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No Gillette, no problem

Sunday, December, 06 By David Willis and Jeff Hamrick
Staff writers

WALTHAM — Did fans unable to make it to Bentley University have any luck finding Whittier’s Super Bowl victory on Comcast SportsNet?

How about on the radio at “The Hub” 98.5 FM broadcast by Boston media personality Gary Tanguay and former Patriots QB Scott Zolak?

No? Well, there’s a reason.

While 12 Eastern Mass. Super Bowl teams could say they played on the stadium that Tom Brady calls home, Gillette Stadium, Whittier and East Boston (and Northeast and Brighton earlier in the day) played on the field that is home to Bryant Johnson.

He’s Bentley’s QB.

No radio coverage, and only local-access TV.

But while the Wildcats missed out on the Foxboro experience — the MIAA rotates teams to limit the games at Gillette — Whittier was hardly crying after the game.

“Not at all,” said Whittier coach Kevin Bradley. “Amesbury principal Les Murray told us we would get a true Super Bowl experience at Bentley. And we did.”

Amesbury was satisfied last year, and Whittier was this year.

Bradley said, “We had the fans breathing down our neck, and Gillette is so big that you lose that. And we had plenty of time to celebrate, where we would  have been rushed off the field at Gillette.”

Snap decision for Hughes

Whittier coach Kevin Bradley unveiled a new offense this season. The Wildcats call it the Tornado, but to many observers it’s a takeoff of the old-time single wing, which features multiple backs taking snaps. That puts pressure squarely on senior center Anthony Hughes.

“It was all new,” the 6-foot-1, 227-pound Hughes said. “It’s kind of hard when you have someone breathing down your neck and you have to snap the ball — and it’s got to be right on the spot. But you’ve got to get the job done.”

In the fifth game of the season against Archbishop Williams, Hughes direct snapped to seven different backs as Whittier piled up 267 yards rushing in a 32-12 victory.

“I’m not sure how many guys I’ve snapped the ball to this year, but it’s a lot,” Hughes said. “I don’t think about much when we go to the line except taking care of the guy in front of me.”

It would be one thing if the Wildcats relied solely on the rushing attack, but Whittier also has a quarterback in Dillon Ryan who tied the modern area record (since 1984) with 23 touchdown passes. So Hughes and his linemates have added responsibilities.

“I still get nervous before every game,” Hughes said. “But it took me the first week or two to get my snaps completely down. I’ve got a great line next to me. I’m really comfortable with everybody on it. We’re all family.”

Eastie coach blasts refs

In his 15 years at the school, East Boston coach John Sousa has compiled a record of 120-45. But he wasn’t happy dropping the final game of his career. And he’s blaming the officials.

Trailing 14-12, the Jets had a second-and-goal at the Whittier 1-yard line with less than 6 minutes remaining only to be penalized five yards for delay of game. An incomplete pass followed by a rush for no yards forced Sousa to attempt a 23-yard field goal that was blocked by Ryan Tragakis.

“My boys did everything they had to do to win,” Sousa said. “I’m not big into making excuses, but I’ll tell you, we came up on the short end this year. That (delay of game penalty) was awful. The whole ballgame was on the line. You can’t call that on the 1. They stole it from the kids. You know what? I shouldn’t be saying this, but that’s the way I feel. You let the kids decide the game on the football field.”

Punting itself into a hole

East Boston lined up to punt four times, but poor snaps on three of them set up Whittier in great field position. On two of the attempts, punter Stephan Lockwood lost a total of 24 yards, one of which set up the Wildcats’ first touchdown. Another punt was partially blocked by Ralph Hancock and resulted in a 15-yard kick. The one punt Lockwood got off cleanly went only 20 yards.

“We wanted to go after their punter,” Bradley said. “We wanted to put pressure on him because we’d seen a lot of his punts were shanked to the side and they were low punts. We thought we could get some blocks. And we saw on film that they’ve had some bad snaps. I’m very proud of how our special teams handled themselves today. I think it made a big difference.”

Passing concerns

Whittier was unable to contain East Boston’s 6-foot-3, 210-pound tight end Kevin Orellana, who hauled in three Troy Williams passes for 117 yards. Williams began the game completing his first nine attempts and finished with 235 yards through the air — 125 more than the Wildcats allowed in any game during the regular season.

“That’s the first time we’ve seen them throwing a lot to the tight end,” Bradley said. “He’s a big target, and they did a great job matching him up with one of our smaller defensive backs, too. There was a big height advantage there. We had to make the adjustments, and in the end the guys were able to accomplish what we did and we held them on their last two drives. It was a chess game there, and we just got the last move on checkmate.”

Tearful title

The quote of the day went to Whittier senior offensive lineman Chris Affannato, who was sobbing after the victory.

“I think I need a bottle of Gatorade just to make up for all the tears I’ve lost,” he said.

Odds and ends

East Boston’s 6-0 lead was only the second time this season Whittier trailed. The Wildcats also fell behind Archbishop Williams 6-0 in the fifth game of the year. Opponents had an advantage for a mere 16:18 of a possible 480 minutes Whittier played in 12 games ... Whittier entered averaging 307.9 total yards but were held to 136 yards. The 9 yards passing were 108 yards fewer than the Wildcats averaged.

Additional stories:

• Super Whittier holds on to cap perfect season
• Leighton, Buccos deliver game-changing plays