Georgetown King Of The Mountain

GEORGETOWN — In its first year in the Cape Ann League, Georgetown could be the only team to enter November undefeated.

Isolated atop the CAL small division, staring down at the likes of Amesbury (6-1 overall, 1-1 CAL Small) and Newburyport (3-5, 3-0), the mighty Royals (6-0, 3-0) desire no allies.

Their nay-sayers may claim shenanigans, in part to a schedule deemed lighter than others, but the Royals lend no ear nor eye to such accusations. They have laid to waste every opponent set before them. From deadly Amesbury, a team widely regarded as the area's best squad, to struggling Ipswich (0-6, 0-3), Georgetown has treated every game the same, and in every case, coach Matt Bouchard and his Royals have marched on victorious.

Senior quarterback and CAL Player of the Year front-runner Joe Esposito has wreaked the majority of Georgetown's systematic havoc, but a score of invaluable role-players, each vying for a common goal, have made such gallant heroics possible.

Two such players are Kyle Perry and David Kenneally, a pair of seniors who consistently make Esposito's life slightly less burdensome.

Perry, an 18-year-old who is looking at schools like Penn State University, Syracuse University and the University of Connecticut to study biomedical engineering, explained that the team's success starts from the top and trickles down.

"I think preparation is the big difference," said Perry, the team's center. "To be 6-0 is just an indicator of how well our coaches prepare the team for the next opponent's offense and defense. They put in a lot of work for us."

Fullback and linebacker Kenneally, another 18-year-old future engineer who is poised to join the ranks of UMass Amherst, praises the team's hard-headed mentality and goal-line protection.

"It's definitely been our defense. Our defensive unit has stepped it up big-time this season," Kenneally said. "Our aim is to allow as few points as we're able, so our offense will have less pressure when they hit the field, and in turn, enable them to score more points."

Bouchard also mentioned the play of a pair of Royals varsity newcomers.

"One of the big things that I've noticed in the last couple weeks is that the younger guys have really been stepping up," Bouchard said. "In preseason I really didn't see it coming, but Juan Llanos, who didn't play last year, helped out a lot at the defensive tackle spot in the last couple games. So has Jaymie Spears who has really showed how dynamic of a player he can be on both sides of the ball."

The Royals have taken to the CAL like a shark to chum, and ensuring that their success would carry over was as important for the coach as it was for the player.

"One of the big things going into a new conference was that we wanted to do all of the right things so we could have the ability to compete for the No. 1 spot every week," Bouchard said. "Our aim was to keep the control of our own fate, and we've done that so far.

"And I commend them on what they've done so far, but I'm definitely not satisfied, and I know these guys aren't either."

Jumping into CAL waters isn't an enviable position for any new team, and the difference between the leagues is clear-cut.

"I think it's just consistency and parity from top to bottom within the CAL that's the main difference," Bouchard said. "On any given day, any team could walk away with a victory. Whereas in the years I coached in the Commonwealth — though there was some very good football going on — there was a clear distinction between the top teams and the bottom teams."

Perry and Kenneally both agree with their coach, and explained that the new league offers a more defined football atmosphere for their team.

"No offense to the Commonwealth, but the CAL has much stronger competition," said Kenneally, who recalled having to drive an hour and a half for some Commonwealth contests. "It's more fun because the schools we play are local, and we know a lot of the players on the opposing teams."

"Bigger schools, better athletes, bigger kids," Perry said. "The competition is much tighter, and rivalries are created quickly in part to how close the schools are to one another."

Though the Royals remain unbeaten, hungry teams are still clawing for a tourney spot, or rather, a chance to dethrone the league's best.

Hamilton-Wenham (4-3, 2-1) is in the latter position, and after coming off a rough home-loss to Newburyport, slicing down the home-advantaged Royals (tomorrow, 3 p.m.) would be the season's highlight.

"I think that they're fairly balanced offensively," Bouchard said. "They can throw the ball, and they do have some spread formations they like to use. But they also like to bring guys up tight and come right at you. Fundamentally for our defense, we've seen mixes of that all year, so going into this game the kids have at least been exposed to teams who want to pound the football and offenses that want to spread us out.

"And we've been competitive in both of those situations. Defensively they have some pretty good players, pretty big bodies, but our goal remains the same. We want to get the ball into our skill guys' hands, space it out, and let them do their thing."

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