RallyNorth.net

Sat, Sep 28, 2019 01:00 PM @ Hamilton-Wenham

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Final
Pentucket	7	7	7	7	28
Hamilton-Wenham	0	0	14	8	22

Pentucket holds off upset-minded H-W

Saturday, September, 28 By Hector Longo
Correspondent

HAMILTON - At times in the second half Saturday, Hamilton-Wenham's effort appeared heroic with Pentucket Regional poised for sheer disaster.

The Generals' grit simply wasn't enough, though, as the Sachem playmakers delivered when it mattered late, avoiding the upset with a hard-fought 28-22 victory.

You might think a 21-0 lead was plenty, what with the heat and the fact that this is an undefeated Pentucket team facing a team that had not won yet.

Hamilton-Wenham quarterback Ian Coffey had different plans, though, and this wasn't over until Sachem Jacob Codair pounced on an onside kick in the final minute to ice it.

Things began swimmingly for the Sachems, who played without big-play man Jake Etter (foot).

Senior Austin Senfleben broke off the first of a handful of big runs on a 10-carry, 176-yard day, a 43-yarder to set up the first score. Andrew Joyce rammed in from the 1, and the first of four Austin Tierney PAT kicks made it 7-0.

It would bump to 14-0 late in the second when Peter Cleary hit senior classmate Keegan O'Keefe deep down the middle for a 26-yard TD.

Hamilton-Wenham simply spun its wheels, gaining just 71 yards on 26 plays before the break, due mostly to the Sachems' stout defensive front.

"Our defensive line did a great job pursuing them," said Sachems co-coach Dan Leary. "We put a lot of guys into coverage. The D-line guys were a three-man rushing crew, and it was great to see. Ethan Murray, Ryan Kiley and Jacob Codair, and then John Smith rotated along with John O'Bara. And those guys all did a nice job."

Murray had a pair of sacks and Codair one.

And when Senfleben busted through the middle for 70 and a 21-0 lead on the first play of the second half, it looked like the rout was on.

The Generals were just getting started.

Coffey answered with a TD strike to Colby Cala for 40 yards to get H-W on the board. And after the defense turned the Sachems over, he made things pretty interesting, sweeping left into the Pentucket sideline area then emerging from a sea of White-and-Green for a magical 57-yard TD scamper.

And when Ryan Monahan picked off Cleary in the end zone, things got really dicey.

Pentucket just found itself and showed some mettle of its own.

Codair made a big stick, and Murray forced an incompletion on third down to force a Generals' punt.

The Sachem offense then moved 64 yards, all but 14 on the ground, chewing clock and making it 28-14 on Senfleben's second TD of the day, this one from the 1.

Coffey, who ran four times for 74 yards and hit 9 of 12 passes for 140 yards — in the second half alone — never caved.

He marched his crew down the field in the hurry-up and cashed in on a Cala 1-yard TD, but the clock was nearly done, and the Sachems hung on.

"Coffey is one of the better athletes in the league," said O'Leary. "Whenever he has the ball, whenever he is in space, he's a threat to score, which he did today. One missed tackle, one missed assignment, one missed pursuit lane, he makes you pay."

Hamilton-Wenham hosts Malden on Saturday at 3 p.m., while Pentucket hosts Lynnfield in one of the giant clashes in the Cape Ann League this fall, Saturday night (7 p.m.) at Trinity Stadium in Haverhill.

 

Pentucket 28, Hamilton-Wenham 22

Pentucket (3-0):     7 7  7 7 - 28

Hamilton-Wenham (0-3):     0 0 14 8 - 22

First Quarter

P - Andrew Joyce 1 run (Aidan Tierney kick), 6:44

Second Quarter

P - Keegan O'Keefe 26 pass from Peter Cleary (Tierney kick), 2:34

Third Quarter

P - Austin Senfleben 70 run (Tierney kick), 11:45

HW - Colby Cala 40 pass from Ian Coffey (Coffey kick), 8:17

HW - Coffey 57 run (Coffey kick), 2:40

Fourth Quarter

P - Senfleben 1 run (Tierney kick), 3:03

HW - Cala 1 run (Tristan McCarthy to Coffey), :14

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING: PENTUCKET (34-281): Austin Senfleben 10-176, Peter Cleary 9-27, Andrew Joyce 7-24, Johnny Igoe 5-28, Keegan O'Keefe 3-26; H-W (29-163): - Ian Coffey 17-93, Colby Cala 12-70

PASSING: P - Cleary 6-10-2, 98; H-W - Coffey 14-18-0, 152, Tristan McCarthy 0-1-0, 0

RECEIVING: P - Andrew Melone 3-26, Senfleben 1-13, O'Keefe 2-49; H-W - Cala 6-108, Ryan Monahan 5-37, McCarthy 3-7