LYNN — You could say, this one was closer than the final score.
St. Mary’s scored its first touchdown against Bishop Feehan in three years, but it wasn’t enough to take down the Catholic Central League foe from Attleborough. The Shamrocks (3-1) took care of business with a 21-7 win against the Spartans, who dipped to 2-2 after last week’s loss in Gloucester.
“With overall effort and tackling, we took a step from where we were last week,” said Spartans’ coach Sean Driscoll. “I actually believe we got a little better today and I appreciate the kids’ efforts.”
As for Feehan coach Bryan Pinabell, it was a happy Friday after a long bus ride and hard-fought win.
“A lot of credit to St. Mary’s. They took a tough loss last week to Gloucester, and I knew we’d get their best game,” said Pinabell, whose Shamrocks lost to Xaverian Brothers Week 1 before rebounding with wins against Chelmsford and Attleborough. “We’ve never beaten St. Mary’s at St. Mary’s.”
Despite Feehan’s two-score victory, it was a blow-for-blow, 7-7 game at halftime.
St. Mary’s Tyren Hoeun rushed for an 11-yard touchdown and Ryan Esquivel’s extra point capped off a 4:40 drive in the second quarter.
“My guys hung in there,” said Driscoll, who credited Hoeun, Rowan Merryman, and Jake Peterson for strong showings. “I also think we played better up front than we did last week.”
Individuals had their moments, but good old-fashioned teamwork did the trick during the third quarter. The Shamrocks marched downfield before St. Mary’s recorded a fourth-down stop on its own 3-yard line.
After a measurement from the chain crew, the game stayed tied (7-7).
From there, however, the Spartans were backed up near their own end zone and couldn’t counter.
“We were resilient enough . . . but the problem is, you’ve got to come out and get a first down after that – and we couldn’t,” Driscoll said. “It would’ve been great to get, at least, some room to punt down there.”
With 3:15 remaining in the third quarter, Feehan quarterback Owen Mordas spotted wide-open receiver Brody Carges for a 28-yard touchdown (14-7).
“There were no style points in this one, but we found a way to win,” Pinabell said. “If there’s a bad play, we move on to the next one. In this game, there were so many moments of adversity . . . and our kids just kept battling – I’m really proud of them.”
St. Mary’s quarterback Yaniel Belliard connecting with Nathan Cutone on fourth down was a highlight of the fourth, but the quarter belonged to Feehan running back Xavier Baker, who chewed up the clock with multiple first-down rushes.
Aided by an unnecessary-roughness penalty on the Spartans, Andrew Orphanos put the game away with a 9-yard rushing touchdown in the final minutes.
“It would’ve been third-and-15, now it becomes a first down,” Driscoll said. “If you go back and look at the game, you’re going to see key third-down penalties on us.”
St. Mary’s hosts Shawsheen Valley Vocational Tech on Senior Day next Friday at 5 p.m. Feehan welcomes BC High to McGrath Stadium the next afternoon with kickoff slated for 1 p.m.
“We have another big one next week,” Driscoll said. “It doesn’t get easier, but we knew there were going to be challenges . . . so, next week is a big one for us.”
