Royals stand tallest

On the rebound, Esposito scores

David Kenneally (24) celebrates Georgetown's go-ahead 2-point conversion, scored by Joe Esposito in the fourth quarter. Amesbury's Stephen Levarity (62) disagrees with the call. (Jon Mahoney for the Globe)

GEORGETOWN - The Royals wouldn't stand for it.

With his team trailing, 14-7, Georgetown offensive tackle Michael Wootan stumbled wearily off the field. As Georgetown's players took a knee for their teammate, Amesbury didn't participate in the display of sportsmanship. Its players on the sideline and on the field stood, waiting for the next play.

Wootan, it turned out, simply got the wind knocked out of him, but the perceived affront fired up the Royals. Two plays later, Joe Esposito threw a touchdown pass. Esposito then ran for the winning 2-point conversion to complete 15-14 comeback victory in a showcase of Cape Ann powerhouses.

Amesbury (4-1) began well, quarterback Jared Flannigan's 33-yard run giving the Indians a 6-0 lead.

On their first possession, the Royals (4-0) marched to the Amesbury 5. A holding call negated Anthony Conte's 4-yard touchdown. The Royals advanced to the 3, but Esposito couldn't convert on a fourth-down keeper.

From there, Amesbury engineered a clock-swallowing 20-play, 95-yard drive that fell 1 yard short as tailback Jesse Burrell couldn't grind past the line. Though it failed to score, Amesbury's drive drained all but 12 seconds from the clock heading into halftime.

"They won the battle on the line of scrimmage there," Amesbury coach Thom Connors said. "Even though we were up, 6-0, by them holding us on the goal line, I think they went in the half with the momentum."

Georgetown's momentum was quickly whisked away when the second half kickoff bounced off sophomore Luke Prescott's chest and into the hands of an Amesbury player, setting the Indians up at the Royals' 31.

Flannigan scored on an 11-yard run, then completed a 2-point pass to Steve Serwon for a 14-0 lead.

"We got punched in the mouth right there," Esposito said. "We had to come out, prove our character, and persevere."

After a completion and two straight rushes by Esposito, the quarterback lofted a pass to wide-open Michael Ruh for a 28-yard touchdown then kicked the extra point to narrow the gap to 14-7.

On Amesbury's ensuing possession, Esposito blasted Flannigan to set up a third and long. A quick kick traveled 54 yards after a roll, leaving Georgetown with work to do heading into the fourth quarter, starting from its 27.

After recording three first downs and moving into Amesbury territory, Wootan's injury quieted the excited Georgetown crowd, briefly.

Once he reached the sideline, riled Royals players and coaches shouted. One suggested, "If [Amesbury] won't kneel, we'll make them kneel."

Esposito responded with a 6-yard rush to convert a third and 4, then fired a 21-yard completion to Tyran Harrigan, who danced around two defenders to put the score at 14-13.

The sure-footed Esposito - 12 extra points this year - was called upon for a make-or-break rush, as Georgetown coach Matt Bouchard opted to go for the win. Esposito stretched to break the plane and Amesbury, putting the Royals up for good.

"With five minutes left, I figured they potentially could get a little drive going there and we wouldn't really have a lot of time to counter that," Bouchard said. "I felt we needed to look for the win there."

While the perceived disrespect got the Royals' blood boiling during the game, they were mum on the subject afterward.

"We were amped up," said Esposito, who finished with 79 passing yards and 116 yards on the ground.

After initially offering no comment, Bouchard said, "Everybody runs their program their way. I run it my way, [Connors] runs it his way."

Connors, in his eighth year as Amesbury's coach, said his teams have never knelt during injuries.

"It's by no means a disrespectful thing," he said. "Quite honestly, I'm really not sure when that came about. When you're an athlete and you're out on the field and playing a game at a high level, it concerns me about guys cramping up.

"When one of our guys gets hurt, we don't kneel down. We don't do it and we're not going to do it unless it's mandated."