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Pentucket holds off gritty Vikings

Tuesday, November, 25 By Dave Dyer
Staff writer

WEST NEWBURY — Senior quarterback and co-captain Jordan Silva was Johnnny on the Spot for Pentucket yesterday.

Silva scored the Sachems’ first touchdown, completed a key pass to set up a second touchdown, recovered a fumble in the end zone and had a late interception to hold off stubborn Triton, 14-7, before more than 1,500 fans at Pentucket.

But Silva’s offensive heroics, and indeed the Pentucket victory, probably wouldn’t have been possible if it hadn’t been for a rousing halftime speech from assistant coach Shawn McElligott, who last year just happened to be Triton’s head coach.

The score was tied 0-0 at halftime, but Pentucket (7-4) knew it was fortunate not to be trailing.

The Vikings (5-6) threatened right out of the gates. Bill Tindle ran 48 yards from scrimmage on the first play of the game and quarterback Sam Ferrara went nine yards to the 2-yard line on the second play only to be followed by a fumble into the end zone that Silva recovered on the third play.

Triton threatened again two possessions later only to be foiled by a C.J. Lataille interception in the end zone. Another Vikings’ drive advanced to the Pentucket 14 before the Sachems turned it away.

Pentucket, meanwhile, could not march past the Triton 32 all half, and it was obvious that the Vikings were winning the battle in the trenches and generally a more charged up football team.

“We kind of came out flat and just weren’t playing very well,” said co-captain Matt Fiore. “Coach McElligott got on us pretty good. He told the seniors that they only had one half left and, if we didn’t play better, we weren’t going to like the result. That got us going.”

Agreed Silva: “We got a speech from coach Mac that fired us up. We came out (for the second half) ready to play.”

The Sachems started taking control on the second possession of the third quarter, following a shanked punt that gave them the ball on Triton’s 41. A 32-yard jaunt by Dan Johanson (17 carries, 105 yards) brought the ball to the 9-yard-line and, three plays later, Silva rolled left and sprinted into the end zone for a 6-0 lead.

Silva’s extra-point kick hit the goal post, but Pentucket scored on its next possession as well after stopping Triton on its own 46 on a fourth and 4. Eight plays later, Johanson scored on an 11-yard run, but the key to the drive was when Silva hit Bob DiSorba brilliantly on a 14-yard pass to the sidelines on a 4th-and-9 situation.

A pass from Silva to Cam Spofford for two points made it 14-0 with 8:37 to play in the game.

But Triton battled back gamely. Taking over on its own 30, Ferrara completed passes to Tindle, Brendan O’Neil and Matt Brimcombe for a combined 50 yards and O’Neil eventually scored on a 4-yard run which, following an extra-point kick, made it 14-7 with 4:12 to play.

A stout defensive stand on the next series gave the Vikings the ball back with 3:39 still left to play. But Silva intercepted a Ferrara pass three plays later to all but seal the Sachems’ victory.

The Thanksgiving win was the seventh in the last eight years for the Sachems, who now lead the series against Triton by a 20-13-1 count.

“I’m definitely happy that we got fired up and won the game,” said Silva, who also played well in last year’s 28-0 Thanksgiving win. “But I’m upset that it’s over.”

As for Triton, the disappointing setback was tempered by knowledge that its 5-6 season was a big improvement over 2007 (1-10) and that it gave Pentucket all it could handle.

“I told the team how proud I was of them,” said Triton coach Jim O’Leary. “Except for a few mistakes, we played a great game.

“I think some of our guys put them (Pentucket) ahead of themselves before the game and they felt we had to play a perfect game to beat them, but then they found we could play with them.

“We got better and better this year, and we have a lot of our line back next year, so we’re looking forward to seeing how good we can become.”

Additional stories:

• Pentucket rushing game key to victory