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Whittier falls on touchdown as time expired

Thursday, September, 23 By David Willis
Staff writer

HAVERHILL — Whittier seemed to have a memorable victory within its grasp.

Receiver Niko Burke faked out his defender with an out-and-up, and QB Camden West hit him with a perfect throw for a 76-yard touchdown that completed a 17-point comeback and gave Whittier the lead with 6:38 left in the game.

But, after a Wildcats turnover, Shawsheen mustered one last desperation drive, and scored a touchdown on a 22-yard mini-Hail Mary with 0:00 on the clock to stun Whittier 23-22 on Thursday night.

"This one is going to hurt for a little while," said Whittier (2-1) coach Kevin Bradley. "But I can't say enough about the way we played. We were down, then came back after a rough first have to make some big plays. But it all came down to one play, and they made it. Hats off to Shawsheen."

The game started in nightmare fashion for the Wildcats. Shawsheen ran the opening kickoff back for a touchdown, and by the middle of the second quarter had built a 17-0 lead.

But Whittier began its rally on the final possession of the second quarter. West led a 68-yard drive that he finished with a 2-yard touchdown on a swing pass to Julien Acevedo-Torres.

West carried that momentum into the second half. First, he hit Cameron Richard on a 48-yard pass, then found a diving Bryant Eno in the end zone for a 5-yard touchdown.

Whittier then took the lead with 6:38 left in the game, on the 76-yard TD pass from West to quarterback-turned-receiver Burke.

"Our guys could have quit down 17 points," said Bradley. "But they fought and fought and made things happen. We knew we could put points up quick. We had a few injuries at receiver, so I'm proud of the way they stepped up and the way West played. And Niko really made them miss on that last touchdown."

Whittier then forced a turnover on downs, but a fumble gave Shawsheen the ball right back. The Rams then managed two fourth down conversions, setting up the 22-yard touchdown from Sidney Tildsley— who completed just three passes in the game — to Mavrick Boudreau as time expired.

West finished 19-of-26 passing for 209 yards, while Burke finished with six catches for 100 yards. Jzaiah Ferreira registered 10 tackle and a sack, and Richard recovered a fumble.

"We'll give it 48 hours," said Bradley. "They'll be down on Friday, but we'll get back to practice and they have to get it out of their system before the next game."