Go for league title at Pentucket Friday
Published October 24, 2019
By DAN ZIMMERMAN
NORTH READING — After a timely bye week, the North Reading Hornets got back to the business of football on Friday night and picked up where they left off, sending a message loud-and-clear that they are the team to beat as the playoff season looms.
The latest casualty was the one-win Triton Vikings, who came in woefully undermanned and seriously banged-up. The well-rested Hornets steamrolled the visitors, reeling off an unanswered 36 first-half points before taking the foot off the gas on the way to a 43-20 final.
North Reading, which has outscored opponents by a wide 210-97 margin, remains undefeated, improving to 6-0, and currently leads the Cape Ann League, one win better than Pentucket.
“Obviously, Pentucket will be extra motivated after their first loss,” said North Reading coach Ed Blum of his next opponent, which dropped a 21-14 decision to Masconomet on Friday. “They’re well-coached, they’re tough kids, and if we expect to earn the title outright for ourselves, we’ll have to be ready to go.”
Ready to face Triton, in front of a raucous crowd on a chilly night, was Greg Demetri, who gathered the game-opening kickoff and jetted 82-yards for a go-ahead score. Robert Tammaro kicked the Hornets to a 7-0 lead, 17 seconds into the contest.
Throughout the season, the highly-disciplined Hornets have been one of the least penalized teams in the league. On their third series, however, yellow flags were flying, slowing forward progress on a promising drive that began with three straight Will O’Leary rushes followed by a nice 30-yard pickup when QB Brian Heffernan linked up with Ryan Kavanaugh. Determined, the Hornets didn’t allow the setbacks, including back-to-back holding calls, to negate a scoring chance. Ultimately, Heffernan found O’Leary with a short throw in the flat and the receiver did the rest for a 16-yard TD. Matt Luciano, on a direct snap, rushed for two points to make it 15-0 with 2:59 left in the first quarter.
North Reading capitalized on a short field, several plays after Tammaro returned a punt 49-yards to the Triton 24. Jack Keller polished off the quick series with a 4-yard TD rush to make it 22-0.
While the Hornets were piling up the points, the Vikings struggled against a stingy defense which featured series-ending tackles by Jordan Madden, Jack Donahue, and Will Taylor, who knocked down a Ty Scholtz throw to force a fourth straight punt.
“We’re fortunate enough to have executed well in this game,” said Blum. “You’re dealing with high school kids and you’re never sure how they’re going to come into a game, and whether or not they’re ready mentally. Are they going to take an opponent too lightly? We challenged them to bring the same energy they had two weeks ago against Masco. They responded and you saw that in the execution.”
“Mr. Automatic” – Tammaro – was a perfect five-for-five with PATs on the night and added a defensive score to his resume on a 55-yard pick-six with 4:14 left in the half. On the next Hornet possession, Heffernan, who was an efficient 9-14-1 for 131-yards added his 14th TD throw of the season with a 27-yard strike to Keller.
Leading 36-0, Blum subbed the Hornet starters immediately following the intermission. Triton took advantage of the “breather,” snapping the shutout at the start of the second half with a Scholtz 1-yard TD pass to Christopher Colby.
The Vikings chalked up points on a Jared Leonard score, who punched it in from the 1-yard at the end of the third. In between the two Triton TDs, tailback Jack Donahue added a 4-yarder to wrap up the Hornets’ scoring. Donahue, who rushed for 52-yards on six carries, enjoyed the opportunity along with many of his teammates who typically see little action.
“At the end of the day, it’s not about that,” said Blum when asked about conceding a potential shutout. “Obviously, you want to win the game. But every single guy on this team matters, every single guy puts in the hard work throughout the week, and when we can reward them with some playing time on senior night under the Friday lights in front of their peers cheering for them, it is really special for them.”
North Reading travels to Pentucket Saturday at 1 p.m. for what amounts to the pivotal game of the regular season.