WESTON — Running back Marvens Jean ran wild for the Sachems as the he No. 6 Saugus football team earned a convincing 27-6 win over No. 3 Weston in the Division 5 North quarter finals Friday night at Weston High.
Jean carried the ball 17 times for Saugus, totaling 266 yards and two touchdowns.
“Marvens always worked hard for us,” Saugus coach Mike Mabee said. “He runs hard and if he gets that little seam that’s all he needs and he is gone. I have to mention our offensive line as well for making the holes for him.
“I’m just so happy for this team,” Mabee added. “They’ve faced a lot of adversity this year. This is a great feeling to come out here and win our first playoff game since maybe the ’50s, I believe. It’s just a great feeling.”
The Wildcats drove to midfield on their opening drive before the Saugus defense made a huge stop on 4th-and-3. On the next play, Jean broke off his first big play of the night, a 55-yard touchdown run, to put the Sachems ahead 6-0.
The rest of the first half was much of the same. The Saugus defense held strong with James Moise catching an interception and Jake Morgante recovering a fumble to stop the following two Weston drives.
“I think our defense was a little bit underrated coming into the game,” Mabee said. “A lot of teams have scored some points on us, but I look at it as one of our strengths. All our guys get to the football, they play hard, tackle well and follow the scheme.
“Dante McGrane (linebacker) and Morgante (defensive tackle) are our two defensive leaders,” Mabee added. “They play a huge part in leading our defense for sure.”
Following each defensive stop, the skilled running game of Jean helped the Sachems get into position to capitalize on their next two drives. McGrane added a five-yard rushing touchdown to cap off the second drive while Moise finished the next with a two-yard touchdown run to put Saugus ahead comfortably at 20-0.
On the next Wildcat drive, quarterback Jack Noonan faked a handoff up the middle and took a bootleg run 55-yards to the end zone, however an inadvertent whistle earlier in the play brought the touchdown back. Weston couldn’t finish the drive and the Sachems took a 20-0 lead into the half.
The Sachems running game came out strong once again, running out most of the second half while the Sachems defense prevented a Weston comeback.
Max Fourreau added a 90-yard kickoff return to put Weston on the board in the final minutes but from there the Sachems were able to run out the rest of the clock.
Saugus now shifts gears to preparing for next Friday night’s Division 5 North semifinal at No. 2 Amesbury. Amesbury defeated No. 7 Bedford, 46-22 Friday night.
“We’ve been saying we are going to go one game at a time,” Mabee said. “So now we will play (at Amesbury, Friday at 7). We’ll be preparing to play them this week.”
