RallyNorth.net

Fri, Nov 10, 2017 06:00 PM @ Methuen

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Final
Lexington	14	6	12	0	32
Methuen	0	14	14	21	49

Methuen makes a statement with huge win over Lexington

Friday, November, 10 By Kyle Gaudette

METHUEN - As the wind intensified in the second half, making an already bitter and miserably cold Friday night even worse, Saul Cespedes was just heating up.

"I was warming up! Oh yeah, man I was loving it," said the Methuen senior. "I felt warm the entire time."

Cespedes shared the workload with his quarterback, Jordan Perdomo, in the second half. Together, the two combined for 30 carries and four touchdowns, as Methuen earned a statement, 49-32, victory over a superbly talented Lexington team.

Down 14-0 in a blink, fighting a bitter cold that made tackling more of a chore than normal and in a non-playoff game: It was a recipe for a team to just mail it in. 

Not Methuen.

While last night the Rangers (7-3) proved they have as much offensive firepower as Lexington (8-2), what really shined was their toughness and grit.

"We talked about this being an exclamation point for the season playing against a really good team," said Methuen coach Tom Ryan. "The kids fought hard. We went down early, things didn't go our way but we kept fighting back. The seniors wouldn't take anything but a victory, and it showed."

Lexington, behind star quarterback Sal Frelick (10 of 24, 169 yards, 3 TD's) and back Ben Quint (8 carries, 186 yards, 2 TD's), looked to be on it's way to a blowout win early. The Minutemen had a perfect season, but were handled by Everett, 49-21, in last week's Division 1 North semifinals.

But a blocked punt led to Methuen's first score, and a nice drive ending in a Sawyer Bilich 3-yard TD reception from Perdomo made it a manageable 20-14 Lexington lead at the half.

Both teams traded scores in the second half, none willing or capable to stop the other. But finally, up 35-32 midway through the fourth quarter, Methuen forced a turnover on downs, and David Kelly iced the game when he found Seth Pare on a 57-yard TD pass.

After another stop, Cespedes found the endzone for the third time on an 8-yard rushing touchdown with just over a minute left. He finished with 120 yards on 23 carries and the three TD's.

Perdomo had 101 yards on 23 carries and a score, and also threw for two more touchdowns. Eagle-Tribune All-Star wideout Kelly was everywhere. He caught a touchdown pass, threw for one on a trick play and made a ball-jarring hit on Lexington's last-chance 4th-down play.

A scary moment did happen at the end of the game when E-T All-Star linemen Bryce Smith took a nasty blindside hit and went down. But he went through the handshake line after and seemed to be okay.

Methuen's last game of the season will be at Dracut on Thanksgiving morning.

It'll be an opportunity to finish its season strong, but Friday night will undoubtedly be Methuen's best win.

"This was a big statement for us," said Cespedes.

 

Methuen 49, Lexington 32

Lexington (8-2):     14  6 12  0 - 32

Methuen (7-3):      0 14 14 21 - 49

First Quarter

L - Ryan Blanchard 23 pass from Sal Frelick (Dunca Hewitt kick), 8:16

L - Ben Quint 70 run (Hewitt kick), 4:44

Second Quarter

M - Jordan Perdomo 2 run (pass failed), 8:58

L - Anthony Bianchi 13 pass from Frelick (kick failed), 2:13

M - Sawyer Bilich 3 pass from Perdomo (David Kelly pass from Perdomo), :04

Third Quarter

M - Kelly 10 pass from Perdomo (Perdomo kick), 3:16

L - Bianchi 78 pass from Frelick (run failed), 2:29

M - Saul Cespedes 4 run (Perdomo kick), :48

L - Quint 56 run (pass failed), :29

Fourth Quarter

M - Cespedes 1 run (Perdomo kick), 8:20

M - Seth Pare 57 pass from Kelly (Perdomo kick), 5:05

M - Cespedes 8 run (Perdomo kick), 1:46

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING: Methuen (51-286): Saul Cespedes 23-120, Jordan Perdomo 23-101, Peter Kwakye 5-65; Lexington (22-291): Ben Quint 8-186, Sal Frelick 13-98, Anthony Bianchi 1-7

PASSING: M - Perdomo 6-9-0, 79, David Kelly 1-2-1, 57; L - Frelick 10-24-1, 169

RECEIVING: M - Seth Pare 1-57, Sawyer Bilich 2-40, Kelly 3-44, Xavier Ortiz 1-(-5); L - Bianchi 6-113, Ryan Blanchard 2-39, Quint 1-4, Milad Jaffari 1-3