RallyNorth.net

Whittier falls short in upset bid

Saturday, November, 03 By Hector Longo

HAVERHILL — Slicing Shawsheen Tech’s advantage to five at 17-12 just before the half, Whittier Tech’s footballers floated into the locker-room.

“We had the momentum. We had our kids pumped up, and we had the football coming out in the third quarter,” said Whittier coach Kevin Bradley.

But the Cats didn’t have Paul DePlacido. Shawsheen Tech does.

The 5-11, 190-pound powder keg put the Cats to sleep with three second-half touchdowns, locking down the Commonwealth Large Division on a monster afternoon with the 37-12 victory.

“He’s all grown up. He’s a bull, and he’s a darn good one,” said Bradley, whose sophomore-laded defense simply couldn’t slow the Ram-tough DePlacido down.

The senior rolled up one of the great individual performances of the season, scoring all five touchdowns in a 26-carry, 281-yard day.

Whittier drops to 6-3, 1-1 in conference play.

“For our seniors, I feel bad because this was their big day,” said Bradley. “The few seniors we have got, they’ve shown such great leadership to this young football team. But we’ll use it at a learning experience.

“We’ve two games left (Lynn Tech and Greater Lawrence) and if we win those, I think we’ll be headed into the postseason (State Vocational Bowl) too.”

Junior Jaylin Deveau (13 carries, team-high 79 yards) run for Whittier’s first score, a 14-yarder up the gut early in the second quarter. He also leaped and hauled in the second Cats’ TD, a 13-yarder from sophomore Connor Bradley that sent the game to halftime at 17-12.

“We just have to learn how to finish,” said Bradley. “You know, we fought hard and we were right there. We just have to learn for this.”

The younger Bradley (7 of 18, 104 yards) showed courage in the pocket on a day in which he was under siege. Deveau (4 catches, 45 yards) was the big target, while senior Justin Reyes made a spectacular, one-handed grab for 36 yards to set up the second TD.