RallyNorth.net

Fri, Oct 13, 2006 07:00 PM @ Triton

Team	Final
Amesbury	23
Triton	6

Indian Uprising

Wednesday, August, 22 By Bob Albright
Staff writer

BYFIELD | The calendar may have said Friday 13th, but there were no horror shows for the Amesbury football team in Byfield last night as the Indians scored 13 unanswered points in the second half to post a commanding, 23-6 win, and in doing so serve notice to the rest of the league that they plan on hanging around for the long haul.

"This was a huge win," said Amesbury coach Thom Connors. "We looked at this game as a real benchmark to see where we were and we got our answer. We haven't been on the plus side of a record for a while, but it feels pretty good."

After watching Triton put up a late score in the final 40 seconds of the first half to cut into a 10-0 lead and then fumbling away their first possession of the third quarter, the Friday 13th analogies might have seen apt, but Amesbury (3-2) wiped out all those fears behind the legs of Marion Wilder (140 yards, 2 TDs), the arm of QB Joe Klufts (4-6, 70 yards) and a swarming defense that simply took the game over.

Klufts' 19-yard keeper, complete with a 360 spin at the goal line, put Amesbury up 16-6 with 5:56 to go. After a huge sack of Triton QB Matt Emerzian by several Indians on a fourth-and-19 play at the Triton 19, Wilder busted right off center from 10 yards out to seal it with 4:21 left.

"Joe has really stepped up," said Connors of the QB who had three big first down completions to tight end Steve Serwon at the most opportune of times throughout the contest. "Last week he had three TDs on sneaks and this week he made throws that he hasn't had to make yet -- then he had a couple of those keepers."

After getting stopped on downs on their first possession of the game, the Indians put up the first score of the night on their second turn with the ball.

Taking over at the Triton 48 after Indians captain Ryan Kilmartin forced an Eric Pacy fumble, Amesbury put together a five-play drive. Staring at a fourth-and-seven on their own 31, the Indians gave the ball to Wilder off left tackle and the speed merchant wasted little time cutting up the center of the field and was off to the races from there 31 yards for the score.

Amesbury would add to that lead on its first possession of the second quarter. Taking over on its own 29-yard line, Amesbury put together an 11-play drive that ate up nearly seven minutes on the clock.

It started with a 27-yard scamper by Wilder and was highlighted by two Klufts-to-Serwon hookups good for a combined 32 yards. The second reception came on a fourth-and-16 play from the Triton 29 that saw Klufts roll out to his left on a nifty bootleg and then throw a strike to Serwon at the 11-yard line. Amesbury would cap the drive when Jay Wheeler split the uprights from 27 yards out on a kick that would've been good from 10 yards further back.

A 35-yard punt return by Triton's Jared Wells set up the Vikes lone score right before the half. Looking at a first-and-10 at the Amesbury 45 with just 40 seconds showing on the clock, senior tailback Rob Mulkern took a deep pitch and careened through a gaping hole on the left side printing 45 yards for the score that energized the home crowd.

Amesbury hosts H-W Friday, while Triton (2-4) travels to Wilmington.