Royal Heartbreak

By Conor Clancy
Staff writer

November 02, 2009 03:58 am

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HAMILTON — Things can change in a heartbeat.

Poised to score with just over a minute and a half left in a scoreless game, Georgetown fumbled the ball back to Hamilton-Wenham, which marched down the field in just six plays to kick the winning 36-yard field goal with five seconds left.

Late in the fourth, a fourth-down stop put the Georgetown offense back on the field at its own 16 with just under seven minutes left.

Quarterback Chris Esposito, who had been held to 19 yards rushing, carried eight times for 37 yards to move the ball to the H-W 34. Then, on fourth and long, he connected with wide receiver Bryce Moker for 12 yards and the first down.

With momentum on its side, Georgetown kept the ball in the hands of its talented quarterback. Esposito picked up 10 more yards, but the ball popped loose and Hamilton-Wenham recovered.

The Georgetown players protested that Esposito had been down, but the call was upheld and Hamilton-Wenham took over on its own 22.

"I didn't get a good angle on the play," said Georgetown coach Matt Bouchard. "I just saw the ball come out."

With a 1:06 remaining, the Generals went to work.

Andy Duval completed three of four passes while also running for seven yards and stopped the clock with 11 seconds to play at the Georgetown 20.

Tucker White's 36-yard attempt fluttered for just a second, but the ball went through the uprights.

The ensuing kickoff was taken by Georgetown's Tyran Harrigan, who eluded a few tackles and reversed his field, but he was tackled to end the game.

"We didn't take advantage of our opportunities, plain and simple," said Bouchard. "I thought our defense played great the entire game, but we had too many mistakes to overcome on offense."

Earlier in the game, Hamilton-Wenham drove twice into the red zone but tough defensive play by Michael Wooten (8 tackles) and costly penalties resulted in turnover on downs.