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IPSWICH | There was no way Hamilton-Wenham senior captain and running back Jake Cotter was going to miss his team's final game. Not against his team's biggest rivals, and certainly not on Thanksgiving.

It's hard to blame Alex Lampropoulos from walking away from the Ipswich High School football team during the preseason.

To borrow a line from Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant, Lampropoulos | one of just five returning seniors from the Tigers' Division 3A Super Bowl championship team of 2006 | wondered how tomorrow could ever follow today.

Where: Ipswich High School Field

Date: Thursday

Time: 10 a.m.

Coaches: Andrew Morency, Hamilton-Wenham; Ted Flaherty, Ipswich.

Captains: Hamilton-Wenham: Jake Cotter, Sr. RB/LB; Nate Masterson, Sr. RB/LB; Tom Drinkwater, Sr. OL/DL; Ipswich: Chris Tolios, Sr. OL/LB.

AMESBURY | Amesbury did its part last night in setting the stage for a huge Thanksgiving Day tilt with Newburyport.

The Indians (4-5, 3-1) kept their Cape Ann League Small hopes alive with a 35-13 victory over Ipswich at Landry Stadium. If Newburyport (6-3, 3-0) beats Lynnfield today (11 a.m., Lynnfield High), the annual Thanksgiving Day game between Amesbury and Newburyport will have a league title at stake.

NEWBURYPORT | Newburyport football coach Ed Gaudiano has never counted wins, but he may have been thinking about a few that got away last night at 8:50 p.m.

At that exact time, the Clippers coach stood in a short-sleeve shirt on a 40-degree night | dripping from a Gatorade shower he'd just received from his captains while standing on the sidelines. The celebration was a result of Gaudiano's passing Jim Stehlin to become the winningest coach in program history.

Alex Lampropoulos caught a pair of touchdown passes from Zach Gorrell, but winless Ipswich (0-8) couldn't keep up with one of the Cape Ann League's best teams last night. "We moved the ball pretty well," said Ipswich coach Ted Flaherty. "We had a 91-yard touchdown drive and we saw some good things on offense. But, defensively, they were too much for us. They were quick and we had no answer for the things they did."

The Tigers were denied their first win of the season as visiting Lynnfield scored the decisive touchdown in the fourth quarter to break a tie and leave with a 20-14 victory.

Jimmy Cadogan gave Ipswich a 7-0 lead with a 4-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Then, in the third quarter, Chad Leonard ran it in from two yards out to give Ipswich a 14-6 advantage.

IPSWICH | Masconomet's undefeated season was never really in jeopardy as the visitors ran through the mud and were too slick for the Ipswich Tigers, 42-8 last night.

Senior T.C. Mannetta led a quartet of running backs for the 6-0 Chieftains, gaining 72 yards on just four carries, including the a 51-yard touchdown run in the early minutes.

Ipswich coach Ted Flaherty won't be doing much scoreboard watching when his 0-5 Tigers host Masconomet tonight. The Chieftains (5-0) have been terrorizing the Cape Ann League and perhaps no one outside the Ipswich dressing room gives the Tigers any kind of chance.

Dino Rizzo ran for two touchdowns in the first quarter and North Reading kept Ipswich winless (0-5) in the Cape Ann League after recording a 35-6 road victory.

Ipswich trailed 35-0 when Nathanial Bocko scored on a 35-yard run.