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Whittier rolls past Minuteman

Saturday, November, 08 By Bill O'Connor
Correspondent

HAVERHILL — The Whittier Regional Wildcats football team moved one step closer to earning a playoff birth for what would be the third time in the last four seasons on Saturday, as the Cats had their way with Minuteman Regional Mustangs 44-0.

“Everything went well today,” said Whittier head coach Kevin Bradley – Gatorade dripping from his shirtsleeves after being doused by his players as time expired.

“I always tell the team that you can judge how a team is doing if by this time in the year they keep getting better and better,” he continued. “Even last year, when we only had we had four or five wins, we kept getting better in the second half of the season.”

The Wildcats, now 7-2, simply outplayed the Mustangs on both sides of the ball -  controlling the clock with their running game and stopping anything and everything the Mustang offense tried to throw at them. Minuteman managed only 120 yards of total offense and moved the chains just five times, with only one first down in the entire first half.

“We knew coming in that (Whittier) was going to be tough to beat,” said Minuteman’s first-year head coach Brian Tildsley. “They’re just so much bigger than us, enrollment wise, and going up a division is tough, they’re 3A and we’re Division 4.”

Whittier jumped out to an early lead when quarterback Dillion Ryan (5-12-2 for 127 yards) connected with Damian Colman for a 15-yard touchdown pass on the fifth play of the game, setting the tone for the rest of the game, during which the Wildcats seemed to be able to score at will. It was the first of two touchdown connections for the pair, who hooked up again on a 53-yard bomb with 7:07 left in the first half.

Colman, who played extremely well on both sides of the ball, would finish with 4 receptions for 109 yards. He also registered a vicious sack on Minuteman quarterback Jarris Charley in the first quarter when he sprang free from his blocker and blindsided Charley (2-9-1 for 5 yards) for an 8-yard loss on third down, resulting in a Mustang punt.

The Wildcat’s ground game was firing on all cylinders as well, with 14 Whittier players, including lineman Corey Chabuz, who has been used in a William “The Refrigerator” Perry style in short-yardage situations this season, combined for 206 yards on 30 carries. In a testament to the depth of the Wildcat running game, the attack was led by sophomore Paul Buccos - who tallied 40 yards and a touchdown on five carries.

Running backs Carlos Candelario and Mat Burke, as well as quarterback Ryan, all found the endzone on the ground as well, rounding out Whittier’s scoring.

If there was a down point anywhere in the game for Whittier, it was when senior runningback Tyler Page came hobbling out of a pile of Minuteman defenders late in the first half. Luckily Page, who constitutes one-third of the Wildcats usual three-headed rushing attack along with Bryan Trickett and Carlos Candelario, was just a little bruised, according to Bradley.

Page was held out for the rest of the game as a precaution, along with Trickett who had a similar moment in the first quarter. Bradley said it wasn’t worth risking anything by putting either back in the game, and that both players are fine and will be ready to go next week when Whittier plays what will probably be the most important game of its season at 5-3 Lynn Tech.

A win next week will guarantee the Wildcats a spot in the playoffs.