Sachems give Newburyport all it can handle in 14-8 loss

NEWBURYPORT – Sometime in the not-too-distant future, the Saugus High football team may look back at Friday’s 14-8 CAL/NEC Tier 3 loss to Newburyport at World War Memorial Stadium as the night it turned the corner.In a game ruled by defense and marred by 15 accepted penalties, the Sachems (0-2; 1-6) came in with a plan and stuck to it. Except for a couple of short touchdown passes from Connor Wile to Brett Fontaine, Saugus blanketed the Clippers’ vaunted passing attack, yielding just 136 net offensive yards. C.J. Reynolds picked off a pass and Luis Soto had a sack while pressuring Wile throughout.Problem was, Newburyport’s defense one-upped Saugus, allowing 114 total yards – eight in the first half. Still, Saugus was in it thanks to its ability to control the second-half clock and keep Newburyport’s offense off the field. The Clippers had just three snaps in the third quarter. When the Sachems scored to make it 14-8 to open the fourth, how the final 10-plus minutes would unfold was anyone’s guess.”We played well. I couldn’t be any prouder. We’re a young team and we’re still enduring some young mistakes but we’re playing hard. We feel as though we belong [in Tier 3]. I think the last two weeks have shown that,” said Saugus coach Mike Broderick.Though happy with the Clippers’ containment of the Sachems’ tricky triple-option, Newburyport coach Ed Gaudiano was less than thrilled with the Clippers’ (1-0, 5-2) overall performance.”We had three days to prepare for an offense they’ve been practicing since August, so I’m happy with that. We gave up eight points and I’ll take that. Still, the game was hanging in the balance and they had the momentum,” he said. “Offensively, we didn’t block a soul and to run three plays in a quarter is just embarrassing.”A choppy first quarter produced 60 combined penalty yards and not much else. Newburyport scored on its only two possessions of the second quarter, taking advantage of short fields following turnovers. Colt Fontaine’s fumble recovery at the Saugus 45 set the first drive in motion and Ian Michaels’ 18-yard interception return to the Sachems’ 37 triggered the second.On each occasion, Wile hooked up with Brett Fontaine on short scoring passes of five and 11 yards, giving him 15 for the season. The second came on fourth-and-8 from the Saugus 11 with 1:39 left in the half as Wile squeezed the ball into the tiniest of windows with two Sachem defenders bracketing Fontaine. Wile converted both PATs for a 14-0 halftime lead.”We had good coverage – that was just a great throw by their quarterback,” Broderick said.Saugus opened the second half with a smart 11-play drive that probed to the Newburyport 15 before the Sachems turned the ball over on downs at the 17.After a quick three-and-out, Saugus regained possession on its 40 and, with the quarterback Randolph (20 carries, 50 yards, TD) expertly running the option, executed a 10-play, 60-yard drive highlighted by Randolph’s pick-ups of 16 and nine yards and Justin Barrasso’s 17-yard dash. Randolph scored from a yard out on the first play of the fourth quarter and A.J. Guthro’s (14 carries, 58 yards) two-point conversion pass to Nick Taylor made it 14-8.”Once we figured out what they were doing on defense we made the adjustments at halftime. The kids did a really nice job sealing the outside,” Broderick said.Saugus had two more possessions but punted with 5:15 to play and turned the ball over on downs at its own 30 with 1:40 left.