HAVERHILL — At some point, the Hillies had to score or an end like this was inevitable.
"Smoke and mirrors carried us this far," said Haverhill High head coach Tim O'Connor.
Make that smoke, mirrors and one nasty Hillies defense.
But last night in the Division 2 North semifinals, Haverhill ran into a gritty, opportunistic group from Lincoln-Sudbury that pounced on a pair of paltry Haverhill punts and seemingly every other Hillie mistake in a 27-6 Warrior win.
"That's a very good football team, from a very good conference, and offensively, we just are what we are," said O'Connor.
After scoring no offensive touchdowns in the playoff-opening win last week vs. Lynn English, the Hillies looked on the cusp of breaking through.
Four trips inside the L-S 15 yielded only six points, though, and ultimately, that would spell doom in their Division 2 playoff run.
Next week, Haverhill fills out the regular season dance card with Reading before a Thanksgiving date against Lowell.
"We had our chances," said O'Connor.
Clearly, the best opportunity came with momentum in the third quarter when down 20-6, Patrick Yale picked off a Warrior pass and returned it to the Hillie 48. Haverhill marched right down the L-S 8, but couldn't stick it in, failing on downs.
The failed opportunity starched the Hillie sideline and the home crowd.
While Haverhill bowed out of the playoffs, they got major efforts from their usual impact suspects. Yale was everywhere in the defensive backfield. Johnny Ramsdell hauled in the Hillies lone TD, a 46-yard TD strike in a 3-catch, 76-yard night. Piero Garcia caught four balls for 48 yards.
Defensively, tackling machine Phil Panici delivered his expected 15-stick performance.
Read More »
Football, 11/08/13 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
