HAVERHILL — Whittier ran hard, but the Wildcats ran into a wall on Friday afternoon, falling to Shawsheen Tech, 33-8.
Shawsheen’s big linebackers kept a speedy, but young, set of Whittier running backs at bay for most of the afternoon.
The Wildcats were held scoreless until late in the fourth quarter, when they were able to string together a nine-play, 65-yard drive that ended with junior quarterback Kevin Bradley powering his way through the pile and into the end zone from five yards out.
For the first time on the afternoon, the Wildcats (0-4) were able to set the edge and get Eli Perez, in particular, to the outside against the Rams (4-0).
“We knew they were a tough team,” said head coach Kevin Bradley. “We watched tape on them and we knew there was a reason they only gave up, I think, 12 points all year coming into (the game). There was one game where I don’t think the offense had a snap over the 50. That’s not to make any excuses, though. We got beat, but we got beat by a good football team. We need to do a lot of things better.”
Shawsheen’s defense seemed to swarm Bradley every time he dropped back in the pocket. When he had time, he connected on a deep pass to Perez down the right sideline for 52 yards.
Defensively, the Wildcats struggled to keep a strong Shawsheen rushing attack in check. Craig Rich (14 carries, 156 yards, 3 TDs) was able to get to the outside on numerous pitches, causing the Whittier defense fits.
“We’re a young team,” Coach Bradley said. “We have a lot of talented running backs, but not many of them have had a lot of carries before. We’re learning.
“On defense, we missed too many tackles. We need to contain them better. There were times where we were in position to make plays, but missed a tackle and we lost our guy. We take pride in keeping teams off the field, but we weren’t able to get going on offense. Then on defense we had some misses there, obviously.”
The Wildcats host Chelsea next Saturday at 10 a.m.
Shawsheen 33, Whittier 8
Shawsheen (4-0): 6 14 6 7 — 33
Whittier (0-4): 0 0 0 8 — 8
First Quarter
S — Craig Rich 35 run (kick failed), 2:10
Second Quarter
S — Chris Ferrari 8 run (Rich kick), 6:27
S — Rich 10 run (Rich kick), 1:35
Third Quarter
S — Sam Baker 45 pass from Cody Sughrue (run failed), 5:34
Fourth Quarter
S — Rich 15 run (Rich kick), 9:36
W — Kevin Bradley 5 run (Sean Mears run), 5:24
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Whittier — Eli Perez 10-44, Corey Greaney 5-19, Kevin Chen 3-11, Kevin Bradley 7-9, Sean Mears 2-6, Bob Lincoln 2-(-2); Shawsheen — Craig Rich 14-156, Chris Ferrari 2-56, Sam Baker 1-19, Matt Cook 2-15
PASSING: Whittier — Kevin Bradley 2-8-0, 63; Sam Rebinskas 0-1-1, 0; Shawsheen — Cody Sughrue 5-9-0, 117
RECEIVING: Whittier — Eli Perez 1-52, Ryan Goudreault 1-11; Shawsheen — Sam Baker 1-45, Chris Ferrari 2-26, Dylan Pella 1-26, Mark Companeschi 1-20
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Football, 09/30/16 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
