Marblehead’s magical football season continues

MARBLEHEAD – For the first time in 16 years, the Marblehead football squad will have a winning record. The Magicians took their third straight win last night, 33-23 over Winthrop at Piper Field, to assure hemselves of finishing above .500.”I’m really speechless at the moment,” said Marblehead coach Doug Chernovetz, whose club finished out its home part of the schedule with the victory, going 4-1 on its own turf. “I have tough kids, and they have their swagger and confidence back. They were sick of being the doormats of the Northeastern Conference.”Perhaps the play that epitomized how well Marblehead’s (6-3) fortunes have been going took place late in the game. The team was clinging to a 26-23 lead, with a fourth-and-5 from its 33. Punter Brandon Lee booted the ball away, but returner Nick McCarthy muffed the ball. Demarco Dooley recovered for the Magicians at the Vikings 30, and moments later, quarterback Hayes Richardson fired his fourth touchdown of the evening, a 26-yarder to Lee with just under two minutes to go.”Hayes makes me and (offensive coordinator Mike) Giardi look good,” said Chernovetz of his quarterback. “There were a couple of plays we tried to call, and he just improvised. That touchdown (to Lee) was one of them, when we ran out of the pocket and found Brandon for the score.”The Magicians shut down Winthrop in their first series, then came back to notch the game’s first points. They picked up a first down with a ten-yard strike to receiver Taariq Allen at the Marblehead 38, then Lee gained three on a second-down run to the 41. Richardson (12-24-264) teamed with Allen on a perfect strike, where the receiver caught the ball at Winthrop’s 30, then outraced everyone for a 7-0 Marblehead lead.The Vikings (4-5) roared right back to tie the gane on their next possession. The big play for the team was a 21-yard completion from quarterback Will Milano to receiver Matthew Moore at the Magicians 21 on third-and-9. Milano found terammate Dan Ramos in the corner of the end zone two plays later for a 7-7 deadlock.The Magicians took advantage of a Winthrop miscue late in the period. Lee had pinned the Vikings on their own 18 with a 62-yard punt after a failed Marblehead drive. Back Chris Beranger ran for seven yards for the Vikings, but fumbled the ball away, and Marblehead recovered. After three plays netted limited yardage. Marblehead faced a fourth-and-6 from Winthrop’s 23. Richardson and Allen teamed again, this time for a 23-yard touchdown and a 14-7 advantage.Milano brought the Vikings back, converting a pair of fourth-downs on the 12-play drive, including a fourth-and-12 from Marblehead’s 22. He found receiver Dan Ramos at the 5 to keep the drive going. Yet Winthrop had to settle for a 21-yard field goal by Milano, as Marblehead carried that lead to the half.The Magicians received a boost of their own on their first possession of the second half, when kicker Ian McKinley, who made two big field goals last week in the win over Beverly, booted his first of the evening from 28 yards out to increase the score to 17-10.”Those field goals were big,” said Chernovetz about what his kicker achieved.” “I’ve been hard on him all yeas as both a kicker and quarterback, and I think he can kick at the next level. Those were six big points he put on the board for us against a very tough club.”Late in the period, the Vikings closed the gap to 1. McCarthy returned a Lee punt over 60 yards before being knocked out of bounds at the Marblehead 6. Beranger snuck around from the left side for the score. Yet Allen blocked Milano’s extra-point try to keep the Magicians on top.Marblehead didn’t waste anytime when it received the ball on the kickoff. Three plays was all it took for Richardson to fire his third touchdown pass. He hooked up with Nick Haller for a 48-yard score, and the lead was 23-16.McKinley added his second three-pointer early in the final quarter. before Milano found Moore for a 35-yard touchdown midway through the period to br