LYNN— Friday night’s Division 3 North quarterfinal game between the No. 3 Classical and No. 6 Danvers football teams at Manning Field was billed as one to keep an eye out for.
The two NEC foes met three weeks ago at Danvers, resulting in a Classical win that knocked the Falcons off the ranks of the unbeaten.
This time around, the Falcons got their revenge with a 21-7 win.
“The playoffs are a different ballgame and at any level it’s tough to beat a team twice,” Classical coach Brian Vaughan said. “We knew that going in. Penalties hurt us early on and put us in tough situations. Turnovers hurt us early on and put us in tough situations. We tried to battle back and we just weren’t able to do it.”
The two teams got off to polar opposite starts. After a scoreless first quarter, Danvers found the end zone twice to take a 14-0 lead at halftime. Danvers quarterback Justin Mullaney scored on a one-yard keeper and Tahg Coakley converted a Rams fumble into a 17-yard touchdown run. Zach Dillon split the uprights on both PAT kicks.
“Danvers is a physical football team,” Vaughan said. “They want to run the ball and play solid defense. They did both of those things tonight.”
But the theme of the half, on Classical’s end, was missed opportunities. The Rams shot themselves in the foot with penalties and turnovers.
What seemed to be Classical’s first touchdown of the night, on a 10-yard run by Chase Buono, was erased by a Rams holding penalty. On the next play, quarterback Keith Ridley threw an interception in the end zone, caught by Danvers’ Matt McCarthy, and the Rams were staring at a two-touchdown deficit as they went into the locker room.
“It was a tough call but that’s how it goes,” Vaughan said of the holding penalty. “Then we had a little miscommunication with the wrong route in the end zone and we threw a pick. It was a missed opportunity but that’s how it goes. The only we thing we can do is pick ourselves up.”
In the third quarter, Ridley got Classical back in the game when he connected with Tyrese Joseph for a 73-yard touchdown pass. Ishmael Johnson added the PAT kick and the Rams slimmed the deficit in half, 14-7.
“That put us back in the game,” Vaughan said of Ridley’s touchdown pass. “Unfortunately we couldn’t get things going the rest of the way. Danvers did a tremendous job with their defensive schemes.”
Coakley stretched the lead back to 14 points, 21-7, after a five-yard touchdown carry to close the third quarter (Dillon kick).
Down two touchdowns, the Rams were forced to work fast in the fourth quarter. Danvers’ defense held its ground and kept Classical off the board the rest of the way for the 21-7 win.
The Rams (6-2) now drop into the Division 3 North non-playoff bracket. Although they’re no longer in the playoff hunt, Vaughan’s confident that the Rams can finish their season on a high note.
“It’s very simple, we want to win football games,” Vaughan said. “Nothing’s going to change in the way we approach things because we lost. Everybody loses. The goal is to be ready to rock and roll next week.”
