RallyNorth.net

Whittier stops late conversion rush, wins in OT

Saturday, November, 01 By By Bill Burt
Sports editor

HAVERHILL — In the rain, cold, win and mud, Whittier Tech outlasted St. Mary's of Lynn, 22-14, in a thriller that was decided in overtime.

Whittier stopped a conversion rush, by inches, near the end of the game before completing one of only five completions, in overtime, to advance to the Div. 5 North semis, 22-14, over St. Mary's of Lynn.

Whittier now faces off with rival Greater Lawrence Tech, which shocked unbeaten Brighton, 22-12, on Friday night. Whittier pounded the Reggies, 42-16, five weeks ago, but haven't lost since.

"That's going to be a huge," said Whittier linebacker Sean Thibodeau. "It's our rival. We played a great game with them last time. They're always good."

As for yesterday morning's tilt, which started at 10:30 a.m., just as the rain started coming down hard, the game was even from start to finish. 

St. Mary's scored on its third play from scrimmage, on a 45-yard run, and Whittier tied it up just as the second quarter started on a one-yard dive by running back Jesus Sanchez.

Both teams made the conversion and the game stayed 8-8 until the second to last play in the third quarter, with Sanchez capping a 10-play drive by diving in from two yards out. But this time, the conversion rush was stopped.

St. Mary's then embarked on one of the best drives of the year, successfully converting four 4th down attempts, eventually scoring on an eight-yard run by Connor Sakowich with only 1:28 remaining in the game to tie it at 14-14.

Sakowich, though, was stopped on the conversion rush, by inches, setting up OT, with both teams getting a set of downs and starting at the 10-yard line.

Whittier scored on the second play, a short pass by Connor Bradley to Robert Gramstorff, who caught the ball at the five-yard line and ran it in untouched and Sanchez ran the conversion.

St. Mary's offense was stopped for a one-yard loss, before getting two yards. The third and fourth down pass attempts were incomplete, giving Whittier the win.

"This is special," said Caleb Ashford, who was in on 10 tackles. "This was a tough game and we were up to it."

 For more info on the game, including comments from some key Whittier defenders and coach Kevin Bradley, and the boxscore, check out tomorrow's Sunday Eagle-Tribune.