H-W makes the most of its home games, hammers Manchester

Apr. 11—HAMILTON — Here's one thing history will never be able to take away from the 2021 "Fall 2" Hamilton-Wenham football team: they never lost a game on their home field.

The Generals made it two straight home victories by hammering Manchester Essex, 28-0, Saturday afternoon. It was mission accomplished for the squad's 13 seniors, who lost their first three games, all on the road, and used the comforts of home to get their season back on track.

"We knew we weren't going to have a lot of games on this field, so we had to make them count," said senior captain Marty Cooke, who had eight tackles to deliver Hamilton-Wenham (now 2-3) its first shutout of the year.

Visiting Manchester Essex (1-4) didn't score for the third straight game and didn't get a whole lot of run offensively thanks to H-W's ball control offense and untimely turnovers. The Hornets had only 21 offensive snaps on the afternoon compared to 43 for the Generals, who took control for good with a 21-point second quarter outburst.

Despite the lopsided time with the ball, Hamilton-Wenham's points actually came on quick strikes. Senior quarterback Carter Coffey, who threw for a career-best 225 yards, threw a 43-yard jump ball to Markus Nordin for a TD with 3:13 left in the second quarter. When the Generals got the ball back with only 17 seconds left in the half, his next throw went 79 yards to Ryan Monahan for another H-W score.

"Carter can throw it 60 yards in the air ... Ryan just had to go get it," said Generals head coach Jim Pugh, whose team benefitted from three interceptions that produced three offensive touchdowns. Monahan made one of those and emerging sophomore John Ertel made the other two.

"(Assistant) coach (Dan) Lawrence has been telling us John was due for a couple of picks," Pugh added. "He's a ballplayer and he's made some nice catches every week."

The Generals used eight ballcarriers, with Coffey sneaking in from the 1-yard line to open the scoring in the second quarter. Cooke and fellow captain Jack Mulvihill carried the load on the ground, combining for 62 yards, with Mulvihill scoring from 3 yards out in the third.

"It feels great to win. We executed and we got it done," said Mulvihill. "We've really been clicking these last couple of weeks and being at home gave us that little boost we needed; our coaches made sure we knew what we had to do."

Manchester Essex got off to a great start with junior lineman Sam MacDowell tipping a Coffey pass to himself for an interception on the contest's first drive. The Hornets couldn't move the ball on the ground, though, with the three turnovers and only 57 yards from scrimmage.

"It's the same story every week where we put ourselves in a hole by turning the ball over. We fight, but by that point it's too much," said Hornets head coach Jeff Hutton. "It's not for a lack of effort or will to win ... we just have no margin for error."

The Hornets offense can be a tough one to read, with lots of misdirection and big play potential on counter runs. The Generals, though, had them scouted well with Cooke and Mulvihill patrolling the middle of the defense. Will Warrenburg, Monahan and Ertel were strong in the secondary as well.

"It's a lot of film study, all week when you have spare time just watching the trickery," said Cooke. "The coaches and scout team did a great preparing us in practice."

Coffey finished up 11-of-16 passing and had 38 yards on nine carries. Sean Collins had a couple clutch grabs for first downs while Ertel and freshman Henry Stinson ran the offense effectively at QB in the fourth quarter.

"The kids played well in every phase," said Pugh, whose team has a bye week this coming weekend before finishing up with undefeated arch rival Ipswich on April 23. "We challenged them to come out and make sure they left their home field in a blaze of glory. They brought their best effort."

Hamilton-Wenham 28, Manchester Essex 0

at Hamilton-Wenham HS

Manchester Essex (1-4) 0 0 0 0 — 0

Hamilton-Wenham (2-3) 0 21 7 0 — 28

HW — Carter Coffey 1 run (Will Warrenburg kick)

HW — Markus Nordin 43 pass from Coffey (Warrenburg kick)

HW — Ryan Monahan 79 pass from Coffey (Warrenburg kick)

HW — Jack Mulvihill 3 run (Warrenburg kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATS

RUSHING: Manchester Essex — Joe Daly 5-9, Ambrose Pallazola 1-8, Eli Hammet 2-7, Owen Aiello 2-5, Will Levendusky 1-1, Sam Rice 1-(-4) ; Hamilton-Wenham — Carter Coffey 9-38, Jack Mulvihill 6-24, John Ertel 2-23, Marty Cooke 4-16, Cyrus Soleimeni 2-15, James Day 1-9, Will Moroney 2-9 Adam Green 1-3.

PASSING: Manchester Essex — Brennan Twombly 2-3-18-0-0, Levendusky 1-6-13-0-3; Hamilton-Wenham — Coffey 11-16-225-2-1.

RECEIVING: Manchester Essex — Pallazola 3-31 ; Hamilton-Wenham — Ryan Monahan 6-142, Markus Nordin 2-57, Sean Collins 2-25, Mulvihill 1-1.