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Hillies shackle Burton, Newton South in tourney win

HAVERHILL — Its confidence stripped in a humbling regular-season closing loss to North Andover High, Haverhill stepped into the playoffs, saddled with the responsibilities of slowing down one of the state’s most explosive offenses in Newton South, powered by dynamic sophomore Austin Burton.

Burton had thrown for 1,976 yards and 20 TDs in the first seven games but was limited to 166 yards passing one TD and three interceptions. 

“Burton was a shifty quarterback, who throws a good ball, and (Frankie) Barros is a great receiver,” said Haverhill cornerback Patrick Yale. “Overall we did a good job containing him, and that was the difference.”

Yale, his opposite corner Chiedozie Onwuka and the rest of the fourth-seeded Hillies took the challenge to heart, decimating No. 5 Newton South, 42-12, in a battle that simply wasn’t that close.

Friday night (7 p.m.), Haverhill will hit the road to face top-seeded Reading in the Division 2 North semis.

Yale set the tone for this one early, just 2:28 into the contest, when he scooped up a Burton punt at his own 46, sprinted right to his wall, turned the corner and just torched the sideline for a 54-yard TD return.

“All week we practiced it, and coach would scream, ‘the wall, the wall, get behind the wall,” said Yale, noting that Onwuka would have a similar huge return, 60 yards to the Tiger five later on to set up a TD. “They made it easy for me with such great blocks.”

Up 7-0, Haverhill put the game in the hands of its defense, and the results were magnificent.

Coach Tim O’Connor’s gameplan mixed looks and coverages to try and frustrate the gifted sophomore, who fearlessly put the ball up deep despite the rain, wind and cold.

“We were a little surprised he threw it so much in this weather,” said Yale. “The weather didn’t matter to them. But I think this week we showed what we are about.”

Burton clearly was bothered. And who wouldn’t be with fearsome No. 56, Phil Panici (12 tackles), looking to lower the boom at every turn and Samie Al-Ziab (2 sacks, 8 tackles) busting through the line and causing havoc in the pocket.

Yes, the Hillies took the 34-0 lambasting by the Knights personally, especially on the defensive side of the football.

“We knew he’s a young quarterback, we thought we could rattle him a little bit,” said Panici. “When a defensive lineman stands up and we start moving around, it gives a quarterback something to think about. We were just trying to rattle the young sophomore.”

And the Hillies were successful. Burton had his plays, but he never developed a rhythm, because of the constant harassment.

“We were the more physical team up front,” added Panici. “We were quick off the ball and definitely hurt them with the rush.”

Al-Ziab scored the second Hillie TD from a yard out and Pedro Santiago made it 21-0 early in the second quarter with a 5-yard plunge.

Every playoff team faces its gut-check moment and the Hillies found theirs in the second quarter when Burton found Frankie Barros for a 21-yard score to make it 21-6.

How did the Hillies respond? Like champions.

They marched 65 yards, chewing up the rest of the half and cashing in with a 13-yard Broghean McGovern to Santiago TD pass.

At 28-6, the Tigers were in trouble deep,

And Haverhill finished things early, eating up the first eight minutes of the second half and making it 35-6 when Ian Kessell punched one in from the 1.

All that was left was the celebration and the page-turning on to Reading.

“We know they’re going to be tough,” said Yale, “but we look forward to it. And we look forward to seeing North Andover again in the North final.”