WEST ANDOVER — When Ojany Belliard woke up on Thanksgiving morning, he knew it would be the last high school football game he’d ever play.
Might as well go out and make it a memorable one.
Belliard put on a performance for the ages, rushing for 216 yards and scoring six touchdowns to lead the Reggies to a 51-6 win over Whittier Tech. The senior running back set the tone with a 65-yard touchdown on the third play of the game, and finished with four rushing touchdowns plus a pick six and a kickoff return touchdown.
“This is the best way to end your career,” Belliard said. “This is my last high school game of football ever, and I’m never coming back, and I’m beyond pleased on the way it ended. I’m beyond pleased.”
After the first touchdown, the Reggies forced a three-and-out and drove 63 yards in six plays, capping things off with a 4-yard Belliard score.
Then on their next drive, quarterback Kyle Vasconcellos connected with Leyton Barr for a 49-yard touchdown to make it 22-0 after the first.
In the second quarter, Belliard got loose for touchdowns of 79 yards and 31 yards, and the defense kept strong to make it 37-0 at halftime.
After the break, Whittier controlled the ball for virtually the entire third quarter. The only time Greater Lawrence touched the ball was after Belliard snared an interception and then took it 75 yards the other way for his fifth score.
Whittier didn’t score on either of its two third-quarter possessions, but the Cats did break through in the fourth to avert the shutout. Starting with good field position after forcing a turnover on downs near midfield, the Wildcats drove into the red zone, and quarterback Kevin Bradley Jr. found Sam Rebinskas for an 8-yard touchdown.
But on the very next play, Belliard received the kickoff and took it 80 yards to the end zone to put an exclamation mark on an epic Thanksgiving performance.
“As a coach, I couldn’t be more proud,” said Greater Lawrence coach Tony Sarkis. “He’s turned into a nice young man who is going to be a great leader in his community when he goes to college and does great things there.”
In addition to Belliard, Greater Lawrence also got 38 yards rushing from junior David White and 32 yards from senior Vincent Mammola. Vasconcellos went 2 for 3 with 53 yards, and junior kicker Franklin Morales was a perfect 5 for 5 on extra point kicks.
Whittier was led by Bradley, who went 12 for 30 passing with 131 yards, senior Corey Greaney caught five passes for 55 yards, and Rebinskas had three catches for 49 yards and a touchdown.
Greater Lawrence wraps up the season at 7-4, while Whittier finishes 3-8.
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Football, 11/24/16 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
BOSTON — Whittier got a touchdown from quarterback Kevin Bradley Jr., but that was all the offense the Wildcats could muster as they lost to Boston Latin 28-6 on Friday.
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Football, 11/06/16 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
HAVERHILL — Hamilton-Wenham quarterback Billy Whelan showed Saturday the he is the General of the Generals.
Whittier was able to slow down Hamilton-Wenham’s running attack, holding the Generals to 97 yards on 23 carries, but Whelan used his arm to do most of the damage. He went a spectacular 10 of 11 passing for 177 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Generals to a 27-6 win.
“Billy is a special kid,” said Hamilton-Wenham coach Jim Pugh. “He understands the offense and everything that we’re trying to do. If I make a mistake calling the plays he’s the one that knows what personnel we want out there.”
The Whittier offense controlled the time of possession on offense, but were unable to make a couple big plays. The Wildcats also bid farewell to their seniors in a ceremony before the game.
“It was two good, even teams battling,” said Whittier coach Kevin Bradley. “We left it on the field. We had our chances, but we didn’t stop them on some of their big plays.”
Hamilton-Wenham (4-4) scored at the end of the first quarter when Whelan hit Cam Peach for a 5-yard touchdown pass. Whittier (2-6) responded with a 17-play, 65-yard drive that elapsed over nine minutes and ended with a Kevin Bradley Jr. 1-yard run.
The Generals answered on a 13-yard TD pass from Whelan to Jake Lanciani to take a 15-6 lead into the half, and then took the second half kickoff 50-yards on 10 plays on a drive that lasted seven minutes and ended with Andrew Riccio running it in from a yard out.
The play, or plays, of the game happened on Whittier’s ensuing drive, when the Wildcats marched down to the Hamilton-Wenham 1-yard-line. With a first and goal from the 1, Whittier tried three straight runs that were all stuffed at the line. On fourth down, the General’s defensive line sprinted into the backfield and threw down the Whittier back for a loss.
“That was definitely a swing,” said Bradley. “If that was us stopping them it would be a momentum swing there definitely. Or if we scored then it’s a one-score game. It’s probably the first time we’ve been stopped all the way down there all season.”
