RallyNorth.net

Pentucket holds off late Triton surge to beat archrival

Saturday, September, 28 By David Willis
Staff writer

WEST NEWBURY — Asked to describe the final moments yesterday, Pentucket linebacker Josh Wesolowski responded with one word.

“Terrifying,” he said.

With the Sachems leading by six points with 1:18 to go, Triton marched 80 yards to the Pentucket 11-yard line with 12 seconds to go.

But Luke Strangman knocked down one pass and a pack of Sachems pounced on the receiver to keep him in bounds as time ran out to give Pentucket a thrilling 19-13 victory over their Thanksgiving rival Vikings.

“A win against Triton is always huge,” said quarterback Ryan Kuchar. “We knew we were the underdog in this one, but we love that. It feels weird not going home for a turkey dinner after beating Triton, but this was a good one.”

The Sachems jumped on the Vikings early. They took the opening kickoff and, four plays later, Jeff Porter sprinted in from 37 yards out to give the Green a 7-0 lead.

“That first drive just set the pace for the game,” said lineman Reid Garrant. “We knew it was going to be a tough game, so to be able to go out there and put in a quick touchdown really made a big difference.”

Triton cut the lead to one point, but Pentucket immediately responded with a 10-play drive that Kuchar finished off with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Noyes to make it 13-6. The Sachems extended the lead midway through the third when Kuchar ran nearly the exact same play, this time finding Liam Corkery for a 5-yard score.

“Both times I saw the guy come open in the back of the end zone and threw it to them,” said the QB. “Those were big scores.”

Triton scored to reduce the lead to one six with 2:39 left in the game, but the Sachems recovered the on-sides kick and seemed to ice it with 1:18 left when Kuchar booted a perfect punt that was downed at the Vikings’ 10-yard line.

But Triton mustered one more fast drive, advancing to the Sachem 11 with 15 seconds to play.

“It was a whirlwind and it was very frustrating,” said Garrant. “But we kept saying we just had to keep our cool and if there was a catch just keep the receiver in bounds because they were out of time outs.”

A first down pass fell incomplete and Strangman batted down the second-down pass with eight seconds left, leaving time for one final play. Triton QB Bradley Whitman swung a pass out to running back Justin Spillane, who was swarmed in bounds by a group of Pentucket tacklers led by Liam Corkery.

“We were playing really well on defense then we lost it a bit,” said Wesolowski. “(Spillane) was my man and Liam came up and gave a great hit. We may have allowed a drive, but it came down to who wanted it more and it worked out.”

Freshman Pat Freiermuth was all over the field for the Sachems making 12 tackles and intercepting a pass, Chad Legault made eight stops and combined with Garrant and Noyes for a sack and Sean Clohisy chipped in with six tackles.

Porter paced the offense with 86 rushing yards and D.J. Engelke added 63 ground yards.

“This is our biggest rival so we wanted this one,” said Garrant. “It’s a great boost, and we hope it’s a preview of what’s coming on Thanksgiving.”