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Methuen outlasts Lowell

LOWELL — After watching their own 14-point lead evaporate into the fall air thanks to a four-score second quarter by host Lowell, the Methuen Rangers were on the verge of retaking the lead in the game’s dying seconds when they got set at the Lowell 33-yard line. It seemed as if their own two touchdown comeback had been made complete when Caleb Adames scampered into the end zone after a 30-yard strike from quarterback Connor Bryant, but the play was called back for offensive holding. However, the Rangers kept their cool, converting on third-and-inches.

Two plays later Bryant quickly ditched a shovel pass to his running back, Ricky Brutus, seconds before three Red Raiders swallowed the QB up. Brutus caught the short pitch and ran toward the far corner of the end zone, crossing the pile-on with just 14 seconds remaining in Methuen’s 35-28 win at Lowell.

“We have a theme of the week every week, and this week…it was to be a finisher, and we finished this game,” said Methuen head coach Tom Ryan.

“In the fourth quarter we rallied and we finished.”

The Rangers (3-1) looked set to pull away early after a pair of rushing touchdowns in the first quarter, one of which came on a 55-yard run from Brutus. However, the Red Raiders (0-3) erased the deficit and went up by two scores themselves, thanks to a pair of pick-sixes in the second quarter that sandwiched two offensive touchdown.

Despite the turnover issues, Bryant remained poised, delivering a 67-yard rocket off of a flea flicker to halve the deficit. His squad overcame it entirely early in the fourth quarter thanks to Brutus’s second of three touchdowns and a successful two-point conversion. And when Lowell again knocked on the door of the end zone, the Ranger defense held strong, turning a first-and-goal at the 4-yard line into a turnover on downs with two key sacks. That put the ball back in Bryant’s hands with 3:04 left, and set the stage for Methuen’s theatrics.

“It was just a broken play and our quarterback and our running back made a phenomenal play,” Coach Ryan said.

“We wanted him to run out of bounds and he cuts back inside and gets the touchdown. Amazing play by Ricky Brutus.”