RallyNorth.net

Fri, Sep 19, 2008 07:00 PM @ Haverhill

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Final
Catholic Memorial	0	0	12	16	28
Haverhill	0	0	13	8	21

CM wears out Haverhill

Friday, September, 19 By Dave Dyer
Staff writer

HAVERHILL — All those lovers of the classic David against Goliath tale nearly had a wonderful reenactment last night at Haverhill Stadium.

But this time, Goliath proved too much as Catholic Memorial (2-0) wore down Haverhill 28-21 in a terrific non-league game in which all the scoring was done in the second half.

Memorial, led by highly-recruited 6-foot-6, 270-pound senior Brennan Williams features an offensive line that averages 299 pounds and boasts three 300-pounders. Haverhill’s defensive line, meanwhile, averages 206 pounds.

But the feisty Hillies overcame the whopping size disadvantage in a scoreless first half, holding the Knights to 55 yards rushing while — thanks to Isiah Ocasio and Dan Triplett — rushing for 100 yards of their own.

Only a pair of interceptions and a lost fumble kept Haverhill from taking a halftime lead.

The second half turned into an offensive highlight film begun by the visiting Knights when Delroy McDonald (17 carries, 149 yards) opened the scoring with a 54-yard run off tackle, giving CM a 6-0 lead.

The Hillies, however, bounced back with two long scoring runs, one of 40 yards by Noel Figuereo and the other 72 yards by Dan Triplett to take a 13-6 lead.

McDonald scored again, on a 23-yard run, but CM still trailed 13-12 entering the fourth quarter.

The Knights regained the lead, 20-13, early in the fourth quarter on a 15-yard TD run by Lorenzo Warren three plays after he dashed 39 yards. He later capped the drive by running for the extra points.

Figuereo (11-169) however, responded with a jolting 63-yard TD run on the next play from scrimmage and, after an Ocasio to Zach Cox extra points pass completion, the Hillies had regained the lead, 21-20, with 6:54 to play.

By this time, the CM offensive line had begun to wear down the Hillies and it showed on its final drive. Starting on its own 27, it shrugged off an opening-play holding penalty and marched straight down the  field, scoring the winning touchdown on a 45-yard pass from impressive freshman A.J. Doyle to Brian Daley with just 1:17 to play.

“We definitely had the size advantage and that probably helped,” said Catholic Memorial coach Alex Campes. “But Haverhill is tough and we expected the kind of battle we got.”

Haverhill coach Tim Briggs, meanwhile, agreed that his club was outsized, and played its heart out, but he said: “We kept coming on, but those turnovers (three interceptions and a lost fumble) did us in.

“We had more positives than negatives against a much bigger team, but the bottom line is that they won the game and we didn’t.”