Saugus controls the tempo and Danvers, 24-14

SAUGUS – It’s time to pay attention to the Saugus High football team. After enduring what were essentially two seasons of on-the-job training in 2010 and 2011, the Sachems are now stocked with two- and three-year starters – including five seniors in the offensive line – who are reaping the dividends of their experience.Saugus (3-1) continued to build momentum toward its CAL/NEC Tier 3 schedule with its third consecutive win, a thorough 24-14 crossover decision over Danvers Saturday afternoon at Stackpole Field. Saugus possessed the ball (55-37 edge in plays), controlled the clock (27:10-16:50 edge in time of possession) and gashed the Falcons’ defense for 349 yards rushing. Senior linemen Tommy Trainor, Derek Joyal, Kory Dominick, Jeremy Kane and Atticus Andruchow bulldozed clear paths for running backs Ismael Minaya (18 carries, 168 yards, TD) and Nick Benoit (10 carries, 65 yards) and quarterback C.J. Randolph (22 carries, 115 yards, 2 TDs).Click here for a photo gallery.”They’ve worked hard and had their share of bumps and bruises; now they know what it takes to win,” said coach Mike Broderick. “This was a great win against a good football team. We executed very well and the offensive line did a tremendous job. C.J. runs the option as well as anyone we’ve had and Ismael and Nick are both hard runners. They are all very disciplined and they block for each other.”While Broderick praised the Sachems’ execution, the converse held true for the Falcons, now 2-2 after their second straight loss.”We have to focus on our execution; the effort was there but not the execution. We had very slow feet on both the offensive and defensive lines,” said Danvers coach Sean Rogers, noting Saugus didn’t do anything the Falcons hadn’t prepared for. “We have to go back to basics and have six or seven plays we know we can go to. We couldn’t run sweep, we couldn’t run power and we couldn’t run trap and those have to be there for us.”Saugus grabbed momentum on its first possession, covering 62 yards in six plays, highlighted by Benoit’s 26-yard burst to the Danvers 19. Minaya added a 14-yard run and Randolph capped it on a keeper from a yard out. Zach Verrengia’s PAT made it 7-0 with 7:02 left in the opening quarter.The Sachems cashed in on great field position following a short Falcons punt with Verrengia’s 25-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead with 5:54 left in the half.Danvers countered quickly. On the first play after Alex Valles’ 30-yard kickoff return, John Thomas took a reverse handoff around the right side and sped 60 unimpeded yards for the TD. Anthony Garron’s PAT made it 10-7.Saugus needed less than two minutes to push the lead back to 10 points. Minaya’s 62-yard dash to the Danvers five set up his own one-yard scoring run on second down and Verrengia converted the PAT for a 17-7 lead.The Falcons answered with an 81-yard scoring drive, kicked into gear by Chris Behen’s 22-yard dash to the Saugus 48. Quarterback Ryan Chasse then found Jake Cawlina on a go route up the left side and, utilizing his height advantage to outleap the Sachems defender, Cawlina snatched the ball at the Saugus 15, spun away and found the end zone just 1:25 before intermission. Garron’s PAT made it 17-14 at the break.Saugus regained its momentum and 10-point edge with a methodical 10-play drive of nearly five minutes to open the second half, finished off by Randolph’s one-yard sneak and Verrengia’s PAT for a 24-14 lead. Danvers’ final legitimate threat probed to the Saugus 14 late in the third quarter but came up empty when Garron’s 32-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left.”I thought our defense showed great resilience. We gave up the two long touchdowns in the second quarter but came back to make some very big plays in the second half,” Broderick concluded.