RallyNorth.net

WEST NEWBURY— Pentucket's 49-0 win over Ipswich Saturday had more to do with muscle than skill.

The Pentucket offensive line took it to Ipswich (5-5) to the tune of 333 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns. Junior running back Liam Sheehy broke tackle after tackle on his way for a 132-yard, 3-touchdown performance. After the Sachems (9-1) fumbled on their opening possession in the non-playoff game, the hosts got the ball back and drove 79 yards on seven plays, capped off by a Sheehy 6-yard touchdown run. Ipswich failed to get a first down on its next possession and Noah Malhi blocked the punt. Three plays later, Brennan McGuirk found the end zone from 10 yards out on a little misdirection play that was opened up by a nice fake from quarterback Finn Graham. And the Sachems were just getting started. It was 42-0 at the half "They're big, strong and physical. They just dominated us up front," said Ipswich coach Kevin Fessette. "When we get pushed back and the linebackers get pushed back, we weren't going to stop them. We weren't physical enough." Sheehy would get the next two scores on runs of 36 and 27 yards. Malhi got in on the scoring action. When the Tigers snapped the ball over quarterback Shane Grady's head, he came flying off the right edge, corralled the pigskin in one clean motion, and then raced 22 yards for the score. The visitors managed only 33 total rushing yards to go with just 17 passing yards in a long, long day in West Newbury. Senior Joe Raimondi was a force on the defensive line with three tackles for losses in the first half alone. Raimondi said, "It just comes with being aggressive, being fast off the ball and having your mind right. We practice really hard and it's been an 'all go' type of mentality. We are consistently aggressive every play and give it all we got. In doing so you're going to make plays." Pentucket, which was upset in the No. 1 vs. 8 game in its playoff opener, finishes the season Thanksgiving at 4-6 Triton at 10 a.m.

NORTH READING — Matt McCarthy and the North Reading Hornets didn't waste any time getting on the scoreboard in Saturday's matchup with Ipswich.

On what was the fourth play of the game, junior standout Matt McCarthy returned a punt 51 yards to the house to a chorus of cheers from the North Reading faithful.   

Matt McCarthy had a career day for North Reading, rushing for 236 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Hornets past Ipswich 27-14. McCarthy gave North Reading the lead with a 16-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, and then added to that with a pair of big touchdown runs for 35 and 66 yards in the second to put the Hornets up 20-0 going into halftime. David Smith rounded out the scoring for North Reading with a 77-yard kickoff return touchdown in the third. Ipswich scored a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns by virtue of a 56-yard fumble recovery by Jake Long and a 70-yard touchdown pass from Shane Grady to Alex Morris, but by then the game was well in hand for the Hornets. North Reading will host Hamilton-Wenham Friday at 7 p.m.