BYFIELD — Triton senior running back Liam Spillane wanted the ball — a lot.
And he got the ball — a lot.
The senior captain’s massive rushing day, capped by four touchdowns, was the difference in the Vikings’ 33-18 win over Pentucket. The hosts snapped a six-game holiday losing streak against the Sachems.
Spillane ran for 220 yards on 29 carries with 147 of those yards and three of his touchdowns coming in the second half.
“It’s my last year obviously so I felt good,” said Spillane. “The team was depending on me and I loved every second of it.”
His first came on a 4-yard push up the middle for a score for the Vikings (9-3), who bounced back from Saturday’s 54-13 thrashing by Hanover in the Division 3 state semifinals.
For his final score in a Triton uniform, Spillane carried defenders into the end zone from 12 yards out with just under seven minutes to go to put the icing on the cake, making it 33-18 Vikings.
Playing with a cast on his hand, Pentucket senior tri-captain Liam Sheehy wasn’t going to let an injury hold him back, rushing 18 times for 111 yards and a score in the fourth quarter.
“It was definitely really nice,” said Sheehy of his touchdown. “We needed that. We needed one before the game ended, so it was just a good confidence booster for everyone.”
Senior quarterback Finn Graham and senior pass-catching back Robert Porter got theirs as well, hooking up for scores of 15 and 51 yards.
“Robert Porter’s a great receiver,” said Graham. “We have good chemistry. Pretty much every time he’s out there I’m confident he’s going to catch the ball.
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Football, 11/24/16 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
WEST NEWBURY — Pentucket lost star running back Liam Sheehy in the first quarter of Saturday’s tilt against Austin Prep.
But thanks to Robert Porter and some complementary football, the Sachems found the end zone three times before it ran even three offensive plays and cruised to a 42-14 win.
“It means everything just to play on this field one last time and to come out and play as hard as we could every play,” said senior tri-captain Chris Muollo, who had a 70-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the first quarter and also intercepted a pass.
Porter got the scoring started when he took a handoff on the first offensive play of the game and went 81 yards up the left side line.
Porter added a 12-yard touchdown run in the second quarter before hauling in a 72-yard TD-catch on a beautifully thrown ball by Finn Graham. The senior signal-caller saw Porter open and lofted a pass which traveled over 40 yards in the air.
Porter, who had 495 yards rushing on the year coming into the game, picked up the slack with Sheehy (970 rushing yards on the year) out.
The 5-10, 170-pound senior also had an interception in the game while finishing with 241 yards from scrimmage on 13 carries for 161 yards and 2 catches for 80 yards.
Austin (2-8) trailed 14-6 and was looking to score the equalizer. But Dylan Engelke jumped a route to pick off the football and then he weaved his way through a sea of defenders for a 26-yard pick-six.
The hosts intercepted AP three times.
Engelke added the sixth touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter on a 2-yard run.
Brandon Wilbur had a monster effort on defense with a handful of tackles at or behind the line of scrimmage to go with a fumble recovery while Cam Legault, a senior tri-captain, turned in a gutsy performance in the trenches.
Pentucket will wrap up the season at Triton on Thanksgiving.
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Football, 11/13/16 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
SWAMPSCOTT — Pentucket established its running game with authority on the team’s first drive of the contest.
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Football, 11/06/16 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
NEWBURYPORT — After scoring a pair of touchdowns in the first quarter of last night’s Division 3 North home playoff game against Pentucket, the Newburyport offense went quiet, and the Sachems battled back to take a three-point lead when Stevie Johanson drained a 23-yard field goal with just under two minutes to play.
But Rob Shay and the Clippers were determined to go out with a bang.
The senior signal caller led the hosts down the field in a minute and 19 seconds, completing his final three passes of the game for 89 yards to set up a Ronnie Mwai rushing touchdown with 28 seconds left lifting Newburyport to a thrilling 21-17 victory over Pentucket.
After Johanson’s clutch kick, Shay was sacked by Stevie Noyes for a 12-yard loss putting the Clippers (3-4) back on their own 15-yard line forcing head coach Mike Levine to call a time out. On the next play, Shay evaded pressure by rolling to his right and threw a missile that traveled over 40 yards in the air into the waiting hands of Jack Cahalane for a 50-yard pick up.
A holding penalty backed Newburyport up to the 45-yard line before Shay hit Rob Federico along the left sideline for an 18-yard pick up. Then, he found Cahalane again — this time for a 21-yard hookup that ended with a personal foul by Pentucket that put the ball at the three-yard-line. On the last pass, Shay was rolling to his right and took a hard hit upon releasing the ball, and Cahalane came up with his second monster grab of the drive.
And on the next play, Mwai muscled his way in for the game-winner.
