Gloucester seeks Division 2A championship

The Gloucester football team has been one of the best in the area for the past six seasons, but simply couldn’t make their way into the postseason thanks to Swampscott, Danvers and WinthropBut this season, the Fishermen finally got over the hump and now are poised to write their name on the school’s first Super Bowl title since a 35-26 win over Foxboro in 2000.Today (1:30) at Gillette Stadium, the Fishermen will take the field against Hingham in the Division 2A Super Bowl knowing full well that beating the Harbormen won’t be easy.”They are kind of like us except that we spread the ball around a little more,” Gloucester coach Paul Ingram said. “We play the same defense (4-3) and both run the Wing-T.”If previous games are any indication, this one has the potential to keep the scoreboard operators at Gillette working overtime.Gloucester (12-0) has gone over the 30 point mark in nine of 12 games and have scored 40 or more in five of those games. But the Harbormen (11-1), whose only loss came to Division 2 finalist Bishop Feehan, also have put up points in bunches to the tune of 29.7 per game.”I think it’s going to be who gets over the awe of playing there first,” Ingram said about going to Gillette. “It’s very different than what we’re used to.”Clearly, both offenses possess the ability to score points in a hurry and the game will feature the top two scorers in Division 2A in Gloucester’s Andrew Fulford and Hingham’s Chris Constantine.Fulford has needed only 132 carries to put up 1,203 yards and a division leading 32 touchdowns on the board. Constantine, meanwhile, is the workhorse for the Harbormen and has been even more impressive in rushing for 2,010 yards and 27 touchdowns. He has 30 overall, putting him just behind Fulford.”Constantine is everything that they said he was,” Ingram said. “He is a strong kid and runner who can change directions on a dime. ANd they throw enough to keep you honest.”The job of stopping the Harbormen’s star falls on a unit that has stoned opponents to the tune of 114 points in 12 games.”Our defense has been great all year,” Ingram said. “Our linebackers (Robert Lowe, Adam Quinn, Brian Harnish) are good at what they do and Quinn just makes things happen because he is so quick off the ball.”While Constantine takes care of the bulk of the offense for Hingham, it is the opposite in Gloucester, where the Fishermen have used a bevy of running backs to shred opposing defenses.In their 39-0 win over Masconomet on Tuesday at Cawley Stadium in Lowell, Fulford scored five touchdowns but Taylor Burbine and Brian Harnish also plundered the Chieftains defense.”We executed well on both sides of the ball and were so fast on that turf,” Ingram said. “It was rewarding to see the kids do exactly as they are coached to do.”It will be the second time that the Fishermen have made the trek to Foxboro. In 1987, Gloucester lost to Chelmsford, 21-14 in the Division 2 Super Bowl.In all, the program is now in its sixth trip to championship Saturday, wearing the crown in 1991, 1995 and 2000.