Marblehead football will tackle Tewksbury Saturday

Football is all about finding the holes and exploiting weaknesses, and some days that task is easier said than done.When the Marblehead High football team plays Tewksbury in Tewksbury Saturday (1:30) in the Division 3 Northeast final, the Magicians (8-1) will be facing a 9-0 Merrimack Valley Conference team that to date hasn?t given the opposition a lot of open shots.Marblehead coach Jim Rudloff is expecting a battle.?Tewksbury returned almost every starter on offense from last year?s team, which was a playoff team. They?re very skilled, very talented. They don?t have any holes. They have a senior starter at every position (on offense) except tailback,” Rudloff said.And then there?s that tailback — junior James Sullivan. Rudloff said he?s the team?s leading rusher and he leads the league in touchdowns. In Tewksbury?s 28-25 win over Gloucester (Marblehead defeated Gloucester 35-33 earlier in the season), Sullivan ran for 102 yards and three touchdowns. He also caught a touchdown pass from quarterback Johnny Aylward.Rudloff said most of the teams Tewksbury plays in the MVC are either Division 1 or 2, including Lincoln-Sudbury, which is still alive in the playoffs.?They?re obviously very talented and very balanced on offense,” he said. “They run the ball inside, outside. They throw the ball well.”Rudloff said Tewksbury also comes at you with a lot of different formations and it will be up to Marblehead to make those adjustments quickly, be in the right spot and not get caught out of position.Rudloff said Tewksbury also has a talented receiver in Kevin Dick, whom he expects will be one of the soundest receivers his team has faced all season.Rudloff said the past few weeks have physically been very challenging for his team, not just the playoff games, but also the Northeastern Conference games against English and Beverly.?Our guys could certainly use a break, but they?re as healthy as they?re going to be at this point,” he said.Rudloff said although he lost a lot of talented players from last year?s team, including league all-stars, he?s had players develop as the season has gone on.?I feel we?ve gotten better every week,” he said.Rudloff said he expects Tewksbury to come right at them and blitz as much as possible.?Offensively, for us, it?s all about execution. We have to play the perfect game. We can?t have turnovers,” he said.Marblehead?s only loss was to Beverly by three points.