Fenwick can’t make a dent in Methuen’s armor

METHUEN – The Bishop Fenwick football team did not have an easy assignment on Friday at Nicholson Stadium against Methuen out of the Merrimack Valley Conference.The Crusaders had the task of trying to shut down the up-tempo, no-huddle offense of the Rangers while trying to get acclamated to life without its star in Bobby Tarr.Though Fenwick did play well at times, it simply couldn’t get anything going against the Ranger defense as Methuen pitched a 17-0 shutout in front of a raucous crowd.”I’m proud of the team. They played as hard as they could,” Fenwick coach Dave Woods said. “We have a lot of kids who missed time during camp and if we keep getting the effort like we did (Friday), we’ll be good.”Fenwick’s ground game was held in check for the most part by Methuen, who also held quarterback Chris Renzulli to 24 yards passing on six attempts with an interception.”The defense did a great job,” Methuen coach Pat Graham said. “We’re only playing kids one way right now and we are able to have extra time to prepare for the opponents offense.”The Rangers new spread attack also was ready to go as the brothers Bartlett – quarterback Matt and running back Mike – put it to good use right away.Pat Phillion returned Kyle White’s opening kickoff 37 yards to the Methuen 47 before the Bartlett’s went to work.Matt connected with Tim Higgins for a 22 yard gain on a slant pattern to the Fenwick 31. From there it was all on the legs of the running Higgins as Mike carried four times for the final 31 yards, capping the drive that took just 91 seconds with a 13-yard jaunt around the left end to make it 7-0 after Matt Gordon’s extra point.”We couldn’t have picked a worse team to play against on defense because of the no huddle, hurry up they run,” Woods said.After taking the Rangers initial haymaker, Fenwick settled down and moved the ball on its second possession. White ripped off a 31-yard gain to the Methuen 41 and added 11 more on a fourth-and-two conversion from the 33.But a false start penalty was followed by Renzulli being sacked twice by John McCarthy, eventually leading to a White punt that was downed at the 11 on teh first play of the second quarter.Following an exchange of punts, the Raiders began at the Fenwick 25 after an excellent retrun from Phillion. But the Methuen passing game sputtered as Bartlett threw two incompletions on third and fourth down from the 24.Any momentum Fenwick might have gained from the stop disappeared three plays later when Dan Kennedy fumbled and Methuen recovered at the 34.Bartlett didn’t waste any time in converting as he threw a strike to Joe Acosta on a fade pattern in the right corner of the endzone for a 14-0 lead with 2:27 left in the half.Methuen had a chance to score again in the final seconds of the half but Renzulli picked off a Bartlett pass in teh back of the endzone ot close the half.”Our offense definitely missed a couple of chances in the first half,” Graham said.The third quarter belonged to the defenses as neither team could sustain a drive. The Crusaders drove into Raider territory midway through the third but Dale Crispin was stopped a yard short of a first down on fourth-and-six from the 40.Late in the third, however, Fenwick finnaly began to move the ball easily. A 12-yard gain by Crispin into Methuen territory was followed by a 12-yard Kennedy run early in the fourth.But a holding penalty proved costly as Renzulli was picked off by Ernesto Benscome on third-and-16 from the 28 with 8:01 left.Methuen then went to work on the clock, putting together a 14-play, 71-yard march that ticked nearly four minutes off the clock. When the drive finally stalled at the Fenwick 17, Gordon’s right foot booted home a 35-yard field goal to account for the game’s final three points.”I could see a lot of things out there on offense and defense that would be touchdowns and nice plays in a couple of weeks,” Woods said.