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HAVERHILL — All the talk going into the game was that the winner of the Greater Lawrence-Whittier game would be playing in the State Vocational Large School bowl game. Greater Lawrence rolled, 22-8, but a stunned Reggie coach Tony Sarkis could hardly believe his ears when he found out his team would be staying home. Southeastern (8-3) as expected made it. But instead of the 8-3 Reggies, the Mayflower Large runner-up will be facing 5-6 Greater New Bedford. “It’s a huge shock,” said Sarkis. “For some reason, they went with two teams from the same side (of the state). It’s very confusing. I don’t understand how they determine it. There is no clarity. “I found out a couple hours after the game. I don’t know how to handle it.” Sarkis was still figuring out how he’d explain it to his team. “Obviously, they’ll be upset,” he said.  “I’m still in shock.” After their EMass. playoff hopes were ended with the late season 35-0 loss to Shawsheen,  the Reggies (8-3 overall, 4-1 conference) finished strong with a 21-0 win over Lynn Tech then yesterday’s victory. “As a coach that’s what you want to see,” said Sarkis, who celebrated his birthday yesterday. “Seeing them progress as young men and athletes is great. After Shawsheen, we put it in the books. They beat us, but we came back strong and they showed a lot of character.” Trailing 8-7, Greater Lawrence fumbled the second-half kickoff , setting up Whittier at the Reggies’ 39. But the Wildcats managed only 5 yards on the ensuing four plays. The Reggies answered with a 10-play, 66-yard drive, which included two successful fourth-down attempts. The first came at their own 41 when sophomore punter Jake Barchard went 7 yards on a fake. “I think it was the play of the game,” Sarkis said. “We’ve been working on that the past two weeks in practice. We saw something that we could take advantage of and it worked for us.” Two plays after running for 8 yards on a fourth-and-six play, Marcos Ortiz sprinted 40 yards for the go-ahead score, shaking off a would-be tackler at the 15. Quarterback Jean Carlos Gomez bootlegged for the 2-point conversion that gave Greater Lawrence a 15-8 advantage. “I was nervous because we needed a first down,” Ortiz said. “But I took the ball and did what I had to do and we got the score.” A 2-yard touchdown by Christian Rivera midway through the fourth quarter accounted for the final score. The Cats had little success against a Reggie defense which for the sixth time all year limited an opponent to single-digit scoring. Whittier, which lost three fumbles on the day, took an 8-0 lead when Jack Creesy went 3 yards to cap the Wildcats’ first possession and Shane Surette added the conversion run. “We had our opportunities to stop them on both sides of the ball,” said Whittier coach Kevin Bradley, whose rebuilding club finished at 5-6 after last year’s historic 12-0 campaign. “We just didn’t capitalize, and that’s how you lose football games.” Greater Lawrence 22, Whittier 8 Greater Lawrence (8-3, 4-1 CAC Large):    7 0 8 7 — 22 Whittier (5-6, 2-3 CAC Large):    8 0 0 0 —  8 First Quarter  W — Jack  Creesy 3 run (Shane Surette run), 5:28  GL — Pedro Camilo 13 pass from Jean Carlos Gomez (Marlon Orellana kick), 1:23 Third Quarter  GL — Marcos Ortiz 40 run (Gomez run), 3:08 Fourth Quarter  GL — Christian Rivera 2 run (Orellana kick), 6:31 INDIVIDUAL LEADERS RUSHING: Greater Lawrence — Joey Pizzuto 20-101, Christian Rivera 13-62, Marcos Ortiz 4-47, Jean Carlos Gomez 2-19, Jake Barchard 1-7; Whittier — Jay Desjardins 10-84, Creesy 16-51, Shane Surette 11-26, Ryan Shanahan 1-10, Paul Buccos 5-10, Andrew McGrath 1-8 PASSING: Greater Lawrence — Gomez 1-3-0-13; Whittier — Surette 2-4-0-10 RECEIVING: Greater Lawrence — Camilo 1-13; Whittier — Cam Dubiel 2-10

HAVERHILL — The game could not have started any better for Whittier, scoring a touchdown just 50 seconds into play.

Unfortunately, the Wildcats found little offense after that, falling to Manchester Essex 15-6 yesterday afternoon.

CHELSEA  —Fullback Jay Desjardins went 73 yards on the first play from scrimmage and their was no stopping Whittier after that. The Wildcats beat Chelsea 20-7.

Four minutes later the 5-11, 180-pound senior bolted 71 yards for another score. Desjardins finished with 19 carries for 174 yards.

HAVERHILL — Whittier, the reigning Eastern Massachusetts Division 4 champions, is unaccustomed to subpar records, but that’s where the Wildcats were through the fifth week of the season.

