Vikings shock Marblehead on senior night

WINTHROP – For the Winthrop football team, Friday’s game with Marblehead at Miller Field was a chance to get a signature win in a season that has not turned out as expected.The Vikings controlled the clock and the tempo of the game as Frank Ambrosino rushed for 136 yards and three touchdowns to help Winthrop stun the co-leaders of the NEC South, 27-18, on senior night.”This was kind of a gut-check week for us in practice,” Winthrop coach Sean Driscoll said. “We told the kids that Marblehead is a good team but we thought we could catch them in a sandwich type of game like this one.”The Magicians (8-2, 3-1) gained almost 100 more yards in total offense than Winthrop, but fumbled five times, losing three of them, and had a punt blocked that helped set up what resulted in a critical touchdown early in the fourth quarter.”Winthrop simply came out and outplayed us,” Marblehead coach Jim Rudloff said. “We didn’t seem to be able to do anything right at times and we basically got our butts kicked at times.”The Magicians started the game without quarterback Hayes Richardson, who missed a practice during the week because of the flu and sat out the first series as backup Mike Persa took the snaps. And on the second play of the night, the Magicians fumbled and Winthrop recovered.Winthrop, however, failed to convert on the turnover as it was stopped on downs at the 14. The Magicians then drove 86 yards in only eight plays to the game’s first touchdown.A 36-yard Richardson to Matt Perlow connection put Marblehead in position to score. Three plays later, Richardson hit Will Quigley for a seven-yard TD, his 13th TD pass of the season, and a 6-0 lead after one quarter.Early in the second, Winthrop got the ball at the Magician 32 after a short punt and turned the ball over to Ambrosino. The senior carried on six of seven plays, finishing the drive with a one-yard plunge to give Winthrop a 7-6 lead after Robert Deeb’s extra point.Late in the half, Marblehead had a chance to go back in front when Marcel Hardmon (13-102) raced 57 yards to the Viking 23. But Marblehead could get no closer and the Vikings took the lead into the half.”I was a little disappointed with how we responded at times,” Rudloff said.Winthrop got the ball to start the second half with a short field after Deeb returned the kick to the Marblehead 41. Two plays later, Ambrosino galloped 40 yards up the middle for a score and a 14-6 lead just 31 seconds into the half.Marblehead responded quickly on the legs of Hardmon and the arm of Richardson, driving 64 yards on 11 plays in just under seven minutes. Richardson’s eight-yard score on an option play cut the lead to 14-12 after he was stopped on a conversion attempt to tie the game.It was still 14-12 early in the fourth when Ambrosino broke through and blocked Quigley’s punt attempt. Winthrop fell on the ball at the Magician 22 and delivered a crushing blow when Ambrosino scored from three yards out with 7:58 to go to make it 20-12.”The big play really was the blocked punt,” Driscoll said. “We were really struggling at that point.”Marblehead would have two chances in the final eight minutes to find the end zone but Hardmon fumbled on one possession and Richardson was sacked on fourth down with 2:49 left to end the other.Will Milano’s quarterback sneak with 1:35 left salted away the game. Richardson would score on the final play of the game for Marblehead.