NORTH ANDOVER — Marblehead’s sophomore quarterback Joshua Robertson looked like he had 20 or 30 starts under his belt, when in fact; Friday afternoon’s 25-20 Magician win over the host Scarlet Knights was his first career varsity start.
Robertson hit Sean McCarthy twice for touchdowns and added another one to Will Twadell, and tailback Tim Cronin was a beast on the ground, scoring once, with several Knights draped on his back, helping wash away the bad taste in Marblehead’s collective mouths, after last season ended with a disappointing playoff loss to Dracut.
Marblehead coach Jim Rudloff said his team had a lot to prove, to themselves, and to everybody else, that they could beat good teams, and knocking off North Andover certainly helped his group deliver that message.
“Hopefully we used the way last season ended, specifically the Dracut game, as the impetus to move forward and get better, that (Dracut) game was no fun at all,” Rudloff said. “We get a reputation as a team that’s not able to beat good teams from good leagues, and to finally come out and do this against a good team with so many good players, certainly is great for our kids, for our confidence, moving forward.
“We couldn’t be happier with our start, for sure. We had a longer than normal pre-season, and I think that really helped us, we certainly have some things to clean up, but I’m excited for what the future holds for this team after a big win over an outstanding team today,” Rudloff said. “You rarely see a sophomore QB play with such composure, and he did play with composure, but he can play much better, he certainly didn’t have any first-game jitters.”
After a scoreless first quarter, Marblehead got on the board when Robertson found McCarthy for his first score, from two yards out. His pass to Twadell covered a little more distance, 46 yards, to make it a 12-7 game. Marblehead was only 1-4 on conversion tries, so the PAT’s are one of those areas Rudloff and his coaches will be working on cleaning up.
Cronin made it 19-14 two plays into the third quarter, scoring from two yards out. The Knights responded quickly, Freddy Gabin took the kickoff 67 yards for a score, with Magician Max Podgur blocking the PAT kick, and the home team led 20-19 after three quarters.
Robertson guided the Magicians 65 yards in nine plays to take back the lead for good on their first offensive possession of the fourth quarter. McCarthy grabbed his second scoring pass from two yards out with 5:14 left in the game, accounting for the final 25-20 score.
Not to be overlooked in the win, Marblehead’s defense forced North Andover into seven three and outs, and forced them to punt with five minutes to play, their final possession of the game. The Magicians took over, and Cronin picked up three first downs and Robertson took a knee to kill the clock for the Magicians.
“I wasn’t nervous, I knew I’d be starting on Wednesday, it helps me a lot to have the best back in the NEC, Timmy, behind me, and so many greats players on this team,” Robertson said in his first, but certainly not his last, post-game interview.
