St. Mary’s loss a matter of inches

HAVERHILL – As far as St. Mary’s was concerned, two inches may as well have been two miles in Saturday’s 22-14 MIAA Div. 5 North quarterfinal loss to Commonwealth Conference champion Whittier.View Photo GalleryThat was the approximate distance separating Connor Sakowich from a likely game-winning two-point conversion after his 8-yard TD run tied the game, 14-14, with 1:28 to play. Instead, the Wildcats scored on their first OT possession then turned back the Spartans to secure the win.”It was a fistfight. That was old-style football – we just lined up and went at it,” said St. Mary’s coach Matt Durgin.St. Mary’s tying drive came in response to a 2-yard run by Jesus Sanchez Jr. that gave Whittier its first lead, 14-8, with 41 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Beginning on their 48 on the final play of the third quarter, the Spartans used all but the final 1:28 of regulation to execute the 17-play march, converting four fourth downs. No play covered more than nine yards.Sakowich (21 carries, 92 yards) slashed over the right side from the 8 to tie it, but he got swarmed by the middle of the Whittier defense on the conversion attempt.Whittier (6-2) scored on its second OT play, a 10-yard pass from Connor Bradley to Robert Gramstorff, and Sanchez tacked on the conversion. The Wildcats then held St. Mary’s to one yard on the Spartans’ first two plays before Antonio Felix’s third- and fourth-down passes fell incomplete.”We had our opportunities and were right there at the end. I thought our kids played hard and that they played well,” Durgin said.St. Mary’s (4-4) started fast when Abraham Toe (15 carries, 102 yards) swept the left side from 45 yards out on the game’s third play. Sakowich’s conversion rush made it 8-0.The Spartans recovered Toe’s ensuing onside kick but missed a chance to take early control when they fumbled the ball away at the Whittier 33.Sanchez punched it in from the 1 and added the conversion rush on the first play of the second quarter to pull Whittier even, 8-8.Each defense then turned back a long drive – Whittier held at its 22 when Toe was dropped for no gain with 6:10 left in the half; and St. Mary’s held at its 27 when Luc Zikianda corralled Sanchez for a 2-yard loss at the 27 just 36 seconds before the half.Whittier’s go-ahead score was triggered by Caleb Ashford’s fumble recovery at the St. Mary’s 38. Gramstoff’s 18-yard dash to the St. Mary’s 3 set up Sanchez’s 2-yard score on fourth-and-goal.St. Mary’s held slight statistical edges across the board as the defense showed great discipline against Whittier’s archaic and confounding single-wing attack, with roots dating back to football’s formative years.”It’s a tough offense and I thought we did a really good job on defense,” Durgin said.