RallyNorth.net

Surprise stars lead Sachems to win

Saturday, October, 31 By David Willis
Staff writer

READING — A year ago, Pentucket was on the wrong end of the upset of the year, falling to tiny North Reading on opening day at its home field.

This season, led by a pair of surprise stars, the Sachems exacted their revenge.

In the first start of his varsity career, Peter Koopman rushed for two first-half touchdowns, and offensive backup Mike Brennan added another pair of scores as Pentucket downed the Hornets 34-3 yesterday in a game played at Reading High School.

“It was good to get a little revenge for last year,” said Brennan. “There was a little extra (motivation). And it was a good win after a tough, tough game against Wilmington last Friday.”

It was the fifth win in six games for the Sachems (5-3), who were downed by Wilmington 31-7 last week.

Entering the day with just six career varsity carries for 56 yards, senior Koopman ran wild against the Hornets.

“I was a little nervous,” he said. “But it was a good nervous. I had always hoped I would get the chance to play offense one day.”

On just his second carry of the game, Koopman broke out for a 33-yard touchdown scamper, the first of his varsity career. Three carries later, he dodged two defenders and sprinted away for a 65-yard score that ended the second quarter He finished the first half with 110 yards on just five rushes, and carried only twice in the second half as the backups came onto the field.

That marked just the second 100-plus yard rushing game for the run-happy Sachems this season, trailing just Nolan Dragon’s 113 against then-winless Hamilton-Wenham. In total, 10 Sachems carried the ball for a combined 307 yards yesterday.

“Words can’t describe the day I had,” said Koopman. “Once I ran for that first touchdown, it gave me a little more confidence. And as the game went on I got more comfortable in the offense, and my teammates around me.”

Just as dynamic was quad-captain Brennan.

Entering the day with just four carries for negative-2 yards in the last two seasons (6-13 in his career), the backup quarterback/receiver took a reverse, flew past the defense and scampered 25 yards for a touchdown.

“We put the reverse in this week,” said Brennan. “It worked pretty good. We tried a couple of different things.”

He then closed out Pentucket’s scoring in the second half, using his impressive speed to run down a long pass from QB Mike Doud and sprinting 49 yards for a score — the first pass reception of his varsity career. One possession later, he squashed North Reading’s drive by recovering a fumble.

The Sachems’ defense was equally as tough on the Hornets, holding them to just 148 yards of total offense. Of that, 57 of those yards — and the field goal that broke up the shutout — came on the final drive of the game when both teams had sent in their backups. Bob Rosano led the Hornets with 61 yards rushing on 13 carries.

“It was a very good win,” said Brennan. “I think we are gaining more confidence.”