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North Reading stings Pentucket

WEST NEWBURY — At kickoff it looked like a mismatch. Pentucket took the field with 42 players while North Reading dressed only 18.

But the Hornets, who were drubbed by the Sachems 49-21 last fall, were anything but outmatched.

North Reading, a member of the Cape Ann League Small, scored midway through the second quarter and held on to upset the CAL Large Sachems 8-6 yesterday, setting off a celebration worthy of a Super Bowl championship in the hot and steamy conditions at Pentucket.

“This was just amazing,” said North Reading quad-captain Dino Rizzo. “I felt like we were the underdogs going into the game. We knew that we would be outnumbered by almost 30 kids. We don’t have many kids but we are tough and we never back down. It means everything to be celebrating here.”

This marked the first time the Hornets have beaten Pentucket since 1997, with the Sachems outscoring North Reading 172-65 during the winning streak. The teams did not play from 2003 to 2005.

The Hornets mustered just 134 yards of total offense, and just 39 in the second half. But they made it stand up thanks to an aggressive defense led by safety John Brooks.

The junior turned in the play of the game, stopping C.J. Lataille on fourth-and-2 from the North Reading 45 with less than a minute remaining to clinch the victory. Brooks finished with a game-high seven tackles and recovered a fumble. Bobby Rosano and Kyle Sinclair each added five stops and Ronnie Rossi had three.

“This is awesome,” said Brooks. “It’s a big motivation when you look across the field and they have 20-plus more kids. But we put together a great fight and we came away with the win.”

Brooks and Rizzo also combined on the lone North Reading score, a 21-yard touchdown pass with 4:33 left in the second quarter. They then connected on the two-point conversion that was the winning margin.

“The play before I told (Brooks) to look off the safety and I’d be wide open,” said Rizzo. “He looked him off right away, I came up field, broke a few tackles and scored.”

Pentucket responded 4:12 later on an 18-yard touchdown run by Lataille. But the two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful.

Lataille was a bright spot for the Sachems. The sophomore rushed for a game-high 80 yards on 12 carries and delivered the hit of the game to knock the ball out of a receiver’s hands. Jordan Silva made a team-best five tackles and picked a pass off and Matt Fiore made four stops including a sack.

“They just beat us,” said Pentucket coach Steve Hayden. “We got down instead of continuing to fight. We need to learn and move on. But North Reading played a great game. (Darren) Hartwell is the real deal.”

Hartwell led North Reading with three carries for 33 yards and Brooks had 11 for 27. Rizzo had 19 yards on three attempts while battling cramps.

“This was all heart today,” said Brooks. “Rizzo was hurt, Hartwell was hurt and we still came out with the victory. I had a feeling we could win.”