Marblehead hangs on to beat Gloucester in a wild one

MARBLEHEAD – What started as a blowout Friday night turned into a nail biter as Marblehead needed everything it had to defeat Gloucester, 35-33, at Piper Field.The Magicians held a 28-7 advantage after their first possession of the second half, and still needed for Gloucester’s final drive to run out of time to preserve the win.”They physically beat us in the second half, said Marblehead coach Jim Rudloff. “They wanted it more in the second half.”Marblehead was the beneficiary of hard running by Brooks Tyrrell. The Magicians’ running back, who mixes a combination of fast open field running and tough grinding for that last yard, finished the game with three touchdowns and 240 yards on 30 carries. Tyrrell’s evening was the backbone to the Marblehead offense, allowing for quarterback Matt Millett to air out the ball down the sidelines. Millett threw for 215 yards and a three touchdowns. Trey Blackmer, Brian Daly, and Dylan Cressy were the recipients of Millet’s long distance sideline passes and quick slants that made up the evening and scores.Still, it was incomplete passes along with some stout and timely Gloucester defense that allowed for the game to get as close as it did.The Fishermen, after not really showing any offensive momentum in the first half, took a page out of the old Gloucester play book and started running in between the tackles.The result was Jordan Pallazola putting up 219 yards and three touchdowns while Jon Good added another 71 yards and a score.”We told our running backs at half time that they needed to man up, fight and make blocks,” said Gloucester coach Tony Zerilli. “We showed that there is no quit in this team and that we will play down to the very last minute of a game.”The important scores came in the second half as Gloucester chipped away at the deficit, taking advantage of penalties and a turnover to bring the game within two at 35-33 with just 3:31 remaining in the game.With time winding down, the Fisherman defense held the Magicians, but the offense did not have enough to move down the files with a minute and a half remaining to get the extra score.In the end, Gloucester’s comeback was as much a result of their determination as their effort to take advantage of Marblehead miscues.”In the second half we make mistakes, took the wrong approach on offense, and made selfish plays,” said Rudloff.