HAVERHILL — Midway through the first quarter Thursday morning, Greater Lawrence junior Donnie Croteau grabbed a beautiful spiral from quarterback Jose Caceres in the end zone for the apparent first touchdown of the game.
Only to drop it.
“I had it in my hands and brought it into my chest and it popped out,” said Caceres. “I felt bad. I had to redeem myself.”
Croteau did just that on the next possession, hauling in a long pass from Caceres and outsprinting the coverage for an 85-yard score, sparking the Reggies to a convincing 41-14 before about 350 fans at Whittier Tech.
That opening TD was just the start of a first-half aerial assault for Croteau and the Reggies. He caught another touchdown pass, from 10 yards out with 16 seconds left before halftime, and had four catches overall for 191 yards.
But Caceres, who missed two games in mid-season with a bad knee sprain, had other targets as well and he found them with regularity in the first half as he completed 12 of 20 passes for a whopping 299 yards and four touchdowns as the Reggies took a 28-14 lead at intermission.
Leading rusher David White had four receptions for 98 yards, Ronaldo Arias caught four passes for 41 yards and a score and Steven Polanco scored on a 15-yard catch. Whoever was open, Caceres found him.
The Reggies’ aerial success — at least to that degree — was something that Whittier coach Kevin Bradley had not anticipated.
“We wanted them to pass, that was our goal,” said Bradley. “We wanted to stop them from running the ball so we had guys up there.”
Said Greater Lawrence coach Tony Sarkis: “They had eight guys in the box so we had to take advantage of it and pass the ball. Our coaches did a good job of recognizing that.”
Caceres, who finished the day with 345 yards through the air and also rushed for 33 yards, responded, if perhaps reluctantly, to the challenge.
“I like running the ball more but I saw a lot of guys open and had to help out my guys,” he said.
In the second half, the Reggies (7-5) played it more conservatively. While holding Whittier to just 13 yards of offense, they stuck to the ground and scored once in each quarter, first on a 22-yard run by senior David White and finally on an 11-yard scamper by freshman Vinny Schmidt.
After the Reggies’ third straight Thanksgiving romp over Whittier, White was given the game ball for his both his offensive (189 yards of total offense) and defensive contributions from his linebacking spot. He got plenty of defensive help from the likes of Croteau, Humberfy Contreras and Malib Pastrana.
“This was a good way to end the season,” said Sarkis. “Our kids know the rivalry and they come to play.”
Whittier (6-5) did move the ball in the first half, scoring on a Julio Joubert 10-yard run and a 24-yard pass from Kevin Bradley to Mark Lamele but their first drive of the game, deep into Reggie territory, ended with a fumble. In the second half, they ran only 14 plays and only three went for positive yardage.
“We had a great first half but missed some opportunities,” said Bradley. “But we just couldn’t get anything going in the second half. You’ve got to give them credit.”
Unfortunately for Whittier, Bradley may be saying the same thing next year. Several key players — including juniors Caceres, Croteau, Polanco and Ader Mezidor — will be returning, causing one Greater Lawrence assistant to state that the Reggies should be playing in Foxboro next year in the state finals.
“We should be pretty good next year, but we have to stay focused and keep working at it,” said Sarkis.
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Football, 11/23/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
AMESBURY — No matter which team won between Amesbury and Whittier Tech, their defense was going to be the reason.
After early scoring in both halves, both teams locked down on each other.
In the end though, it was the Indians who buckled down enough to take a 20-14 victory for the Indians over the Wildcats on Thursday night at Landry Stadium.
“All year we felt like we’ve been right there because they’re doing things the right way,” said Indians (2-8) coach Colin McQueen. “They’re getting their reads the right way and we get aligned properly and it comes down to physically being able to be there.”
The home team got off to a hot start at the beginning of both halves then used its defense to hold the fort.
The Indians marched down the field on consecutive drives to open the game on offense.
A number of players got in on the action, but it was Derek Doherty and Patrick Birmingham who did the bulk of the work to set up a 5-yard pass from Blake Bennett to senior captain Connor Whitley on fourth down to make it 6-0.
The Indians defense stuffed the Wildcats (5-4) to start the game with a nice open field tackle by Troy Hamel on fourth down and forced a fumble on the next drive to set up their second touchdown.
It was Birmingham who went in from 14 yards out to make it 14-0 at the time.
The Wildcats finally responded though as quarterback Kevin Bradley hit Mark Iamele for a 51-yard shot that spurred a 3-yard score from Julio Joubert a few plays later to make it 14-6 early in the second quarter.
And in the second half, the Indians took the ball off the kick and got a boost from the speedy Hayden Ayotte, who took a handoff, cut up the middle through defenders with a step and was gone for a 62-yard touchdown.
