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Amesbury Indians Football '17

Amesbury knocks off Whittier for second win

AMESBURY — No matter which team won between Amesbury and Whittier Tech, their defense was going to be the reason.

After early scoring in both halves, both teams locked down on each other.
In the end though, it was the Indians who buckled down enough to take a 20-14 victory for the Indians over the Wildcats on Thursday night at Landry Stadium.
“All year we felt like we’ve been right there because they’re doing things the right way,” said Indians (2-8) coach Colin McQueen. “They’re getting their reads the right way and we get aligned properly and it comes down to physically being able to be there.”
The home team got off to a hot start at the beginning of both halves then used its defense to hold the fort.
The Indians marched down the field on consecutive drives to open the game on offense.
A number of players got in on the action, but it was Derek Doherty and Patrick Birmingham who did the bulk of the work to set up a 5-yard pass from Blake Bennett to senior captain Connor Whitley on fourth down to make it 6-0.
The Indians defense stuffed the Wildcats (5-4) to start the game with a nice open field tackle by Troy Hamel on fourth down and forced a fumble on the next drive to set up their second touchdown.
It was Birmingham who went in from 14 yards out to make it 14-0 at the time.
The Wildcats finally responded though as quarterback Kevin Bradley hit Mark Iamele for a 51-yard shot that spurred a 3-yard score from Julio Joubert a few plays later to make it 14-6 early in the second quarter.
And in the second half, the Indians took the ball off the kick and got a boost from the speedy Hayden Ayotte, who took a handoff, cut up the middle through defenders with a step and was gone for a 62-yard touchdown.
Ayotte had the long run, but it was Doherty who finished with 109 yards on 17 carries. Birmingham also had 52 yards on nine carries and Bennett was 4-of-10 for 50 yards in the contest.
“Double-D (Doherty) is a guy that we knew was a special cat,” said McQueen. “We really like the way he runs. He’s fast, he’s got straight-line speed and he feels the trap cut really, really well. Ayotte, he popped another one. Both of those guys did a tremendous job.”
The second Wildcat score was set up by a big pass too as Bradley found Peter Hamel for a 49-yard pitch-and-catch before Joubert later went in from 1 yard out.
But after that, it was a battle of defenses.
The Indian defensive line fought hard the entire contest, stuffing the middle and holding every rusher under 40 yards. Joubert had the two scores and 7 yards to go with 34 yards on three catches.
Troy Hamel, Luke Hamel, Ethan Catania and others were huge all night making big tackles and stepping up as the Wildcats attempted to go to the air.
Bradley finished 9-of-19 for 147 yards in the air, but the Indians managed to lock down on crucial plays by pressure in the backfield or great coverage deep.
“It’s attitude,” said McQueen. “We’ve got some guys with serious motors. Our guys are motivated and they showed it this week... It was d-line getting pressure and occasionally we had some edge pressure when we sent some guys.”
The red-and-white forced punts on two of the visitors’ last three drives before a fumble recovered by the Indians sealed it with about a minute left.

Amesbury 20, Whittier Tech 14
Amesbury (2-8): 14 0 6 0 — 20
Whittier  (5-4): 0 6 8 0 — 14
First Quarter
A- Connor Whitley 5 pass from Blake Bennett (kick blocked), 5:14
A- Patrick Birmingham 14 run (Derek Doherty run), 1:59
Second Quarter
W- Julio Joubert 3 run (rush failed), 10:55
Third Quarter
A- Hayden Ayotte 62 run (kick failed), 8:48
W- Joubert 1 run (Thomas O'Mahony run), 49.7
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: Whittier (23-61) — Thomas O'Mahony 5-23, Kevin Bradley 6-18, Julio Joubert 6-7, Peter Hamel 3-7, Corey Defusco 3-6;  Amesbury (44-270) — Derek Doherty 17-109, Hayden Ayotte 4-68, Patrick Birmingham 9-52, Griffin Short 5-16, Blake Bennett 3-15, Elijah Jackman 4-11, Tucker Molin 2-(-1).
PASSING: Whittier — Bradley 9-19-147-0-0; Amesbury — Bennett 4-10-50-1-0.
RECEIVING: Whittier — Hamel 2-51, Mark Iamele 1-51, Joubert 3-34, O'Mahony 2-8, Michael McAuliffe 1-5.

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Football, 11/09/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars

Pentucket thwarts Amesbury rally in final seconds to win thriller

WEST NEWBURY — Pentucket’s Nate McGrail was focused on his assignment with the game on the line, when he heard the crowd erupt.

“I was dropped back in coverage,” he said. “Then I looked up and saw our linemen getting to their quarterback. I saw the ball come out, and I knew that was the game and we had a hard win.”

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Football, 09/16/17 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars