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Creesy, McGrath headline Whittier's victory

Saturday, October, 29 By Jeff Hamrick

MIDDLETON — Whittier didn’t need the ball much yesterday. Not with the kind of defense the Wildcats played.

Jack Creesy had two of the Wildcats’ three interceptions, returning one for a touchdown and setting up another as Whittier routed North Shore 32-6. The Wildcats (5-3) ran only 30 plays in the game — 28 fewer than the Bulldogs (1-7).

The victory coupled with Greater Lawrence’s upset of Commonwealth League leader Northeast left four teams with 2-1 league records and three weeks left in the regular season. Whittier, which lost to Northeast still has Shawsheen and Greater Lawrence left to play

“Anybody can take it now,” Whittier coach Kevin Bradley said. “It’s just wide open and we’re right in the hunt. It’s good to feel like we’re right back in it. Back where we belong — at the top.”

Winning their third straight yesterday, the Wildcats wasted no time jumping on the over-matched Bulldogs. Creesy intercepted Tim Anderson’s third pass and returned it 58 yards and the two-point conversion by Andrew McGrath made it 8-0 just more than 2 minutes into the game.

On Whittier’s first offensive possession, McGrath capped a 62-yard drive with an 18-yard run early in the second. Creesy then squelched Northeast’s best possession with his second interception at the Wildcat 10 on a play defensive tackle Tim Malone harried Anderson’s throw.

Creesy, who added a team-high 13 tackles, then topped off a 75-yard drive with a 1-yard plunge for a 20-0 advantage.

McGrath, who also came up big on defense with 10 tackles, made the score 26-0 on a 64-yard dash midway through the third.

“I was pretty confident,” McGrath said. “We had a good week of practice and studied their film well. I knew the line was going to come through and block well. Altogether, it was a pretty good game. We have a lot of confidence, and we’re growing together as a team.”

Scott Bonneau capped Whittier’s scoring on a 10-yard run with 8:50 left in the game.

Northeast, which recovered two onside kicks, averted the shutout on Ryan Fanning’s 75-yard kickoff return following Bonneau’s touchdown run. For the game, the Bulldogs managed only 195 yards on 58 plays (3.4 yard average.