HAVERHILL - All the training, the practice, film study and preparation, sometimes a high school football game is just settled by an “accident.”

HAVERHILL - All the training, the practice, film study and preparation, sometimes a high school football game is just settled by an “accident.”

LYNN — Put away the popcorn and pull on the pads.
That was the message from Whittier head coach Kevin Bradley after a lackluster loss to Northeast a week ago, its second setback in a row on the heels of a 13-game win streak.
“We didn’t even go to the (game film) at all at last Monday’s practice, we went full gear right away,” Bradley explained. “We went with pads right to the end (of the week). It was time for them to work hard.”
The offensive linemen especially got the message, restoring the hallmark of the Wildcat program — a relentless running game — to humble an overmatched Lynn Tech squad, 31-8, yesterday at Manning Field.
Aided by loud reminders from the coaching staff ringing in their ears, the Cats went off for 309 ground yards and three touchdowns, scoring on four of its first five possessions.
“It was good to see the linemen feel good about themselves,” Bradley said. “We have some good linemen and it’s good to get their confidence back. We wanted them to get that taste back in their mouths.”
Jack Creesy was the go-to back, scoring on a 20-yard run while carrying 12 times for a game-high 84 yards.
Jay Desjardins (82 offensive yards) broke off a 58-yard scoring run on his first carry and only got better after that. The senior added a TD catch, a team-high five tackles including a hard hit on back Pedro Martinez that led to a second-quarter turnover on downs, and an interception on the first play of the second half.
“We lost our last two games and I was pretty (ticked) about it,” Desjardins said. “We had a lead against (Division 1) Revere and let it slip away. But playing good teams helps us to recognize things better, read plays better, and we can adapt better like we did (yesterday).”
After the Cats’ lone unproductive first-half drive ended on downs at the Tiger 4, defensive end Sean Ford blew through the line and forced QB Kennedy Gomes over the end line for a safety, one of five turnovers Lynn Tech (0-3) suffered.
Jonathan Chhim picked off a pass, Brendan Hoffses tipped a lateral and recovered the loose ball, Corey Gallo forced another fumble that teammate William Pound recovered, and Creesy knocked four passes away.

Whittier 31, Lynn Tech 8
Whittier (2-2):    18 13 0 0 — 31
Lynn Tech (1-2):     0  0 0 8 —  8
First Quarter
 W — Jay Desjardins 58 run (Jack Creesy run), 10:16
 W — Creesy 20 run (Creesy run), 6:02
 W — safety, Sean Ford forced QB out of end zone
Second Quarter
 W — Andrew McGrath 10 run (pass failed), 7:30
 W — Desjardins 2 pass from Mike Melling (McGrath kick), 6:21
Fourth Quarter
 LT — Richie Warren Jr. 35 fumble return (Pedro Martinez run), 6:19
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Whittier (51-309) — Jack Creesy 12-84, Jay Desjardins 4-80, Andrew McGrath 9-75, Mike Melling 8-21, Frank Boland 5-18, Shane Surette 4-17, Cam Dubiel 3-10, Victor Munoz 1-7, Kyle Jenkins 2-5, Mike Ortiz 2-(-1), Brandon Staples 1-(-7); Lynn Tech (18-59) — Kennedy Gomes 12-19, Pedro Martinez 4-12, Antonio Guanci 1-17, Richie Warren Jr. 1-11
PASSING: Whittier (1-3-0, 2) — Melling 1-1-0, 2; Surette 0-1-0, 0; Andrew Wells 0-1-0, 0; Lynn Tech — Gomes 3-18-2, 50
RECEIVING: Whittier — Desjardins 1-2; Lynn Tech — Martinez 3-50



From unbeaten to winless
Lynn Tech saw its season change instantly last week as two ineligible players caused the Tigers to forfeit two season-opening wins.
The boys soccer team also had to forfeit a victory for the same reason.
“We earned those wins and the kids will remember that,” said Lynn Tech head coach James Runner. “You have to credit the administration for finding out now and taking care of it rather than waiting until later.”

LYNN — Put away the popcorn and pull on the pads.

That was the message from Whittier head coach Kevin Bradley after a lackluster loss to Northeast a week ago, its second setback in a row on the heels of a 13-game win streak.

WAKEFIELD — It’s not a sight head coach Kevin Bradley and the Whittier coaching staff is used to seeing.

The Wildcats’ offense, which traditionally stuffs the running game down the throat of opponents on a weekly basis, was reduced to rubble in yesterday’s 24-6 defeat at the hands of Northeast, the defending Division 4A Super Bowl champs.

HAVERHILL — While some might say defending 4A Eastern Massachusetts champ Whittier might have bitten off more than it could chew scheduling Division 1A Revere, no one can deny the Wildcats did some heavy-duty gnawing on the visiting Patriots yesterday afternoon.