Hornets balance stings Saugus

MANCHESTER – The Saugus football team did everything but have the lead at halftime against Manchester-Essex on Saturday. Despite marching up and down the field, fumbles cost the Sachems two possible touchdowns and doomed them in a 33-20 loss to the Hornets.”We felt that we could run the ball on them and we did,” Saugus coach Mike Broderick said. “We just made a few mistakes and they jumped on them. You can’t do that against a good team like them.”While Saugus ran more plays and held a nearly 2-to-1 time of possession advantage, the Hornets used the big play to put points on the board, including Brian Ciccone’s 69 yard gallop on the first play from scrimmage that made it 7-0 Manchester.”We had a good week of practice after the Danvers loss,” Hornets coach Mike Athanas said. “And the kids looked themselves in the eye and came out fired up.”The Sachems (1-1) responded with an eight play that saw Vinny Talutto carry six times on a 67 yard drive that quarterback John Moore finished with a two-yard keeper that cut the lead to 7-6 after a missed conversion rush.Manchester’s struck back late in the quarter as Ciccone barreled his way in from the seven and Manchester had a 13-6 lead.The Sachems responded by giving the ball to Talutto on 10 consecutive plays that stretched into the second quarter, reaching the Manchester 29 before Moore fumbled on an exchange and the Hornets recovered.Saugus’ defense rose up and stopped Manchester on downs following the fumble but the Sachems fumbled again deep in Hornet territory and Ben Kekeisen recovered.The turnover proved to be costly as the Sachem secondary left Kekeisen uncovered with 30 seconds left in the half and Carr hit him for a 25 yard touchdown that gave Manchester a 21-6 lead at the half.Saugus got the ball to start the second half and needed only one play to strike when Moore kept on an option play and went 72 yards to make it 21-12 after a missed conversion rush.Ciccone fumbled on the first play of Manchester’s opening possession, giving Saugus a short field and a chance to get even closer. But the Hornet defense rose up and held on downs.Saugus got the ball back one play later when Carr threw an ill-advised pass that Talutto intercepted. Moore fumbled on the next play and Manchester recovered at its 45.This time, the Hornets stung Saugus with two big plays. First, Carr hit Jake Brown for a 23 yard completion to the Sachem 34. Fullback Jack Bishop then ran through four tackles en route to a 34 yard touchdown and a 27-12 lead.It stayed a 15-point game until midway through the fourth when A.J. Guthro capped a 12 play drive with a five yard touchdown. Moore’s 2-point conversion made it 27-20 with 6:43 to go.But the Hornets delivered the knockout blow with just over three minutes left as Ciccone raced 48 yards up the right sideline for his third touchdown of the day and a 33-20 win.