SAUGUS — The Saugus football team went into Saturday’s game against Marblehead, almost literally, with one arm tied behind its back.
That’s because starting quarterback Mason Nickolas, who hurt his elbow last week against Winthrop, wasn’t able to suit up. That put the Sachems at a disadvantage, as running back Christian Correia was pressed into action calling signals.
It gave the Saugus offense a new look — one that the Magicians spent about a quarter trying to figure out.
Then, with Saugus driving in Magicians’ territory, the Sachems fumbled on the first play of the second quarter, and Marblehead recovered. One play later, Magicians quarterback Joshua Robertson found Ryan Freiberger for a 69-yard scoring pass (Robertson hit Devin Romain for the 2-point conversion) and that opened the floodgates for Marblehead’s 43-0 win.
“We need to play teams like Marblehead to see how it’s done,” Saugus coach Steve Cummings said. “We’re trying to create a culture here, and it’s not going to happen overnight. But Marblehead is a good football team and it’s been a good football team for a long time. That’s where we want to be, and we’re not going to be there if we don’t play these teams.”
While Cummings wouldn’t lean on Nickolas’ injury as a reason for Saugus’ offensive difficulties, Marblehead’s James Rudloff did see it as an obstacle.
“It was difficult at first,” he said. “And it was difficult to prepare for. We hadn’t seen it. We had no idea what their offense would look like with (Correia). Our kids aren’t used to seeing quarterbacks who run the way he did. It took us about a quarter to adjust.”
For his part, Correia started out strong, and Saugus looked as if it could move the ball. Correia gained nine yards right out of the gate, and Saugus picked up a first down on a fourth-and-one from its own 38.
“I want these guys to know I trust them,” said Cummings. “If we need a yard, I want them to know I’m expecting they’ll get it.”
But once Marblehead got going, the Magicians simply wore Saugus down. Robertson, a sophomore, threw for 184 yards, and running back Tim Cronin ran for 71 yards in 15 carries as Rudloff spread things around and put in subs once the game was safely secured.
As for Saugus, the Sachems only really threatened once, and that was at the end of the first half, with Marblehead already up 22-0. Correia brought the Sachems (0-3) down to the Magicians 9-yard line, but Freiberger picked off his pass in the end zone to kill the threat.
Correia, in his first full game at quarterback, was 5-for-9 for 53 yards. Running back Marvins Jean was bottled up most of the day by the Marblehead defense, finishing up with only 17 yards on nine carries.
With Marblehead already up 8-0 courtesy of the Robertson-to-Freiberger pass, the Magicians got to work often afterward. Cronin scored three touchdowns. His 3-yard run and 1-yard plunge completed the scoring in the first half and he scored once again, from 10 yards out, in the third quarter. Robertson hit Will Twadell with a 30-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the second half for his second scoring pass of the day, and kicker Eli Feingold — perfect on his extra points — got into the scoring column in the fourth quarter with a 4-yard run.
“Hats off to coach Cummings,” said Rudloff. “Saugus fought hard. But we were just better up front.”
Saugus faces Revere Saturday at home (2:30, note the time change from the original schedule) while Marblehead is at home Friday (7) against Beverly.
