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Whittier Wildcats Football '08

Tue, Dec 02, 2008 10:00 AM @ Neutral Location
Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Whittier 0 0 0 0 0
Amesbury 0 0 14 7 34
LOWELL: The Amesbury Indians defeated Whittier Tech. (Haverhill) in football playoff action 34-0.   

 » Carl Russo, Staff PhotographerMore photos

Jittery Whittier can’t get going, falls to Amesbury

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Wednesday, December, 03 By Chuck Frye
Staff writer

LOWELL — One thing jumped out at Kevin Bradley during preparations for last night’s Division 3A semifinal game — Amesbury feasts on turnovers.

“After watching several games of theirs on film, I noticed (Amesbury) forces a big fumble or interception that costs the other team the game,” the Whittier Tech head coach observed. “They have a good veteran defense and you can’t make mistakes. All season, they made teams pay the price.”

And the Indians did it again at Lowell’s Cawley Stadium. The Wildcats came out slightly fractured in the early going, suffering three fumbles that, although not lost to the opposition, torpedoed early drives. Well-prepared after last year’s playoff berth and two pressure-packed season-ending wins to qualify this season, Amesbury responded with quiet determination.

Seizing momentum and never letting go, the Cape Ann League Small champs throttled the best of the Commonwealth Conference Large, 34-0, and will play Martha’s Vineyard, a 42-14 winner over Monument yesterday, at Waltham’s Bentley College Saturday.

Already under pressure when Amesbury scored on the first possession of the evening — a 10-yard Jesse Burrell run capping an eight-play, 49-yard drive, Whittier crumbled.

A bad shotgun snap near midfield caused a 19-yard loss while another created a third-and-long situation. Both ended in punts, the first of which was returned 64 yards into the end zone by Kevin Johnston. That gave Amesbury a 14-0 advantage just over seven minutes into the contest.

“I was nervous,” Wildcat running back/linebacker Bryan Trickett said. “I had jitters all day. Everyone did. (Teammates) would come up to me and say, ‘Are you nervous?’”

But behind strong defense from Trickett (6 tackles to go along with a team-high 64 yards rushing), Nate Allen (8 tackles) and Kobie Green-Jackson (pass interception and 37-yard return), Whittier survived a lost fumble to hold the gap at 14 going into halftime.

“I felt that, where we’re getting the ball to start the second half, we’d come out and put one in and have a whole new ball game,” Bradley said.

Instead, Indian linebackers Steve Serwon (5 tackles), Ben Uhlarik and Steve Levarity (3 stops each) forced a three-and-out that set the stage for three straight Amesbury scoring drives to wrap up the game.

Already a formidable three-headed offensive monster behind quarterback Jared Flannigan (97 yards on 8 carries including a 9-yard TD sweep to start the blitz), Johnston (63 yards) and Burrell (42 yards with a second 10-yard TD carry), the Indians grew another.

Wingback Ryan Dragon slashed through the Whittier defense for 62 yards on eight attempts and the game’s final score, a 12-yard romp that ended a run of six straight double-digit plays for Amesbury. In all, the Indians finished with 285 rushing yards, averaging almost seven yards per carry.

“If you’re stopping Kevin or Jesse, that opens up something for me,” Flannigan said. “Nobody can really stop all three of us so it makes it difficult (for the defense).”

“This was our third postseason appearance in four years,” Bradley said, including 2005’s state vocational championship, “and we want to build up a tradition where we want to be playing after Thanksgiving. We can easily get back here next year but our underclassmen have to see what our seniors did to get us here and do that themselves. Our senior leadership is what got us here.”

Game Statistics:

First Quarter

A — Jesse Burrell 10 run (Bill Medvitz kick), 5:53
A — Kevin Johnston 64 punt return (Medvitz kick), 2:49


Third Quarter

A — Jared Flannigan 9 run (Medvitz kick), 3:05
A — Burrell 10 run (Medvitz kick), 1:46

Fourth Quarter

A — Ryan Dragon 12 run (kick failed), 5:51

 


INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING: Whittier (31-84) — Bryan Trickett 12-64, Carlos Candelario 6-17, Kobie Green-Jackson 2-8, Mat Burke 1-6, Tyler Page 2-3, Dillon Ryan 8-(-14); Amesbury (42-285) — Jared Flannigan 8-97, Kevin Johnston 11-63, Ryan Dragon 8-62, Jesse Burrell 7-42, Chester Conant 1-13, Ian McLaughlin 2-8, Tyler Lay 5-0

PASSING: Whittier — Ryan 8-17-0, 49; Amesbury — Flannigan 1-3-1, 13

RECEIVING: Whittier — Damian Colman 5-28, Steve Surette 2-14, Christian Garrity 1-7; Amesbury — David Smith 1-13

Additional stories:

1 Story Comments

0         jmlynchjr

Since nobody seems to have thought it important to get the final chapter written here, the Amesbury Indians WON THE SUPERBOWL with a total destruction of the Martha's Vineyard Football team. The final score was 40-19. It was 34-7 at the half! GOOOOOO INDIANS!!! Great season! As a parent of a first year junior player, I am so thankful my son decided to join the team and learn the game this year. I have had a great time going to games, making new friends and supporting my home town of Amesbury. These kids worked hard representing the best we have to offer, as did the other players from cities and towns across the North Shore. Amesbury's performance in these MIAA Playoffs demonstrated what a powerful league the Cape Ann Small is, as well as the North Shore in general. Great job coaches and players, as well as enthusiastic fans of Amesbury Football, who showed up in FORCE to these important games. Congratulations to you all!

Report! #1 12/07/2008 12:12 PM