Fri, Oct 28, 2016
07:00 PM @
North Reading
| Team |
Q1 |
Q2 |
Q3 |
Q4 |
Final |
| Bedford |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| North Reading |
7 |
21 |
7 |
0 |
35 |
North Reading mauls Bedford in playoff opener
- Currently 0.0 with 0 votes.
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
-
5
Friday, October, 28
By Dave Dyer
NORTH READING — It was a relatively easy night’s work for North Reading star Matt McCarthy Friday night.
Which, in this case, a 35-0 opening-round 2A playoff rout of Bedford, was a good thing.
McCarthy went over 1,000 yards for the second straight year, gaining 117 yards on the night to reach 1,028, and had a 62-yard punt return for one of his two touchdowns, but he only carried the ball a pedestrian 15 times.
“There have been games, especially last year, when Matty would carry it 30 or 40 times, so this is going to keep him fresher,” said North Reading coach Jeff Wall. “It’s good to give him a break, which we can do with Kyle (Bythrow) at quarterback.”
Indeed, Bythrow rushed for 88 yards on just nine carries and scored on TD runs of 22 and 26 yards.
Whether it was McCarthy or Bythrow, the Hornets (7-1) dominated from the start, scoring on all four first-half possessions, the first of which covered 74 yards and ate up nearly eight minutes, culminating with Bythrow’s 22-yard jaunt.
John Merullo completed another 74-yard drive with a four-yard run and McCarthy followed with the 62-yard punt return and a one-yard plunge to make it 28-0 at halftime.
Three plays after the punt return and five plays before his second touchdown, McCarthy had an interception. One would think that one of those plays would be his highlight of the game, but none of them were.
“The most exciting thing for me was watching everyone, all 11 of us go to the ball,” said McCarthy. “We were working on that during the week so it was nice to see.”
Against a swarming Hornets’ defense, in fact, Bedford managed only 96 yards of total offense, only crossed the 50 twice and never seriously threatened to score.
In addition to McCarthy, Mike Sheridan and Kyle Conley had interceptions, while Bob O’Donnell, Mike Quaratiello, Tom McHugh and Merullo were among those stuffing the run.
In addition to making a slew of tackles, O’Donnell had quite the game overall. He was 5 for 5 in extra-point kicks and had two great punts in the second half, one a 59-yarder and the other a 26-yarder after he retrieved a bad snap and ran around before booting it.
“He (O’Donnell) is so athletic and just does so much for us,” said Wall. “He plays all over the place.
“What I was happiest about today is that we played well in all three facets of the game. We came ready to play.”
The only slight negative for North Reading on the night was its 10 penalties, which included seven illegal procedure calls.
The Hornets will now face Danvers at home Friday. Danvers blanked Wakefield 28-0 Friday and will likely be considered a favorite, but Wall said: “They’re bigger than we are, but I would never count my kids out.”
North Reading 35, Bedford 0
Bedford (5-3): 0 0 0 0 — 0
North Reading (7-1): 7 21 7 0 — 35
Division 2A North First Round
First Quarter
NR — Kyle Bythrow 22 run (Bob O’Donnell kick), 3:33
Second Quarter
NR — John Merullo 4 run (O’Donnell kick), 8:30
NR — Matt McCarthy 62 punt return (O’Donnell kick), 5:15
NR — McCarthy 1 run (O’Donnell kick), :31
Third Quarter
NR — Bythrow 26 run (O’Donnell kick), 1:03
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: NR (29-222) — Matt McCarthy 15-117, Kyle Bythrow 9-88, John Merullo 2-9, Tommy Patch 2-5, Matt Solecki 1-3; B (32-55) — Jake Eliason 25-45, Cameon Shelmire 4-2, Logan Brust 2-2, Tur Woods 1-6
PASSING: NR — Bythrow 0-2-0, 0; B — Shelmire 2-10-3, 41
RECEIVING: B — Tobin Hart 2-41
Game Statistics:
Division 2A North First Round
First Quarter
NR — Kyle Bythrow 22 run (Bob O'Donnell kick), 3:33
Second Quarter
NR — John Merullo 4 run (O'Donnell kick), 8:30
NR — Matt McCarthy 62 punt return (O'Donnell kick), 5:15
NR — McCarthy 1 run (O'Donnell kick), :31
Third Quarter
NR — Bythrow 26 run (O'Donnell kick), 1:03
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: NR (29-222) — Matt McCarthy 15-117, Kyle Bythrow 9-88, John Merullo 2-9, Tommy Patch 2-5, Matt Solecki 1-3; B (32-55) — Jake Eliason 25-45, Cameon Shelmire 4-2, Logan Brust 2-2, Tur Woods 1-6
PASSING: NR — Bythrow 0-2-0, 0; B — Shelmire 2-10-3, 41
RECEIVING: B — Tobin Hart 2-41
