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Sachems sink sub-par Generals

Saturday, September, 26 By Chuck Frye
Staff writer

WEST NEWBURY — For Pentucket, it was nice to get back to the friendly confines of the Cape Ann League.

Taking advantage yesterday of a Hamilton-Wenham squad struggling with key early-season injuries, the Sachems (now 1-2) did what they do best. The venerable Winged-T offense dependably rattled off clock-killing drives that invariably ended in points, and the feisty defense shed blockers efficiently and had an impressive number of 1-on-1 tackles.

Even with a cleanly-played game, the Generals (now 0-3) would have had a tough time. But three turnovers just made their life that much tougher, contributing to a deflating 35-0 defeat.

"We just couldn't match up with their ground game," said Hamilton-Wenham head coach Andrew Morency, who was missing starting linemen Paul Littlefield and Steve Drieze yesterday. "They ran it on us pretty good and that's going to cause problems for any team."

Save for a first-half interception by General defensive end Mike Declos, Pentucket scored on every possession. A 7 1/2-minute, 13-play drive on its opening possession was telling, but a soul-crushing, 16-play march starting the second half locked up the victory. When sophomore Nolan Dragon bulled in from a yard out for his second touchdown of the day, there were just six seconds left in the third quarter, the Sachems were ahead 28-0 and the subs from both squads started to see action.

Dragon himself almost outgained the Generals (113 yards rushing, just one yard shy of Hamilton's total) as the Sachems had the ball for 25 of the game's 40 minutes. Junior quarterback Mike Doud impressed on timing patterns, adding 53 yards and a game-opening TD toss to junior C.J. Lataille. And the second-stringers also got into the act as Peter Koopman's 45-yard burst set up a 5-yard TD romp by sophomore Matt Barry three fourth-down plays later.

"I thought we did a little better getting of the ball and blocking people better," Pentucket head coach Steve Hayden said. "I like the way the kids practiced this week, and we're just looking to get better every week."

The defense also got into the act as defensive back Lataille, who already had a near-interception and a fumble recovery, picked off an errant General pass at his own 36-yard line and took it to the house early in the fourth quarter.

Senior linebacker Dan Dragon also registered a fumble recovery while hard hits from middle linebacker Zack Eddy and safety Doud forced the turnovers.

The Generals, missing lineman Shane Jenkins while playing with a sub-par Andy Duval (ankle) at quarterback, crept into Sachem territory twice with the starters but turned the ball over both times. The subs drove the furthest to paydirt, getting to the Pentucket 27 as the clock ran out.

Additional stories:

• Sachems sink sub-par Generals