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Sanchez TD finishes secures Whittier win

Thursday, November, 27 By Jeff Hamrick

HAVERHILL — A day that began with Whittier coach Kevin Bradley and his crew clearing white stuff from the field, preparing for a familiar foe, ended with his Wildcats joyously making snow angels at midfield.

Facing Commonwealth Conference rival Greater Lawrence for an unprecedented third time this season, Whittier wrapped up its trifecta of victories by a 14-8 count yesterday before a hearty crowd of a couple hundred. The victory kept alive the Wildcats' slim chances of earning a berth in the state vocational bowl.

"I didn't think it was going to be this heavy," Greater Lawrence coach Tony Sarkis said of the snow accumulation while wearing his trademark short pants. "So we sort of made some adjustments. We knew it was going to come down to execution and ball handling ... we knew the team that would play without mistakes was going to win."

Well, that wasn't quite the case as the Wildcats managed an 8-0 lead at intermission despite four first-half turnovers.

But a dismal Reggie punt fielded by Jesus Sanchez at the GL 29 set up Whittier at the 20 late in the opening quarter. Four plays later, Connor Bradley's 1-yard plunge and conversion pass to Sidney Taylor provided an 8-0 lead with 10:13 left in the second.

At that point, the Wildcats (8-3) had run 15 more plays (18-3) than the Reggies. The touchdown helped atone for Whittier's first possession that lasted 8:21 and traveled 84 yards on 14 plays only to die on downs at the 6.

During the ensuing two quarters, neither team mounted much offense. Whittier did run one play at the GL 20 after stopping the Reggies on downs, but an interception ended the first half.

The Wildcats grabbed a 14-point lead on a drive powered by Sanchez, who took the ball on eight of the 11 plays while rushing for 44 of the 67 yards, including a 3-yard burst with 4:59 remaining. Sanchez, who finished with 97 yards on 23 carries, did much of the damage in Whittier's three victories over Greater Lawrence, rushing for 337 yards and four touchdowns in those games.

"That was a good senior drive," Kevin Bradley said of the game-clinching possession. "It's been nice to have (Sanchez). He's worked and fought hard all year, and there was nothing better than watching him run. We put it on his shoulders and he took it right down."

Whittier's defensive front of starting linemen Jarod Lawther, Ralph Francesconi and nose tackle Robert Burke, stifled the Reggie attack, allowing 141 total yards. Thousand-yard rusher Jeremy Torres was held to 25 yards on seven carries.

"What we do (offensively) we can do in the rain, sun or snow," Bradley said. "We've proven it ... We probably made more changes on defense because we knew (the snow) would eliminate a couple things from (the Reggies). They just did a great job up front and we were able to pursue outside."

After compiling only five first downs the first 43 minutes, Greater Lawrence (7-4) averted the shutout with a furious three-play, 47-yard drive that included a 32-yard Angel Martin-Yoel Batista pass — the team's first play longer than 9 yards — and culminated with Martin's 15-yard scoring run with 35 seconds remaining.

But Taylor recovered the onside attempt, effectively ending the Reggies season.