Redmen Stop Late Danvers Rally, 2-Point Conversion To Win 21-20

TEWKSBURY, MA -- Danvers nearly stunned second-seeded Tewksbury in the Division 3 North football semifinal Saturday, rallying from a 21-7 deficit after three quarters to pull within with 1:13 to play. But after Danvers quarterback Justin Mullaney hit a wide-open Matt McCarthy for a 25-yard touchdown pass, the Falcons opted to go for the two-point conversion and the win instead of extra point kick that would have forced overtime. Tewksbury (8-1) made the key stop to end the Danvers (6-3) comeback and advance to play top-seeded Lynn English (9-0) next weekend.

Next week's game will be on Friday or Saturday at Manning Field in Lynn. The MIAA has yet to finalize the schedule for next weekend's sectional championships.

Tewksbury jumped out to a 21-7 halftime lead, including two receptions by Masyn Lorick from James Connolly and a nine-yard touchdown run by Brandon Winn that opeed the scoring in the first quarter. But sixth-seeded Danvers came out for the second half with a renewed sense of urgency and started chipping away at the hosts' lead.

With 3:15 left to play, Tahg Coakley reeled in a deflected pass for his second touchdown reception of the afternoon. Tewksbury went three-and-out and Danvers took over on their own 29-yard-line with 2:35 left to play. When Justin Mullaney (3 touchdown passes) connected with Matt McCarthy with 1:13 left, it seemed like the game was heading to overtime.

But then Danvers made the gutsy -- and likely to be much debated -- call to leave its offense on the field to put Tewksbury away. Tewksbury pressured Mullaney, whose pass fell incomplete.

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Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).