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Danvers runs out of gas in fourth quarter, drops season opener to Tewksbury

Phil Stacey, The Salem News, Beverly, Mass.
·4 min read

Sep. 10—DANVERS — As Alex Arbogast sped down the left sidelines for a long touchdown run in the fourth quarter Friday night — one of four he had on the evening, including three in the final quarter — several Danvers High players grabbed at the backs of their legs, unable to chase him down because of cramping.

That, in a nutshell, summed up the Falcons' 2022 season opener. Battling Merrimack Valley League power Tewksbury for three-plus quarters, the hosts simply regressed in the final frame and suffered a 35-21 setback under a full moon.

Arbogast had scoring runs of 58, 68 and 10 in the last 12 minutes to power the Redmen to victory. He finished with 224 yards on just nine carries, including a 79 yard TD-jaunt in the first quarter. All of his runs were to the left side of his offensive line on toss-crack plays, where a Tewksbury lineman isolated against certain Danvers defenders and allowed Arbogast tto find the open lanes to paydirt.

"We ran out of gas with a lot of guys going both ways," said Danvers head coach Ryan Nolan. "We've got to find a way to find more kids to get out there, and have to do a better way to (rotate) personnel in and keep kids fresh. We had everyone cramping tonight."

The Blue-and-White got a fine game from junior Owen Gasinowski, who caught six passes while lined up in the slot and turned those into 127 receiving yards. In Danvers' new spread offense, he and classmate Travis Voisine (14-of-35, 168 yards) hooked up for all three of their team's scores, coming from 46, 32 and 25 yards out, respectively.

The last of that trio, coming with 9:20 to play on a 4th-and-15 conversion, gave the Falcons their first lead of the evening (21-14). But any momentum was quickly swept away when Arbogast — the New England champion in the 55 dash — took a toss left two plays later and sped into the end zone from 58 yards out.

"When he went outside, we couldn't keep up with him," admitted Nolan.

Following a three-and-out by the hosts, Arbogast did his think once more, going 68 yards to paydirt on first down to give Tewksbury the lead (28-21) for good.

"We realize the importance of having depth," said veteran Tewksbury head coach Brian Aylward, whose team had fewer two-way starters than DHS. "It's not the same dudes on both sides (of the ball). I think that took a toll on them more than us.

"I think every coach in America says it's not the mistakes you make, it's what you do immediately after and how you follow it up," he added. "I thought our kids showed a lot of character to stay focused on the game and keep making plays."

Another three-and-out gave the ball back to Tewksbury at its own 46, and seven plays later Arbogast crossed the goal line for the fourth and final time.

Danvers was unable to take advantage of four Redmen turnovers (2 INT, 2 lost fumbles) and couldn't get its own ground game untracked, rushing for just 49 yards on 16 carries against a Tewksbury defense that showed several 5-1 fronts and blitzed to great success.

Nolan had no issues whatsoever with the effort his players put in; it was, he said, a matter of not having enough left in the tank at the end and the coaching staff not having enough backups ready to go.

"We have to take care of ourselves (moving forward)," Nolan surmised. "We have to tackle better, have to get more kids ready to go, & split some of the roles for kids to make it more manageable."

Captain Aris Xerras and fellow senior Jaxson Vogel each picked off Tewksbury quarterback Vincent Ciancio, while Joe Baker and Aidan Smith (3 PAT's) recovered fumbles.

The Falcons are back in action on Thursday night against another MVC foe in Haverhill (6:30 p.m.) at Deering Stadium.

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FRIDAY'S GAMES

Tewksbury 35, Danvers 21

at Deering Stadium, Danvers

Tewksbury (1-0);14;0;0;21;35

Danvers (0-1);7;7;0;7;21

Scoring summary

T-Alex Arbogast 79 run (James Cappiello kick)

D-Owen Gasinowski 46 pass from Travis Voisine (Aidan Smith kick)

T-Sean Hirtle 2 run (Cappiello kick)

D-Gasinowski 32 pass from Voisine (Smith kick)

D-Gasinowski 25 pass from Voisine (Smith kick)

T-Arbogast 58 run (Cappiello kick)

T-Arbogast 68 run (Cappiello kick)

T- Arbogast 10 run (Cappiello kick)

Individual Statistics

RUSHING: Tewksbury — Alex Arbogast 9-224, Hunter Johnson 9-56, Sean Hirtle 10-48, Vincent Ciancio 2-(-4); Danvers — Travis Voisine 7-38, Joe Baker 7-10, Owen Gasinowski 2-1.

PASSING: Tewksbury — Ciancio 4-8-32-0-1; Danvers — Voisine 15-34-168-3-1.

RECEIVING: Tewksbury — Michael Sullivan 2-35, Colby Flahive 2-(-3); Danvers — Gasinowski 6-127, Michael Kasprzak 5-38, Owen Shanbar 1-2, Aris Xerras 1-1, Logan Metivier 1-0.

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Contact Phil Stacey

@PhilStacey_SN