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Whittier shutout puts Wildcats at .500

Saturday, October, 16 By Jeff Hamrick

HAVERHILL — Whittier, the reigning Eastern Massachusetts Division 4 champions, is unaccustomed to subpar records, but that’s where the Wildcats were through the fifth week of the season.

Yesterday, though, Whittier looked like a team gunning for another postseason berth.

After allowing 22 points or more in four of their first five games, the Wildcats shut down visiting Minuteman en route to a 24-0 victory. The win evens Whittier’s record at 3-3.

“We’re getting better than we were in Week 1,” Whittier coach Kevin Bradley said. “We have a lot of young kids out there in key spots. And when they mature, we’re going to mature.

“We’re getting better all the time. We’re doing a lot of good things, but at times we’ll do something that makes us go back a step. But we’re moving in the right direction.”

Moving forward was something Minuteman (5-2) had trouble doing against a stingy Whittier defense. The Mustangs managed only five first downs, including two in the second half when Whittier held them to 39 yards rushing on 20 carries.

For the game, Minuteman gained 60 yards on the ground and 93 total yards on 50 plays. Quarterback Joe Haddock completed only two of his 11 attempts with one interception.

“We definitely did our jobs,” senior defensive lineman Corey Gallo said. “We all trust the other guy to do their job. Like coach said, we didn’t play street ball. We did what we were told, and that’s how we did consistently good on the defensive line. There have been times when we’ve played kind of wild, but I think that’s in the past.”

Despite a 70-yard touchdown run by Andrew McGrath on Whittier’s second play from scrimmage, the Wildcats had their offensive problems in the opening half, running only 19 plays for 101 yards.

After intermission, however, the Wildcats took control behind the running of Jack Creesy, who finished with 129 yards on 21 carries and scored on runs of 38 and 1 yards and added a pair of conversion runs.

“Emotion was the key,” Creesy said. “The first five games we weren’t emotional at all, and that’s something we talked about all week. We realized that we wanted to win this game. At halftime, (Minuteman) thought they could win this game, and we didn’t want that to happen.”

Whittier returns to Commonwealth League play next week at home against Shawsheen.

“We’ve had some tough losses,” Bradley said. “But look at who the losses were against, and we weren’t embarrassed in them ... I’m very proud of the team and the way they step up to the challenges as young as they are.”