RallyNorth.net

Ipswich faces tough task against Masco

Thursday, October, 11 By Mike Grenier
Staff writer

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.

"When you're in the situation we're in, you can't look at the opponent," said Flaherty. "The challenge for us (against Masco) is to play the whole game as hard as we can, regardless of the score.

"As a team we made strides against Triton (a 28-24 loss) a couple of weeks ago, but we took a big step backwards last week against North Reading (35-6 loss). We have to get back to making progress."

Like everyone else who's paid close attention to Masconomet, Flaherty marvels at the play of sophomore quarterback Chris Splinter, whose speed makes him a threat to score on every play.

"The Splinter kid is unbelievable," said Flaherty. "You're so conscious of his ability to make plays on rollouts that you don't notice how dangerous he can be on a quarterback sneak. In the two films I've seen, he's had eight sneaks. If you get a little distracted, he'll run right through you on the sneak. He's that quick."

Two of Ipswich's most consistent players this season have been quarterback Zach Gorrell and 6-2, 270-pound lineman Neil Berzins, said Flaherty. But it's going to require a huge effort on everyone's part for Ipswich to compete with Masco.

"I told the kids that last year's team never had to do anything this hard," said Flaherty, whose Tigers won the Division 3B Super Bowl title in 2006.