Marblehead wins debut for Rudloff

For The ItemMarblehead – In case there was any doubt as to how the Marblehead football teanm would respond under a new head coach, all those doubts were put to rest last night, as the Magicians belted Pentucket, 27-2, at Piper Field.The team made a winner of Jim Rudloff, who replaced Doug Chernovetz as mentor of Marblehead. Chernovetz coached the Magicians for four seasons, directing the club to its first winning season since 1992 with a 6-5 mark last year. Rudloff, who had served as an assistant at Beverly for the past several years, also was an assistant at Marblehead under then-head coach Bill Manchester.”It was great to open up at home,” said Rudloff. “There were so many friendly faces, from the kids that play youth football to the parents to the teachers.”The Sachems (0-1) had the best chance to open the scoring on their first possession of the contest. Back Nolan Dragon (8-19) converted a third-and-1 from Marblehead’s 24 for eight yards to the 16. A holeding call pushed Pentucket back to the 26, but quarterback Mike Brennan connected with teammate C.J. Lataille for a 12-yard pickup on third-and-13 to the 7. The Magicians defense stonewalled halfback Austin Perreault on fourth down, and Marblehead took over.Yet that possession would prove to be lethal for the Magicians. After an incomplete pass, back Will Quigley was knocked for a five-yard loss. Quarterback Hayes Richartdson tried to elude the Sachems line on third down, but was sacked in the end zone for a safety.”It took us a while to get going,” admitted Rudloff. “We were caught off guard by a few things that they (Pentucket) were doing.”The Sachems received the ball back on the free punt, but couldn’t advance past its 37. Punter Mike Doud attempted to boot the ball away on fourth down, yet his punt was blocked by defensive back Demarco Dooley, and the Magicians took over at Pentucket’s 24. Richardson (8-20-0-167) didn’t waste any time, throwing a bullet to a leaping Evan Comeau in the end zone for a 6-2 Marblehead edge late in the quarter.”We saw some things that we were able to do (on that play), and it was a great catch by Evan, and a great throw by Hayes,” said Rudloff.Pentucket went three-and-out on its next drive, and had trouble again with its special teams, as the club went back into punt formation. The snap from center sailed over the head of Doud, and the Magicians (1-0) took over at the Sachems 20. After a 16-yard loss, Quigley (14-53) got two of those back on second down, and an incompletion followed. Marblehead went for broke on fourth-and-24, and Richardson again connected with Comeau (3-68). Comeau caught the ball at the 20, bounced off a Sachem defender, then coasted into the end zone with his second score. The team carried the 13-2 edge to the half.”I knew from having coached against him the past few seasons, that Evan was awesome on the defensive side, but we’ve been pleasantly surprised by what he’s been doing offensively as well, ” said the coach. “He’s a tremendous offensive weapon for us.”Richardson and Comeau connected once again on Marblehead’s first possession of the second half. Richardson found teammate Flynn McCormack on third-and-5 fropm Pentucket’s 44 for 15 yards, then followed that with a 9-yard strike to tight end Matt Perlow. Two carries by Quigley and one by Richardson brought the ball to the 10, when the tandem struck for its third score and increasing the lead to 19-2.Marblehead had an opportunity for another score early in the final quarter, marching to the Sachems 6 before being stopped. Pentucket took over, but Doud was brought down for a safety by Comeau.”Our defense did a great job tonight,” said Rudloff, as he saw his club limit Pentucket to 90 yards of offense (13 through the air). “There are 11 players on the field, but we were rotating 15 all game long. All of them play as a unit. If someone misses an assignment, there’s someone there to back him up.”Richardson collected the final points of the game on a nine-yard keeper m