LYNN — The Lynn English football team earned a hard-fought 42-35 victory over Saugus Saturday afternoon at Manning Field.
The Sachems battled back from a 35-14 halftime deficit but couldn’t quite outscore an explosive Bulldogs offense.
“I’m happy with our team,” Saugus interim head coach Mike Mabee said. “We stuck together. We were down big and we kept fighting the whole game.”
Marvens Jean (93 yards) and James Moise (81 yards) each had two touchdowns on the ground for the Sachems.
“I think it was just the team sticking together and executing,” Mabee said. “We have to continue playing a full game. We played a better second half than the first half today so we have to focus on playing four full quarters.”
Ishmile Bangura had another monster game for the Bulldogs, running for 177 yards and three touchdowns while also adding a 94-yard touchdown reception. Mathias Fowler broke out in the first half with four catches for 102 yards and two touchdowns.
“He was a big part of our game plan today and he really executed,” English coach Chris Carroll said of Fowler. “And Ishmile, he has been a workhorse for us. Matt Severance toughed it out today as well. There were a lot of great individual performances today but as a team we have to get a whole lot better.
“We have to continue to work on tackling,” Carroll added. “It has been a continuing problem for us. We can’t rely on our offense to keep outscoring everybody. We have to get better on defense and special teams.”
On the third play of the game, Severance (18-of-22 for 338 yards and two touchdowns) connected with Fowler, who broke a tackle and scored to give English an early 7-0 lead.
English quickly found the end zone again on a 5-yard touchdown by Bangura to go ahead 14-0 before Saugus had even gained a first down.
That changed on the Sachems’ next offensive play. On a handoff up the middle, Moise bursted through a sea of English defenders, breaking several tackles on his way to 59-yard touchdown run to cut the English lead to 14-7.
Bangura later responded with a big play of his own, breaking off a 54-yard touchdown run to put the Bulldogs back ahead 21-7.
Severance then took advantage of a Saugus turnover with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Fowler to extend the lead to 28-7.
Saugus responded with a 71-yard drive on its last possession of the half. Sachems quarterback Mason Nickolas completed three passes and then scrambled his way to a 23-yard touchdown run to cut the English lead to 28-14.
The Bulldogs had one last drive left in them before the half. Severance completed five passes for 60 yards before Bangura capped off the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run to give English a 35-14 halftime lead.
Saugus came out red-hot in the second half. After driving 43 yards, Moise broke off a 20-yard touchdown. Taking advantage of the momentum swing, Javier Martinez-Moretta recovered his own perfectly-placed onside kick. Jean then ran for a 21-yard touchdown on the following drive to cut the English lead to 35-28.
Pinned back at their own 6-yard line the Bulldogs faced a third-and-28 on their next possession. But Bangura came up clutch, catching a screen pass and tight roping the right sideline on his way to 94-yard score to put the Bulldogs ahead, for good, 42-28.
Saugus added another touchdown on a 3-yard run by Jean, but it was too little too late as English held on for the 42-35 victory.
The Sachems (1-3) travel to Gloucester Friday (7) while English (3-1) hosts Swampscott Saturday (2:30).
“Anytime Lynn English and Swampscott get together it’s a great rivalry,” Carroll said. “They are a tough team and it is always a dog fight. We need a great week of practice and we need to get better.”
