Pentucket junior running back Cody Rothwell rushed for 106 yards with two touchdowns and freshman Jeff Porter added a key interception in the Sachems' victory over the Ipswich Tigers, 28-12, on a misty Saturday afternoon in West Newbury.
Rothwell got things started early, taking the opening kickoff 78 yards to Ipswich's one yard line. On the very next play, Rothwell punched it in and Calvin Wiles added the extra point, making it 7-0 just 17 seconds into the game.
Ipswich then countered with a ground-control, clock-eating, 12-play, 63-yard drive, that ate up 4:37 of the first quarter. Senior Cam Murray took it in from the nine yard line. The extra point missed.
From that point on it was all Ipswich. The Tigers' defense was stifling, manhandling the Sachems and stuffing their runners, holding them to a mere 24 yards on the ground in the first half.
After a booming 48-yard punt by Wiles pinned Ipswich deep in their zone, Ipswich began where they left off, marching down the field and taking time off the clock. A beautiful go route pass from quarterback Nick Andreas to receiver Nate Glaster put the Tigers at first in goal at the six yard line, but they couldn't score, with Brenden Gallagher's field goal attempt missing wide right.
However, it didn't take long for the Tigers to capitalize.
Pentucket's next drive stalled, aided by a bruising sack by Tigers' linebacker Peyton Primack. Ipswich's tenacity paid off and they blocked the Sachems' punt attempt. Again, the Tigers found themselves first and goal on the nine-yard line. This time, junior Peter Moutevelis crossed the goal line with a nine-yard scamper off the left. The 2-point conversion failed, but the Tigers saw themselves up 12-7 at the half. "We were the aggressors the first half," Tiger coach Ted Flaherty said. "We really took it to them, they made some mistakes and I thought we won the half like the score indicated."
In the second half, Pentucket wasted no time in taking the lead. Rothwell, on his way to a monster second half, capped a four-play scoring drive with a 36-yard touchdown run. He rumbled through the line of scrimmage, found some running room on the left side and was gone. Nolan Dragon ran it in for the 2-point conversion and Pentucket was up 15-12.
A minute and half into the fourth quarter, freshman Jeff Porter stepped up and made a key interception. During another sustained drive, Tiger quarterback Andreas rolled out to his left, looked down field for a receiver and threw it short. That's when Porter stepped in and picked off the pass. "He just got thrown into the fire," coach Steve Hayden said of Porter. "Someone was out and he came up and did a nice job."
That proved to be the turning point for the Sachems.
They seized momentum and never looked back. The Sachems scored a few plays later, highlighted by a 37-yard scamper by Rothwell that put the Sachems in the red zone. Nolan Dragon bumped and bruised his way nine yards into the end zone. The extra point failed, but Pentucket went up 21-12.
The Sachems capped off the game's scoring after Ipswich gave the ball up on downs on a botched fake punt. This time it was quarterback Ryan Kuchar's turn. He hit senior Jon Simard in stride, who took it in to the promised land just 24 yards out.
"Our defense obviously played better in the second half," said Hayden.
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