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Hot Butters knifes through Sachems

Friday, October, 23 By Chuck Frye
Staff writer

WILMINGTON — The better team won, pure and simple.

In the Cape Ann League Large opener for both teams, Wilmington brought a physical presence that Pentucket just couldn’t match. And when senior running back Evan Butters hit his stride, the game was over for the Sachems in a 31-7 setback last night.

The Wildcat offense was teamwork at its best, especially after the first quarter as the hulking line often got Butters clear past the linebackers and the tri-captain made defenders miss from there. With several effective cuts that had Pentucket secondarymen tackling air, Butters finished with 190 yards rushing on 16 carries and his 10th and 11th touchdowns of the season, the most impressive being a 74-yard jaunt to the end zone in the third quarter that essentially sealed the victory with a 24-0 lead.

"Butters made some moves out there,” said Sachem head coach Steve Hayden of the senior. “Thank God he’s gone (after this season). And he has guys up front that do it for him, never mind him alone.”

Junior fullback Kevin Moriarty (9 carries, 81 yards) also was a weapon for Wilmington, turning a simple trap play into a double-digit gainer on over half of his carries.

The kicking game impressed as well as junior Chris Frissore confidently pumped through a 39-yard field goal along with four point-after kicks.

Although the passing attack had some success, Pentucket could never establish its bread-and-butter running game (28 attempts for 90 yards) and struggled.

Junior Mike Doud connected on 6 of 13 passes for 101 yards but suffered interceptions before and after the halftime break.

After suffering a swollen hand, Doud was replaced by quad-captain Mike Brennan, whose only pass completion went for 46 yards to C.J. Lataille and the lone Sachem score in the fourth quarter.

Along with Doud, kicker Jeremy Krugh (out after hurt hip during tackle on opening kickoff) and right offensive guard Jordan Pinzone (left shoulder three minutes into the game, played off-and-on afterward) were also injured.

"Wilmington was very physical all over and we got kind of beat up,” Hayden said. “We don’t have a lot of depth. The kids battled but we didn’t put anything together.

"They’re a good, good team, and physically we didn’t handle them well. I can’t spell it out more than that."