 24 run (Marden run), 2:00

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING: AMESBURY (46-253) Henry O'Neill 12-90, Nick Marden 11-59, Shea Cucinotta 10-55, Luke Arsenault 6-32, Drew MacDonald 6-17, Drew Scialdone 1-0; WAYLAND (26-141): Shayne Sutton 15-83, Adam Goodfellow 11-58

PASSING: A — MacDonald 2-6-0, 20; W — Goodfellow 9-16-0, 159

RECEIVING: A — Andrew Baker 1-16, O'Neill 1-4; W — Finn O'Driscoll 6-135, Sean Goodfellow 2-14, Sutton 1-10