Tyrrell helps Marblehead gridders advance

MARBLEHEAD ? On a night when no one else could come up with any offense, Marblehead’s Brooks Tyrrell had a monster game.View Photo GalleryTyrrell rushed 30 times for 263 yards and scored all three of the Magicians’ touchdowns to lead them to a 19-7 win over Masconomet, Friday night, in a Div. 3 Northeast semifinal round tournament game at Piper Field.”He’s a very good back,” Masconomet coach Jim Pugh said. “A couple of times we lined up in the wrong spot and we gave him a little bit of room. That’s all he needs to make a big play.”The Magicians (8-1) next play the winner of today’s Tewksbury/Gloucester game in the Division 3 Northeast final. If top-seeded Tewksbury wins, the game will be played in Tewksbury. If the Fishermen win, the game will be played in Marblehead.With the notable exception of Tyrrell’s running, last night’s game was a sloppy offensive affair plagued by turnovers. The teams combined for seven turnovers, and absent the Chieftains’ (5-4) lone scoring play — a 62-yard throw from Troy Bunker to Harry Cwik — Masco barely gained 100 yards.Cwik’s touchdown with 6:08 left in the third quarter suddenly swung the momentum back to the Chieftains, who had another good opportunity when Ben Rosenbaum fell on a Marblehead fumble at the Magicians’ 24-yard line later in the period. Masco picked up nine yards on the first two plays, but got nothing on its next two, with Will Millett stuffing Austin Cashin on fourth-and-inches on the first play of the fourth quarter.The other big fourth down play came later when Marblehead had the ball on Masco’s 44-yard line. When a punt to pin the Chieftains deeper in their own end might have been a prudent call, the Magicians went for it, and Tyrrell broke up the middle for a touchdown that gave Marblehead a 19-7 lead with 3:52 left in the game.”Honestly, to punt the ball there would have gone against everything that had gotten us here,” Marblehead coach Jim Rudloff. “It’s the safe move, sure, but it would have been telling everyone that we were trying to hold on. That’s not the message we want to send.”The game was a scoreless defensive duel until late in the first quarter when Tyrrell suddenly broke off a 53-yard touchdown run down the left sideline. Garrett Keough’s point after kick was good and the Magicians led, 7-0, with 1:38 left in the opening period. The Magicians scored again on their next drive, a 75-yard march that included a 44-yard run by Tyrrell. He went into the end zone from four yards out on fourth down to give Marblehead a 13-0 lead. Neither team threatened to score again in the first half as they combined for three interceptions.Marblehead’s defense appeared to be stout again early in the third quarter until Bunker rolled to his right and found Cwik behind a defender along the sideline. He broke a couple of tackles and then out-ran the pursuit back toward the middle for a touchdown. Bunker’s extra point kick made the score 13-7.The Chieftains got the ball back at the 50-yard line and quickly moved to the Magicians’ 25, where Marblehead’s Spencer Craig sacked Bunker for a 5-yard loss on fourth-and-4, setting the stage for the two dramatic fourth down plays later in the game.