Ayotte had the long run, but it was Doherty who finished with 109 yards on 17 carries. Birmingham also had 52 yards on nine carries and Bennett was 4-of-10 for 50 yards in the contest.
“Double-D (Doherty) is a guy that we knew was a special cat,” said McQueen. “We really like the way he runs. He’s fast, he’s got straight-line speed and he feels the trap cut really, really well. Ayotte, he popped another one. Both of those guys did a tremendous job.”
The second Wildcat score was set up by a big pass too as Bradley found Peter Hamel for a 49-yard pitch-and-catch before Joubert later went in from 1 yard out.
But after that, it was a battle of defenses.
The Indian defensive line fought hard the entire contest, stuffing the middle and holding every rusher under 40 yards. Joubert had the two scores and 7 yards to go with 34 yards on three catches.
Troy Hamel, Luke Hamel, Ethan Catania and others were huge all night making big tackles and stepping up as the Wildcats attempted to go to the air.
Bradley finished 9-of-19 for 147 yards in the air, but the Indians managed to lock down on crucial plays by pressure in the backfield or great coverage deep.
“It’s attitude,” said McQueen. “We’ve got some guys with serious motors. Our guys are motivated and they showed it this week... It was d-line getting pressure and occasionally we had some edge pressure when we sent some guys.”
The red-and-white forced punts on two of the visitors’ last three drives before a fumble recovered by the Indians sealed it with about a minute left.
Amesbury 20, Whittier Tech 14
Amesbury (2-8): 14 0 6 0 — 20
Whittier (5-4): 0 6 8 0 — 14
First Quarter
A- Connor Whitley 5 pass from Blake Bennett (kick blocked), 5:14
A- Patrick Birmingham 14 run (Derek Doherty run), 1:59
Second Quarter
W- Julio Joubert 3 run (rush failed), 10:55
Third Quarter
A- Hayden Ayotte 62 run (kick failed), 8:48
W- Joubert 1 run (Thomas O'Mahony run), 49.7
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Whittier (23-61) — Thomas O'Mahony 5-23, Kevin Bradley 6-18, Julio Joubert 6-7, Peter Hamel 3-7, Corey Defusco 3-6; Amesbury (44-270) — Derek Doherty 17-109, Hayden Ayotte 4-68, Patrick Birmingham 9-52, Griffin Short 5-16, Blake Bennett 3-15, Elijah Jackman 4-11, Tucker Molin 2-(-1).
PASSING: Whittier — Bradley 9-19-147-0-0; Amesbury — Bennett 4-10-50-1-0.
RECEIVING: Whittier — Hamel 2-51, Mark Iamele 1-51, Joubert 3-34, O'Mahony 2-8, Michael McAuliffe 1-5.
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Football, 11/09/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
HAVERHILL — Greater Lowell was averaging 25.0 points a game but the Gryphons from the Commonwealth Conference Small Division ran into a buzzsaw in Whittier from the CAC Large.
The Wildcats blanked Greater Lowell, 36-0, for their first shutout in 29 games (2015 vs. Lynn Tech).
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Football, 11/04/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
BILLERICA — Whittier almost pulled off an incredible turnaround Friday night.
Blasted by Shawsheen 46-8 just three weeks earlier, the Wildcats held an 8-6 lead against the Rams heading into the fourth quarter befor a fumble recovery for a touchdown and a broken tackle accounted for two touchdowns to give the host Rams a 22-8 victory in the first round of the Division 6 playoffs.
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Football, 10/27/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
HAVERHILL — Looking at the height difference between him and his father/coach, plus the fact that the two share the same name, it’s pretty fitting that Kevin Bradley Jr. is known around the Whittier football team as “Smalls.”
“We’ve been calling him that since he was six years old,” laughed Kevin Sr. “It’s like in that movie, ‘The Sandlot.’ I still sometimes say to him, ‘You’re killing me Smalls!’”
But Saturday morning, Smalls delivered a big performance on the eve of the playoffs. The senior QB threw for 182 yards and three touchdowns, all in the first half, leading Whittier over CAC rival Northeast in a shootout, 54-44.
After a tough stretch of two straight losses, Whittier (5-2) has rattled off back to back wins and could host a North Sectional playoff game this weekend.
The Wildcats have averaged 47.5 points their last two games and Bradley has been on fire, throwing for 355 yards and six touchdowns.
“I’ve called it a special year for us,” said Bradley Jr. “Senior leadership has come around, we’ve all come together and we’re just playing good football right now.”
Saturday afternoon, though, could not have started much worse.
After receiving the opening kick, Northeast (2-5) efficiently drove 70 yards on eight plays capped by a Zach Sanderson 4-yard TD run. Quite the workhorse, Sanderson rushed 28 times for 185 yards and three scores.
