Marblehead gridders throttle Danvers

DANVERS ? Last season’s Marblehead/Danvers game was decided on the final play. This year’s game was over by halftime.Brooks Tyrrell ran for 145 yards on 22 carries and scored two touchdowns, while Brian Daly caught a pair of touchdown passes to lead the Magicians to a 44-0 win over the Falcons, in the season opener for both teams, Friday night, at Dr. Deering Stadium.Marblehead unveiled a hurry-up offense with a new quarterback, senior Matt Millett, who tossed touchdown passes to Daly and Jeremy Gillis among his seven completions in 10 attempts for 133 yards. Daly’s second touchdown pass came on a 54-yard throw from backup Spencer Craig, while Ben Anderson ran three yards for the Magicians’ other touchdown.”It’s not a no-huddle offense in the truest sense. We’re doing everything quicker and more efficiently this year,” Marblehead coach Jim Rudloff said. “We’re practicing quicker. We’re doing drills quicker. It’s just a quicker pace that the kids seem to respond to.”Defensively, the Magicians held Danvers to 75 yards of offense from scrimmage and just six first downs. The Falcons made it inside Marblehead’s 25-yard line twice in the first half, but turned the ball over on downs both times. Meanwhile, Marblehead scored on three of its four first possessions in the first half.Tyrrell carried the ball on eight of nine plays during the Magicians’ first drive, a 66-yard march during which Marblehead didn’t have a third down play. Tyrrell plowed up the middle from three yards out and Gillis ran in for the conversion to give the Magicians an 8-0 lead just 4:17 into the game.A 47-yard hookup from Millett to Gillis was the big play on Marblehead’s second drive, which culminated with a 6-yard throw to Daly at the left post. The Magicians scored again with 2:11 left in the first half after marching 87 yards. After a couple of nice runs by Millett, he found Gillis on a pop pass at the left hash for 34 yards, and Marblehead led, 22-0.Tyrrell scored his second touchdown from two yards out on the Magicians’ first possession of the second half, another dominating drive that went 62 yards in eight plays. Tyrrell added 12 yards on his final carry on the first play of the next drive before leaving the game with what Rudloff descried as a leg cramp. Anderson stepped into the feature back position and carried the ball five times for 35 yards during the rest of the drive. Millett also connected with brother Will Millett for a 12-yard gain and with Daly for 13 yards to set up Anderson’s scoring run late in the third quarter.Marblehead’s final score came on a swing pass from Craig to Daly, who out-ran everyone from Danvers down the left sideline with 8:56 left in the game.”Obviously, we liked a lot of what we saw tonight, but there are some things we can improve on,” Rudloff said. “It’s the old coach’s line about going back to the film to see what we can tweak before next week.”