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Last season, Pentucket avenged its first Thanksgiving Day loss in seven years with a 28-0 win. Now, the Sachems hope to keep the new streak rolling when they host Triton.

After two seasons of Nate Bunnell dominating the stats, Pentucket (6-4) has returned to spreading out the carries in its run-heavy wing-T offense. Halfback Chris Modlish (101 carries, 797 yards, 13 touchdowns) is the home run threat while fullback Dan Johanson (105 carries, 624 yards, 7 touchdowns) has grinded out the tough yards. Both have battled injuries throughout the year.

WEST NEWBURY — Senior quarterback and co-captain Jordan Silva was Johnnny on the Spot for Pentucket yesterday.

Silva scored the Sachems’ first touchdown, completed a key pass to set up a second touchdown, recovered a fumble in the end zone and had a late interception to hold off stubborn Triton, 14-7, before more than 1,500 fans at Pentucket.

But Silva’s offensive heroics, and indeed the Pentucket victory, probably wouldn’t have been possible if it hadn’t been for a rousing halftime speech from assistant coach Shawn McElligott, who last year just happened to be Triton’s head coach.

The score was tied 0-0 at halftime, but Pentucket (7-4) knew it was fortunate not to be trailing.

The Vikings (5-6) threatened right out of the gates. Bill Tindle ran 48 yards from scrimmage on the first play of the game and quarterback Sam Ferrara went nine yards to the 2-yard line on the second play only to be followed by a fumble into the end zone that Silva recovered on the third play.

Triton threatened again two possessions later only to be foiled by a C.J. Lataille interception in the end zone. Another Vikings’ drive advanced to the Pentucket 14 before the Sachems turned it away.

Pentucket, meanwhile, could not march past the Triton 32 all half, and it was obvious that the Vikings were winning the battle in the trenches and generally a more charged up football team.

“We kind of came out flat and just weren’t playing very well,” said co-captain Matt Fiore. “Coach McElligott got on us pretty good. He told the seniors that they only had one half left and, if we didn’t play better, we weren’t going to like the result. That got us going.”

Agreed Silva: “We got a speech from coach Mac that fired us up. We came out (for the second half) ready to play.”

The Sachems started taking control on the second possession of the third quarter, following a shanked punt that gave them the ball on Triton’s 41. A 32-yard jaunt by Dan Johanson (17 carries, 105 yards) brought the ball to the 9-yard-line and, three plays later, Silva rolled left and sprinted into the end zone for a 6-0 lead.

Silva’s extra-point kick hit the goal post, but Pentucket scored on its next possession as well after stopping Triton on its own 46 on a fourth and 4. Eight plays later, Johanson scored on an 11-yard run, but the key to the drive was when Silva hit Bob DiSorba brilliantly on a 14-yard pass to the sidelines on a 4th-and-9 situation.

A pass from Silva to Cam Spofford for two points made it 14-0 with 8:37 to play in the game.

But Triton battled back gamely. Taking over on its own 30, Ferrara completed passes to Tindle, Brendan O’Neil and Matt Brimcombe for a combined 50 yards and O’Neil eventually scored on a 4-yard run which, following an extra-point kick, made it 14-7 with 4:12 to play.

A stout defensive stand on the next series gave the Vikings the ball back with 3:39 still left to play. But Silva intercepted a Ferrara pass three plays later to all but seal the Sachems’ victory.

The Thanksgiving win was the seventh in the last eight years for the Sachems, who now lead the series against Triton by a 20-13-1 count.

“I’m definitely happy that we got fired up and won the game,” said Silva, who also played well in last year’s 28-0 Thanksgiving win. “But I’m upset that it’s over.”

As for Triton, the disappointing setback was tempered by knowledge that its 5-6 season was a big improvement over 2007 (1-10) and that it gave Pentucket all it could handle.

“I told the team how proud I was of them,” said Triton coach Jim O’Leary. “Except for a few mistakes, we played a great game.

“I think some of our guys put them (Pentucket) ahead of themselves before the game and they felt we had to play a perfect game to beat them, but then they found we could play with them.

“We got better and better this year, and we have a lot of our line back next year, so we’re looking forward to seeing how good we can become.”

NORTH ANDOVER — The start certainly wasn’t a tip-off to the finish.

