Ressel, Gloucester top Westford; Super Bowl next stop

LYNN – So much for it being a rebuilding year for the Gloucester football team.For the third consecutive season, the Fishermen will be spending the first Saturday in December playing for a Super Bowl championship.On Tuesday night at Manning Field, Gloucester hitched its wagons to senior running back Conor Ressel, who rushed for 218 yards and four touchdowns ? and the Fishermen needed every one of them to hold off a talented Westford Academy team, 34-28.”Conor just won’t give up,” Gloucester coach Paul Ingram said. “He wants the ball ? It looked like he was running out of gas and then he dug down and found some more.”In a game that saw the two teams race up and down the FieldTurf surface all night, it seemed only right that the best player on the field was the man who led Gloucester to ultimate victory.Ressel and wingback Brandon Cusamano ate up yardage in chunks as Gloucester took over at its 36 with 5:45 to go and slowly worked its way towards the Westford end zone. Ressel got the call on the drive’s final four plays, capping the march with a five-yard touchdown with 1:23 left to give Gloucester the lead.The Grey Ghosts (8-4) would go backwards on their final possession as the Gloucester defense sacked quarterback Patrick Dugan and forced two incompletions to seal the win.”This team just never gives up,” Ingram said. “It’s so nice to be able to go back again. We appreciate being there again, and it’s great for the kids.”After Westford’s Zach Ingalls returned a fumble 26 yards for a touchdown to give his team a quick 7-0 lead, Gloucester responded with a Jordan Shairs two-yard run to knot the game at 7-7.Ingalls scored late in the first quarter to give the Grey Ghosts a 14-7 lead after one. The Fishermen responded with a 10-play, 70-yard drive that Brett Cahill capped with a one-yard sneak to tie the game at 14 with 6:36 left in the half.The Grey Ghosts would push back in front just before the break when Dugan hit Mark Cornelius for a four-yard TD toss with six seconds left for a 21-14 halftime lead.Gloucester got the ball to start the second half and needed only six plays to drive 66 yards and tie the game on Ressel’s 32-yard burst. Ingalls’ third touchdown of the night with 86 seconds left in the third put the Grey Ghosts back ahead.Ressel’s third score of the game, a four-yard jaunt, early in the final quarter tied the game once again and set up the dramatic finish.