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Dracut Middies Football '17

Thu, Nov 23, 2017 10:00 AM @ Dracut
Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Methuen 3 7 7 14 31
Dracut 6 0 13 20 39

Methuen stunned by Dracut

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Thursday, November, 23 By Kyle Gaudette

DRACUT — It looked as if Methuen would finally tie up its Thanksgiving day rivalry with Dracut — which the Middies led heading into Thursday 26-25-3.

But, as the famous quote goes: That’s why you play the game.

The heavy underdogs, Dracut used a 20-point fourth quarter and a four-touchdown performance by junior quarterback Devin Lambert to shock Methuen, 39-31, in front of approximately 1,200 fans.

Methuen (7-4) would have surpassed seven wins for the first time since 2010. The loss also snapped the Rangers’ six-game winning streak on Thanksgiving. 

“They made the plays definitely when they needed. Every jump ball that went up they caught,” said Methuen coach Tom Ryan. “As the fourth quarter went on, I thought they out-toughed us. I don’t know what happened there, but at the end of the game we got out-toughed when we really needed it the most.”

A pretty standard game through three quarters (Dracut led 19-17), the two teams combined for four touchdowns in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter. 

It started when standout Methuen quarterback Jordan Perdomo hit Peter Kwakye on a screen that the speedster took 60 yards for a touchdown. Just two plays after the ensuing kickoff, Cam McCullough burst in from a yard out to put Dracut back on top, 25-23.

But the lead lasted a grand total of 15 seconds — that being how long it took for Kwakye to return the ensuing kickoff 80 yards to the house. 

A Methuen defensive line led by Travis Manick, Sawyer Bilich, Ian McKinnon and Bryce Smith bottled up the running game, holding Dracut to just 62 rushing yards on 21 carries (3.0 yards per). But in the fourth quarter, the Middies did their damage through the air.

Lambert, who took over the starting QB job from McCullough a few weeks ago, finished his fine day (14 of 24, 294 yards, 4 total TDs) by hitting Nik Carter on a 22-yard touchdown pass to make it a 32-31 game, and Dracut did not give up the lead. 

“The wanted it the most,” said Ryan. “That was evident by the scoreboard.”

McCullough (228 total yards) added a touchdown with just over 90 seconds remaining to make it 39-31.

Methuen had an opportunity to tie, but a penalty and three incompletions derailed the drive before it could get going. 

The loss does not undo a memorable fall for Methuen. Seniors Perdomo and Kwakye played well in defeat, and returning Eagle-Tribune All-Star cornerback David Kelly had a nice interception. 

“They’ll go down as a class that turned the corner,” said Ryan. “Home playoff win, (Eastern Mass.) top-20 ranking most of the year. There are a tremendous amount of positives with this class.”

 

 

Game Statistics:

 

First Quarter

M — Jordan Perdomo 28 field goal, 4:24

D — Cam McCullough 57 pass from Devin Lambert (kick failed), 3:00

Second Quarter

M — Saul Cespedes 5 run (Perdomo kick), 9:28

Third Quarter

M — Xavier Ortiz 26 run (Perdomo kick), 7:03

D — Nik Carter 37 pass from Lambert (kick failed), 5:17

D — Lambert 1 run (Kyle Durkin kick), :36

Fourth Quarter

M — Peter Kwakye 60 pass from Perdomo (run failed), 10:47

D — McCullough 1 run (kick failed), 10:10

M — Kwakye 80 kickoff return (Cespedes run), 9:55

D — Carter 22 pass from Lambert (Durkin kick), 8:29

D — McCullough 17 run (Durkin kick), 1:39

 

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Rushing: METHUEN (38-178): Jordan Perdomo 19-50, Peter Kwakye 6-44, Xavier Ortiz 3-40, Saul Cespedes 9-32, Dan O’Connell 1-12; DRACUT (21-62): Cam McCullough 10-41, Devin Lambert 6-22, Allyn French 5-(-1)

Passing: METHUEN  Perdomo 7-14-1, 98; DRACUT  Lambert 14-24-1, 294, McCullough 1-1-0, 16

Receiving: METHUEN  Kwakye 2-72, Cespedes 2-12, David Kelly 1-12, Sawyer Bilich 1-3, Ortiz 1-(-1); DRACUT  McCullough 8-187, Nik Carter 5-101, Lambert 1-16, French 1-6

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