Both Pentucket and North Andover had its offenses clicking from the get-go. Scarlet Knight freshman quarterback Brandon Walsh and wideout Aaron Brunette were an unstoppable team while the special teams created excellent field position. On the other side, the offensive line for the Sachems made stars of the backfield while converting almost every third- and fourth-down attempt, giving the Green a 20-14 edge at the break.

NORTH ANDOVER — The start certainly wasn’t a tip-off to the finish.

Both Pentucket and North Andover had its offenses clicking from the get-go. Scarlet Knight freshman quarterback Brandon Walsh and wideout Aaron Brunette were an unstoppable team while the special teams created excellent field position. On the other side, the offensive line for the Sachems made stars of the backfield while converting almost every third- and fourth-down attempt, giving the Green a 20-14 edge at the break.

BOXFORD — Even if Pentucket were at full strength, Masconomet would have been hard to beat.

But the Sachems are suffering from nagging injuries.

Running back Dan Johanson had a team-high 52 yards but was noticeably limping all night. Two-way senior Chris Modlish picked up 101 receiving yards but left late in the game with a shoulder injury suffered at the end of a 70-yard pass-and-run.

WEST NEWBURY — Pentucket Regional was winless on its own turf this fall. Meanwhile, Lawrence High hadn't won a Saturday afternoon game since Mike Yameen took over in 2005.

WEST NEWBURY — Pentucket coach Steve Hayden had no regrets about the decision to go for two points.

“We tried to end the game there and go for the win,” said Hayden. “We went for it and didn’t get it.”

WEST NEWBURY — Simply a classic.

Pentucket and Amesbury brought its "A" games yesterday and the 500 fans in attendance were the grateful beneficiaries. Unloading its playbooks and making quality adjustments, the game rightfully went into overtime where timely defense and Bill Medvitz’s 24-yard field goal led to an emotional 24-21 Indian triumph.

IPSWICH — Four games and counting.
Playing intelligently, physically and with tons of pride, Pentucket’s defense is barely bending, never mind breaking. A young but improving Ipswich team learned this first-hand, as the Sachems cruised to a 19-0 victory. It marked their fourth straight win and shutout, before about 250 fans.
Linemen Justin O’Donnell (six tackles while gumming up the middle of the trenches) and Matt Fiore (sack) led a stellar team effort, along with Dan Johanson (four tackles, one for lost yardage, quarterback pressure) and freshman Nolan Dragon (four stops).
“It means so much,” O’Donnell said of the shutout streak. “I’m not going to be able to sleep, I’m so proud of it. The whole team’s proud, and it feels good.”
It helped that Pentucket’s defense was so sturdy because the offense went through long periods of silence. The Sachems saw a costly holding penalty pull a second-half touchdown off the board while yellow flags negated gains of 59 and 24 yards.
“We’ve got to finish things better and cut down on penalties,” said Pentucket head coach Steve Hayden. “They devised some nice plays and we didn’t react too well.”
But the Sachems caught Ipswich by surprise on their first two possessions, sticking the ball in the end zone on a 40-yard romp by Modlish (133 yards, two scores) and a 3-yard QB sneak from returning starter Jordan Silva for all the points they would need just over six minutes into the game.
“I think we were shocked at the strength and speed they had immediately at the start,” Ipswich coach Ted Flaherty said. “They really caught us off guard. We got up to game speed after that but we were down two scores.”
Modlish wrapped up the scoring late in the fourth quarter with a 4-yard run for six points, set up by backfield mate Johanson (22 of his 81 yards on the march).
Ipswich’s lone shot at the end zone came early in the second quarter, reaching the Sachem 28 before two huge penalties and a Dylan Chase sack pushed the Tigers to midfield and forced a punt.
“Instead of our usual adjustments, we shifted our line to try and get them confused,” O’Donnell explained. “We wanted to throw them off a little bit and then stick it to them. We went as hard as we could, kept amped up and kept trying.”

NEWBURYPORT ­— Pentucket led by a touchdown, but Newburyport had marched to the Sachems’ 1-yard line. Then, the Green and White took control.The Sachems’ defense turned in a big goalline stand, and followed it with a 99-yard drive of their own with their backup quarterback in the game to down the Clippers 19-0 last night.