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Pentucket Regional 19, Ipswich 0

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.”

Goalline stand vaults Sachems

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.

Johanson's big day leads Pentucket

BEVERLY - Pentucket offensive lineman Justin O'Donnell hustled over to congratulate teammate Dan Johanson after the game.

"(Johanson) is still going even though he's exhausted," O'Donnell said with a chuckle of his excited teammate. "You could tell he was getting tired. But he just fought through it and kept going."

Modlish, Pentucket pound Greater Lowell

TYNGSBORO — After falling on opening day, Pentucket had two weeks to think about the loss, and prepare for Greater Lowell.

“The loss really got to us,” said Sachems running back C.J. Lataille. “Every single day it got worse. We just wanted to get onto the field and show them what we have.”