Northeast then recovered an onside kick and began to drive down the field again. It looked as if the Whittier offense would be down two scores before running a single play, but the defense forced a fumble.
The Wildcats then tied the game on Bradley’s first TD pass, a 33-yard strike to speedster Thomas O’Mahony.
“That was probably the worst start you could possibly have,” said Bradley Sr. “But the momentum switched once we got the ball, and then we went right back at them. We did a great job running and passing the ball. (Northeast) didn’t know what we were doing.”
Turnovers turned out to be key. Whittier forced three fumbles, two of which led to short fields and eventual scores. Corey Defusco and Cole Simonds both recovered fumbles.
Offensively, Bradley made sure to find his favorite target, O’Mahony, often.
O’Mahony, who came into Saturday seventh in EMass Division 6 with 62 points (9 TD’s, 4 XP’s), made three receptions for a team-high 87 yards and two more touchdowns.
“He knows where I am at all times and I know where he is at all times,” said Bradley Jr. on O’Mahony. “He makes everything a lot easier.”
Leading 24-22 at the half, Whittier opened the second half with a 54-yard drive ending with a Defusco touchdown. After a stop on defense, Defusco, a power back who led the team with 62 yards on 10 carries, broke a 16-yard TD to put the game out of reach.
Both teams traded scores from there, but it never got closer than a 10-point game.
“We’re climbing, and that’s where you want to be this time of the year,” said Bradley Sr. “I’ve had teams that didn’t have winning records, but we always try to play our best at the end of the season.”
Whittier 54, Northeast 44
Northeast (2-5): 8 14 6 16 — 44
Whittier (5-2): 8 16 22 8 — 54
First Quarter
N — Zach Sanderson 4 run (Sanderson run), 7:42
W — Thomas O’Mahony 33 pass from Kevin Bradley (Corey Defusco run), 0:56
Second Quarter
N — Dillon Pineau 1 run (run failed), 8:26
W — O’Mahony 18 pass from Bradley (Defusco run), 6:10
W — Michael McAuliffe 7 pass from Bradley (Bradley run), 3:17
N — Sanderson 4 run (Sanderson run), 0:57
Third Quarter
W — Defusco 1 run (pass failed), 8:24
W — Defusco 16 run (Defusco run), 4:42
N — Sanderson 2 run (run failed), 2:21
W — Shaun Mears 70 kickoff return (O’Mahony run), 2:06
Fourth Quarter
N — Owen Halley 1 run (Alec Siose run), 8:54
W — Julio Joubert 3 run (Mark Iamele pass from Bradley), 1:34
N — Pineau 29 run (Javany Velez run), 0:33
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING:
WHITTIER (28-168): Corey Defusco 10-62, Thomas O’Mahony 8-58, Kevin Bradley 4-17, Julio Joubert 4-19, Pater Hamel 1-10, Shaun Mears 1-2;
NORTHEAST (50-346): Zach Sanderson 28-185, Dillon Pineau 11-119, Jake Fitzgerald 1-19, Connor Joseph 3-13, Javany Velez 1-11, Owen Halley 4-1, Alec Siose 1-(-1), Patrick Michel 1-(-1)
PASSING: WHITTIER — Bradley 10-20-1, 182; NORTHEAST — Halley 1-2-0, 36
RECEIVING: WHITTIER — O’Mahony 3-87, Michael McAuliffe 3-45, Mark Iamele 3-31, Hamel 1-19; NORTHEAST — Sanderson 1-36
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Football, 10/21/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
HAVERHILL — Whittier Tech had the game well in hand. The Wildcats were leading by 19 points with under three minutes to play and had driven deep into Essex Tech territory. But after failing to score on 3rd and goal from the 6-yard line, Whittier did something very unusual.
The Wildcats lined up for a field goal.
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Football, 10/13/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
HAVERHILL — Shawsheen had its way with Whittier, which suffered its second straight loss after a 3-0 start to the season.
Shawsheen cruised to a 38-0 lead en route to the 46-8 win.
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Football, 10/06/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
HAVERHILL — Shawsheen had its way with Whittier, which suffered its second straight loss after a 3-0 start to the season.
Shawsheen cruised to a 38-0 lead en route to the 46-8 win.
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Football, 10/06/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
HAVERHILL — Shawsheen had its way with Whittier, which suffered its second straight loss after a 3-0 start to the season.
Shawsheen cruised to a 38-0 lead en route to the 46-8 win.
Read More »
Football, 10/06/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
HAVERHILL — Shawsheen had its way with Whittier, which suffered its second straight loss after a 3-0 start to the season.
Shawsheen cruised to a 38-0 lead en route to the 46-8 win.
Read More »
Football, 10/06/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
