BYFIELD — The Triton football team staged the biggest comeback of its season last night while its best player was receiving medical treatment in the locker room.
After the Vikings learned at halftime that captain Brendan O'Neil, the Cape Ann League's leading rusher, would miss the second half due to a concussion, they returned to the field and scored 14 unanswered points en route to a 14-7 victory at Triton High.
O'Neil's replacement in the offensive backfield, Derek Paquette (16 carries, 79 yards), punched home the winning score — a 1-yard touchdown run — with 1:46 remaining in the game. The Newburyport offense drove 57 yards on the ensuing possession, taking it down to the Triton 5-yard-line with 29 seconds remaining.
On first-and-goal, Triton defensive end Luke Miller sacked Newburyport quarterback Ryan O'Connor for a six-yard loss. Newburyport coach Ed Gaudiano called the team's final timeout. Miller dropped O'Connor for another sack on the next play. As he was sacked, O'Connor looked to be moving into his throwing motion. The ball came loose, and Newburyport recovered, but the clock expired just as O'Connor prepared to take the snap of third-and-goal from the Triton 22.
"I blew it at the end," Gaudiano said. "I thought that last sack was an incomplete pass. I thought that would stop the clock, and we'd have enough time to run another play. They ruled it a fumble, so we couldn't get the play off. I thought it was a forward pass."
The Clippers (4-5) handed over their 7-0 halftime lead early in the second half when O'Connor fumbled the opening snap on his team's first possession. Triton took the ensuing drive down to the Newburyport 10, but failed to convert on a fourth-and-3. On Newburyport's next possession, Derek Freeman fumbled on the fifth play from scrimmage, giving Triton (6-3) the ball back on the Port 44. Paquette, Jedd Hutchins and quarterback Blaise Whitman split carries on the next drive, which included 11 plays and logged 44 yards. Whitman punched in a 1-yard touchdown run on the opening play of the fourth quarter, closing Newburyport's lead to 7-6.
However, with O'Neil, who is also Triton's regular kicker, sidelined, Triton coach Jim O'Leary opted to attempt the two-point conversion rather than call on an inexperienced kicker to try the extra point. Paquette attempted a rush up the middle on the two-point conversion attempt but fell a yard shy. Newburyport still led, 7-6.
After the Clippers went three-and-out on the ensuing possession, Triton logged a 15-play, 70-yard touchdown drive, which ate up six minutes and 40 seconds in the fourth quarter. On that drive alone, Paquette had six carries for 38 yards and a one-yard touchdown. Hutchins kept the drive alive on a fourth-and-1 rushing attempt from the Newburyport 6-yard-line with 2:44 remaining. Hutchins ran behind the center for three yards.
"When we lost Brendan O'Neil, we decided to stick with the game plan," Triton coach Jim O'Leary said. "We didn't do anything fancy — block, tackle and run hard. That's all we did."
Newburyport's two second-half turnovers appeared to be the difference. After logging 92 yards of total offense in the first half, the Clippers had a mere 36 total yards over the first 18 minutes of the second half.
The Clippers' lone touchdown came on a 1-yard pass from O'Connor to Kyle LeBlanc with 38 seconds remaining in the first quarter. O'Connor completed 8 of 18 passes for 99 yards. LeBlanc had six catches for 77 yards. Tailback Josh Williams had 10 carries for 79 yards.
The Clippers have lost five of their last six games. Triton snapped a three-game losing streak, eclipsing last year's win total and posting a program high for wins since 2004, when the Vikings went 7-4. They may be without O'Neil, who leads the CAL with 142 rushing attempts for 1,074 yards and 18 touchdowns, for next week's game against Wilmington.
"I'm so proud of these guys because when you drop three in a row, you can start to lose confidence," O'Leary said. "We practiced the same way we played in this game all week long. These guys really answered the bell."
