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Swampscott has no answers for Pentucket's Sheehy

Sunday, November, 06 By Connor Whooley

SWAMPSCOTT — Pentucket established its running game with authority on the team’s first drive of the contest.

The Sachems went right down the field, running the ball on every play but one and punched it in to set the tone in a 34-13 victory over Swampscott on Saturday afternoon.

Senior running back Liam Sheehy had a monster day, rushing for 231 yards and four touchdown, including a 96-yard scamper to cap off the scoring with 2:54 to play.

Not to be left out was his running mate in the backfield, Robert Porter. The senior back had 16 carries for 145 yards himself and had a 4-yard touchdown in the first half to send the Sachems into the break up 12-0. 

He also had two catches for 53 yards.

“Sheehy and Porter are a good one-two punch,” said Sachems coach Steve Hayden. “Any time, it’s a combination of the line and the backs. We’ve all got to work together and that was good.”

Coming out of the half, after a Sheehy touchdown, the Big Blue caught some energy, as running back Isaiah Bascon took the ensuing kickoff and flew down the sideline to the Sachem 11-yard line.

From there, quarterback Colin Frary hit a falling A.J. Venuti in the end zone for a pretty 11-yard pass-and-catch, making it 20-7 after the Sean Lahrizi extra point.

Frary was 17-of-30 for 192 yards with a touchdown and a pick.

Hayden credited Frary’s effort, saying the Sachems were worried coming into the game about the quarterback and he proved he could play.

After Sheehy scored again to open the fourth, the Big Blue (3-6) moved down the field on the arm of Frary and scored on a 4-yard rush from Bascon to make it 27-13 after the failed 2-point conversion.

Bascon had seven carries for 33 yards as the team’s leading rusher.

The reason the Big Blue didn’t see the end zone frequently was due to the strong defensive effort put on by the Sachems.

The Big Blue resorted to the air for the majority of the game and though they moved the ball, Sachem defensive backs, including Porter and Nathan McGrail — who had an interception in the contest — were always there to make the plays. Steve Noyes, Chris Muollo and Dylan Engelke were also key in the backfield, among others.

“We have a lot of a new backfield with a loss of all of our corners and safeties but we have a lot of new ones,” said Sheehy. “Chris Muollo, Steve Noyes, Robert Porter, they’re all stepping up at DB.”

The linebacker position came up huge as well, as Sheehy, Ethan Dore and others were there to cover receivers and slow the passing game. Up front, John Galligan, Cam Legault and Demetrios Thornton, among others, were stout, holding the Big Blue ground game at bay.

The season isn’t over for the Sachems, either. Though they are out of playoff contention, they’ll take the positives from these next few games and move forward.

“We’ve got two more games, the consolation game and the Thanksgiving game to help us improve,” said Sheehy.