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Johanson's big day leads Pentucket

Sunday, September, 28 By David Willis
Staff writer

BEVERLY - Pentucket offensive lineman Justin O'Donnell hustled over to congratulate teammate Dan Johanson after the game.

"(Johanson) is still going even though he's exhausted," O'Donnell said with a chuckle of his excited teammate. "You could tell he was getting tired. But he just fought through it and kept going."

With the rain falling heavily and the artificial surface slippery, the Sachems jumped on the back of their fullback, and Johanson carried them to a 14-0 win over Hamilton-Wenham yesterday morning. It was the first Cape Ann League victory of the season for Pentucket (2-1), which had lost to the Generals (2-1) the last two seasons.

The game was rescheduled from Saturday and moved to Endicott College due to the rain.

"I like it when it rains out," said Johanson, still short of breath. "I don't make many cuts, so I don't have to worry about slipping. I just ran hard."

The senior carried the ball 22 times for 125 yards and a touchdown. His previous career highs in carries (9) and yards (83) were set a week ago against Greater Lowell. He had only 15 career varsity carries going into last week.

"This was definitely the most carries I have ever had," said Johanson. "I just had to ignore how exhausted I was and keep my legs moving. The (fullback run) was working, so we just stuck with it."

The second half belonged to the 6-foot-1, 187-pounder. He carried the ball on the first 11 plays, and 14 of the 16 plays the Sachems ran after the half.

Johanson gave Pentucket a 7-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter with a 6-yard run up the middle. His bruising running in the second half set up the second score, a 20-yard keeper for quarterback Jordan Silva.

"Danny did a great job today," said Pentucket head coach Steve Hayden. "He ran hard, kept going and held onto the ball. He gave that second and third effort, which was different from previous weeks."

Silva added 27 yards on five carries. For much of the game the Sachems were without running back C.J. Lataille, who left after taking a big hit.

The Pentucket defense allowed just 160 yards, 62 rushing on 27 attempts. It was the Sachems' second straight shutout, and in three games they have allowed only eight points.

Defensive lineman Matt Fiore continued his stellar season with six tackles and a whopping three sacks. Silva added a team-high 10 tackles, Cam Spofford made six stops and Zack Eddy had five.

"The last two years they had beaten us up front," said O'Donnell. "We remembered that and we wanted to take it to them. We wanted to beat them up."