Saugus defeats Pentucket in battle of Sachems

SAUGUS – Saugus and Pentucket looked to be two teams heading in different directions before their collision at Stackpole Field Friday night.Pentucket did not receive that memo, and gave Saugus all it could handle, however. Saugus weathered the Pentucket storm early, and outscored Pentucket 35-7 in the second half, to come out as the victor 42-28 in the battle of the Sachems.Saugus looked to be in big trouble in the first half, as the Sachems were down 22-7 with 1:55 remaining in the second quarter. Saugus engineered a 65-yard touchdown drive in 1:52 that was capped off by a Justin Winn one-yard keeper. Saugus converted its two-point conversion to not only cut the deficit to seven, (22-15), but stole all the momentum going into the second half.”That touchdown right before the half was huge,” Saugus head coach Mike Broderick said. “Pentucket really put it on us in the first half, but that final drive made us finally feel comfortable. After that drive, I felt confident we were going to turn this game around, and that is exactly what we did.”Saugus opened with possession in the second half, and scored on its second play, when Cacciola broke a 39-yard run into the end zone. Saugus trailed 22-21 after its missed PAT. The Saugus defense produced a three-and-out to get the ball back to its offense, and on the Sachems next play, Winn gashed the Pentucket defense for 54 yards for a touchdown, to give Saugus a 29-22 lead, (two-point conversion). The Sachems defense produced its second straight three-and-out, and the hot Saugus offense orchestrated an 11-play 67-yard touchdown drive to give Saugus a 34-22 lead at the end of the third. It looked as though Saugus was going to run away from Pentucket, but Pentucket returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown to make it a one-possession game, (34-28 Saugus). Saugus then lost a fumble on the kickoff to give the ball back to Pentucket on Saugus 42-yard line. The Saugus defense stepped up, and Brendan Grocki forced and recovered a fumble to get the ball back to the Sachems offense. Saugus then ran seven minutes off the clock before scoring its final touchdown, (Marvens Moise one-yard run), to give the Sachems a 42-28 lead with 2:44 remaining in the game.”This game is a perfect example of how mentally strong our team is this year,” Broderick said. “When everything was going wrong in the first half, the guys never got down, and just kept battling knowing they could get back into this game. I am very proud of what this team accomplished tonight against a good Pentucket team.”Leading the second half comeback for Saugus was Winn, (19 carries, 219 rushing yards, 3 touchdowns). Cacciola was more than just a sidekick for the Sachems, (15 carries, 95 rushing yards). Saugus improves its record to 5-2.