RallyNorth.net

BESTED BY BEDFORD
Top seeded Pentucket falls to Buccaneers in D4 North opener


WEST NEWBURY—Regular season win-loss records don't mean much when it comes to high school playoff football.
Undefeated Pentucket earned the top overall seed in the Division 4 North tournament but it was No. 8 Bedford who rolled 21-6 Saturday afternoon in the quarterfinals.
Bedford (5-4) quarterback Thomas Greaney had the only score of the first half with a 1-yard touchdown run, and when the visitors forced the Sachems to turn the ball over on the first drive of the second half, head coach Jack Belcher felt it was time for his team to take control.
On 1st and 10 from their own 48, the Buccaneers dialed up a double pass, and Matthew Timperio hit a wide open Cameron Shelmire for a 52-yard score to put the visitors ahead 14-0.
"We thought we'd have that at some point in the game and we could take a shot. It was kind of a good spot to try something like that," said Belcher, a star center at BC during the Doug Flutie era. "If we go from 7-0 to 14-0, we might put a little thought in their head that we're an eight seed, but we're in the game. I think they knew that."
It looked like the Sachems (7-1) were going to get right back into the game when senior Travis Bounsy took the ensuing kickoff 87 yards for what appeared to be a touchdown. But Pentucket was flagged for holding.
Things went from bad to worse for Pentucket in the fourth quarter as Bedford was able to block a Pentucket punt, and Daniel Greaney returned it 42 yards for the touchdown.
With its Wing-T offense, Pentucket isn't built to play from behind.
After the game, Sachem head coach Steve Hayden talked about getting burned on the trick play.
"That hurt. That's part of the game, though," said Hayden. "The kids were coming up trying to make a play, and they took advantage of our aggressiveness on that. They were skilled enough to pull it off."
Belcher said, "We weren't doing anything fancy. They've been a Wing-T team for 34 years I believe and the Wing-T is a tough, tough thing to defend. And they have tough kids. We exchanged video and we watched how they came off the ball the last few games. You key what you have to key is a textbook way to stop the Wing-T."
Pentucket finally broke through in the fourth quarter as Kiernan Haley scored on a 2-yard run with four minutes left.
"They were tough. They had a good defensive scheme and they're tough physical kids," said Hayden.
"I'm excited to play in the next game. We're not here to play just eight games, we're here to play our schedule. It didn't work out the way we wanted, but not everything in life works out the way you want it. Hey, you get knocked down, get up dust ourselves off and let's get ready for the next game."
Pentucket's opponent for next week is still to be determined.

Bedford 21, Pentucket 6
at Pentucket, West Newbury
Pentucket (7-1): 0 0 0 6-6
Bedford (5-3): 0 7 7 7-21
SCORING
B-Thomas Greaney 1 run (Panayiotis Kapanides kick)
B-Cameron Shelmire 52 pass from Matthew Timperio (Kapanides kick)
B-Daniel Greaney 42 punt block return (Kapanides kick)
P-Kiernan Haley 2 run (kick failed)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Pentucket— Liam Sheehy 14-77, Brennan McGuirk 5-40, Kiernan Haley 9-35, Joe Raimondi 1-3, Finn Graham 1-(-1); Bedford— Brandon Baez 22-101, Thomas Greaney 5-26, Matthew Timperio 1-6, Tristan Hart 1-4, Chauncey Williams 1-(-2).
PASSING: Pentucket— Graham 6-15-42-0-0; Bedford— Timperio 2-2-54-1-0, Greaney 3-7-50-0-0
RECEIVING: Pentucket— McGuirk 4-29, Travis Bounsy 1-9, Sheehy 1-4; Bedford— Cameron Shelmire 3-88, Hart 1-14, Benjamin Stacey 1-2.