The Clippers scored a pair of unanswered touchdowns in the first quarter as Mwai and Shay both had 1-yard touchdown runs. But After that, the Sachems tightened up defensively.
Finn Graham was able to hit Robert Porter for a 28-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the first half to give Pentucket momentum going into half time and then Liam Sheehy (139 yards rushing) scored on a 5-yard rush in the third quarter to tie the game.
With the win, the Clippers advance to play No. 1 Watertown next week while the Sachems will have to wait until their next opponent is decided as they look to close out the regular season with as many wins as possible before playing rival Triton on Thanksgiving.
Newburyport 21, Pentucket 17
Pentucket (3-5): 0 7 7 3 — 17
Newburyport (3-4): 14 0 0 7 — 21
Division 3 North First Round
First Quarter
N — Ronnie Mwai 1 run (Joel Skaff kick)
N — Rob Shay 1 run (Skaff kick)
Second Quarter
P — Robert Porter 28 pass from Finn Graham (Stevie Johanson kick)
Third Quarter
P — Liam Sheehy 5 run (Johanson kick)
Fourth Quarter
P — Johanson 23 kick
N — Mwai 3 run (Skaff kick)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Pentucket — Liam Sheehy 25-139, Robert Porter 7-35, Chris Muollo 1-16, Finn Graham 1-4; Newburyport — Myles Maloof 7-51, Rob Shay 15-35, Ronnie Mwai 12-25, Donte Harmon 1-(-1)
PASSING: Pentucket — Graham 6-15-0, 95; Newburyport — Shay 6-11-0, 132
RECEIVING: Pentucket — Porter 2-58, Sheehy 3-25, Nathan McGrail 1-12; Newburyport — Jack Cahalane 3-72, Ronnie Mwai 1-28, Rob Federico 1-18, Myles Maloof 1-14
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Football, 10/28/16 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
After suffering back-to-back losses, the Pentucket football team returned to its winning ways on the road last night against Coyle and Cassidy.
Liam Sheehy broke a 65 yard touchdown run on the first offensive play of the game and the Sachems rolled from there, earning a 35-12 win over the Warriors.
Coyle and Cassidy did cut the Pentucket (3-4) lead to 7-6 but Chris Muollo answered right back with a 30 yard rushing score in the second and then Nathan McGrail hauled in a 35 yard touchdown pass from Finn Graham.
In the fourth quarter, Sheehy burned the Warriors again, this time with a 60 yard touchdown run before Stevie Johanson rushed one in from 5 yards out for the visitors’ final score.
The Sachem defense did allow a fourth quarter touchdown, but the game was well in hand at the time.
Johanson was a perfect 5 for 5 on extra point kicks.
Pentucket will wait for the playoff pairings, which come out Sunday evening.
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Football, 10/24/16 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
WEST NEWBURY — Halftime adjustments and a couple of big plays helped Pentucket rally from a two-score, halftime deficit to tie Masconomet in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s Cape Ann League clash.
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Football, 10/20/16 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
WEST NEWBURY — As Newburyport quarterback Rob Shay scrambled wildly around his backfield, desperately looking for a receiver in the end zone to tie the score, Pentucket superstar Liam Sheehy battled the urge to abandon his position and give chase.
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Football, 10/01/16 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
AMESBURY — A week after getting shut out, Pentucket found its groove by going to Liam Sheehy early and often.
The senior scored twice before intermission and led the Sachems to a 27-12 win over Amesbury.
Two big plays through the air allowed the Sachems to put the game away.
Senior quarterback Finn Graham and junior receiver Nate McGrail connected for a pair of touchdowns in the second half.
"It was tough," said Sachem coach Steve Hayden. "They fought us all the way and we had a lot of kids go out so other kids had to step in to play. Sheehy did what he's supposed to do and (Graham) ran well and threw a couple ncie passes. And the defense hung in there."
Ahead 13-6 at halftime, the Sachems scored on the first possession of the second half Graham threw a perfect spiral down the right sideline that dropped right into the hands of McGrail for a 47-yard score.
Amesbury (0-2) responded. But on the next drive, Graham (4 for 5, 112 yards) went back to the air, this time throwing a 26-yard touchdown to McGrail, who made a terrific catch and then tapped his toes in just before going out of bounds.
Sheehy carried 20 times for 117 yards and the two scores.
Whenever Amesbury made a play to get back into the game, the Sachems were there to answer.
"I think that's senior leadeship that helped with that," said Hayden. "With all those kids, Chris Muollo, Robert Porter, Cam Legault, Liam Sheehy — they all sucked it up and did a good job."
Pentucket is at Bishop Fenwick Friday at 7 p.m.
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Football, 09/16/16 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