Coach Pugh put a little more emphasis on that particular series.
“I just told the guys that the best thing about this game was the goal-line stand,” said Pugh. “That was a statement. We’re a young team and all we’re doing is playing for pride.”
Whelan then hit Lanciani for a 37-yard touchdown pass with three minutes left in the fourth to seal the game.
For Whittier, Bradley Jr. finished with 100 yards on 10 of 22 passing and also rushed for a team high 40 yards on 10 carries. Corey Greaney added 37 yards on 10 carries, and Sam Rebinskas hauled in seven passes for 81 yards.
Each team has a game next week, but their opponents will not be announced until Sunday morning.
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Football, 10/29/16 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
HAVERHILL — Whittier ran hard, but the Wildcats ran into a wall on Friday afternoon, falling to Shawsheen Tech, 33-8.
Shawsheen’s big linebackers kept a speedy, but young, set of Whittier running backs at bay for most of the afternoon.
The Wildcats were held scoreless until late in the fourth quarter, when they were able to string together a nine-play, 65-yard drive that ended with junior quarterback Kevin Bradley powering his way through the pile and into the end zone from five yards out.
For the first time on the afternoon, the Wildcats (0-4) were able to set the edge and get Eli Perez, in particular, to the outside against the Rams (4-0).
“We knew they were a tough team,” said head coach Kevin Bradley. “We watched tape on them and we knew there was a reason they only gave up, I think, 12 points all year coming into (the game). There was one game where I don’t think the offense had a snap over the 50. That’s not to make any excuses, though. We got beat, but we got beat by a good football team. We need to do a lot of things better.”
Shawsheen’s defense seemed to swarm Bradley every time he dropped back in the pocket. When he had time, he connected on a deep pass to Perez down the right sideline for 52 yards.
Defensively, the Wildcats struggled to keep a strong Shawsheen rushing attack in check. Craig Rich (14 carries, 156 yards, 3 TDs) was able to get to the outside on numerous pitches, causing the Whittier defense fits.
“We’re a young team,” Coach Bradley said. “We have a lot of talented running backs, but not many of them have had a lot of carries before. We’re learning.
“On defense, we missed too many tackles. We need to contain them better. There were times where we were in position to make plays, but missed a tackle and we lost our guy. We take pride in keeping teams off the field, but we weren’t able to get going on offense. Then on defense we had some misses there, obviously.”
The Wildcats host Chelsea next Saturday at 10 a.m.
Shawsheen 33, Whittier 8
Shawsheen (4-0): 6 14 6 7 — 33
Whittier (0-4): 0 0 0 8 — 8
First Quarter
S — Craig Rich 35 run (kick failed), 2:10
Second Quarter
S — Chris Ferrari 8 run (Rich kick), 6:27
S — Rich 10 run (Rich kick), 1:35
Third Quarter
S — Sam Baker 45 pass from Cody Sughrue (run failed), 5:34
Fourth Quarter
S — Rich 15 run (Rich kick), 9:36
W — Kevin Bradley 5 run (Sean Mears run), 5:24
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Whittier — Eli Perez 10-44, Corey Greaney 5-19, Kevin Chen 3-11, Kevin Bradley 7-9, Sean Mears 2-6, Bob Lincoln 2-(-2); Shawsheen — Craig Rich 14-156, Chris Ferrari 2-56, Sam Baker 1-19, Matt Cook 2-15
PASSING: Whittier — Kevin Bradley 2-8-0, 63; Sam Rebinskas 0-1-1, 0; Shawsheen — Cody Sughrue 5-9-0, 117
RECEIVING: Whittier — Eli Perez 1-52, Ryan Goudreault 1-11; Shawsheen — Sam Baker 1-45, Chris Ferrari 2-26, Dylan Pella 1-26, Mark Companeschi 1-20
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Football, 09/30/16 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
SOMERVILLE — Kevin Bradley Jr. scored on a two-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, but that's all the offense Whittier could muster in Friday's 22-8 loss to Somerville.
Following Bradley's touchdown, AJ Marino added two-more with a rushing conversion. Whittier led 8-7 after the first quarter, but Somerville came back with touchdowns in the second and third quarter to pull away.
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Football, 09/16/16 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
HULL — Christian Olivieri scored on a 10-yard run in overtime and Fern Barry added the rush to give Hull a 28-26 win over Whittier in the season opener. Olivieri and Barry each scored two TDs for the Pirates
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Football, 09/09/16 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
