GloucesterTimes.com, Gloucester, MA

Sports

Whittier takes control of CAC Large with win

By Nick Curcuru
Staff Writer
Published: November 8, 2009

MANCHESTER - Whittier Tech head football coach Kevin Bradley has seen an offense similar to the Manchester Essex offense before in the 2001 St. Louis Rams.

"They are like the greatest show on turf," Bradley said of his rival. "Because of their high flying offense we watched a lot of Patriots footage to see how they handled the Rams in 2001."

Because the Hornets can score from anywhere on the field at any time, Bradley had a plan: Keep their offense off the field.

As it turned out, their plan worked to perfection as the Wildcats both controlled the clock and the line of scrimmage en route to a 30-16 win over the Hornets at Ed Field Field on Saturday afternoon.

The Wildcats, instead of airing it out with quarterback Dillon Ryan, who leads Division 4 with 19 touchdown passes, chose to rely on their power running game with tailbacks Nick Ferreira and Donald Leighton and the results were spectacular.

Not only did Whittier control the clock, they rang up 269 rushing yards. Ferreira led the way with 181 yards on the ground while Leighton added 79. Ryan only threw four passes but completed three of them, all to wide receiver Steve Surette.

"We wanted to keep the ball out of their hands," Bradley said. "Everybody likes to talk about our passing game but we can run it too, I have a lot of confidence in the run game and it worked well today. We played smashmouth football on both sides of the ball."

With the win, Whittier improves to 9-0 and with a win over Greater Lowell next week, the Wildcats clinch their second straight Commonwealth Conference Large title. The Hornets are all but out of the CAC Large race as they need the Wildcats to lose each of their next two games; it will be the first time since the 2005 season that Manchester Essex has not qualified for the playoffs. The Hornets crushed the Wildcats 43-16 a year ago.

While the Wildcats offense was good, their defense was even better.

Facing a Hornets team that averaged over 50 points scored in their last four games, Whittier held them in check the entire game, allowing just 179 yards of total offense, most of them coming in the fourth quarter with the game all but in hand.

In the first half, Manchester Essex had negitive-5 yards on the offensive end. Matt Asemota, who had two sacks in the game, paced the Whittier defense.

"They are a tough, physical defense," Athanas said. "We couldn't get into a rhythm. Their line was big, physical and well-coached and their linebackers made a lot of plays."

Although the Wildcats executed their gameplan to perfection, the Hornets did not help themselves either dropping passes, overthrowing receivers and fumbling the football on a potential game-tying drive in the third quarter.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Wildcats got on the scoreboard with a 1-yard touchdown run from bruising 6-foot, 225-pound fullback Nate Allen (who also ran in three 2-point conversions). The senior fullbacks' touchdown capped off a 13-play, 71-yard drive that took 7:11 off the clock.

Whittier added another score midway through the third quarter on a wacky play. Ferreira ran 46 yards down to the Manchester 15-yard line before he was stripped of the ball by Hornets senior captain Ben Kekeisen. A Hornet defensive back attempted to jump on the ball inside the 10 but the ball squirted free and rolled into the end zone where Ferreira jumped back on it for a touchdown. An Allen two-point conversion made it 16-0 Whittier, where it stood after three.

Leighton put the game away for the Wildcats with a 5-yard run early in the fourth quarter making it 24-0. The touchdown came on a short field after the Hornets were forced to go for it on fourth down deep in their own territory.

The Hornets, however, would not go away quietly as Kekeisen returned the opening kickoff 72 yards to the end zone to get the Hornets on the board. Junior quarterback Alex Carr added the two-point conversion run and the Hornets were down just two scores (24-8) with 6:11 to play.

But Whittier would not allow the Hornets momentum to last as Leighton added another touchdown on their next drive to make it 30-8 after the Wildcats recovered an onside kick.

Carr (who had a team high 77 rushing yards) led the Hornets down the field and found senior receiver Jake Brown in the end zone with under two minutes to play, but it was too little too late as the Wildcats recovered the ensuing onside kick and sealed the two touchdown victory.

"It's disappointing," Athanas said. "We did some good things on defense but we couldn't get our offense going. I am proud of their effort, they fought to the end like they always do but we got beat by a very good football team."

Whittier Tech 30, Manchester Essex 16

at Ed Field Field, Manchester

Whittier Tech (9-0): 0 8 8 14 — 30

Manchester Essex(7-2): 0 0 0 16 — 16

W — Nate Allen 1 run (Allen run)

W — Nick Ferreira fumble recovery in end zone (Allen run)

W — Donald Leighton 5 run (Allen run)

ME — Ben Kekeisen 72 kick return (Alex Carr run)

W — Leighton 19 run (kick failed)

ME — Jake Brown 4 pass from Carr (Kekeisen run)

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING: W (40-269) — Nick Ferreira 20-181, Donald Leighton 13-79, Pat Buccos 4-5, Dillon Ryan 2-3, Nate Allen 1-1; ME (21-117) — Alex Carr 9-77, Ben Kekeisen 10-30, Jack Bishop 2-10.

PASSING: W — Dillon Ryan 3-4-0, 29; ME — Alex Carr 6-14-1, 79, Ben Kekeisen 1-1-0, 27.

RECEIVING: W — Steve Surette 3-29; ME — Jack Bishop 1-36, Jake Brown 2-31, Colin Lyne 1-21, Ben Kekeisen 3-18.

Photos