DANVERS — Midway through the fourth quarter, Whittier Tech’s Nate Comeau displayed his defensive skills when he came up with an interception, which eventually sealed the Wildcats’ 16-8 victory over Essex Tech in the Mass State Vocational semifinal.
It was after the game when the senior displayed his humor when he was asked how many interceptions he has on the season.
“I have two now, but I probably dropped about eight,” he said sporting a big smile.
Head coach Kevin Bradley echoed those comments.
“In practice, Nate drops them all the time but this time he held onto it,” said the coach. “He’s been waiting for this opportunity so many times. He’ll always come up with the big tackle, but he’s been waiting to come up with a big interception and he certainly did tonight.”
The interception, Comeau said, was payback for a mistake he made earlier in the game.
“I got burnt on their touchdown,” he admitted. “It was a quarterback scramble and (Makaio Bey) ran right past me. He was way faster than me. The quarterback threw it right over my head for a touchdown. I knew that I had to make up something and had to get that back. I kept my head high and everyone on the team kept me up.”
Added Bradley, “(Nate) was the first to admit that (he got beat) but then came back and won the game for us.”
Comeau also came up huge in the first quarter. He joined up with teammate Kasey Cook to make a big tackle on fourth down to complete a goal line stand.
“We opened up last game with a fourth-and-short (against Bristol-Plymouth) so this is nothing new to us. We do this all of the time. Short yardage is where we live,” Comeau said, while sporting a wrapped up brace for protection of his right arm after breaking his wrist during the summer.
Immediately after the goal-line stand, the Wildcats (9-2) responded with an 18-play, 94-yard scoring drive capped off by a two-yard run by Noah Allen, who added the conversion rush giving Whittier the 8-0 lead.
That didn’t last long as the Hawks (6-4) responded with a 7-play, 63-yard scoring drive. On third-and-six from the Whittier 24 and eight seconds remaining in the half, Essex Tech QB Jacoby Casinelli-Tarasuik connected with Bey. Charlie Lussier ran in the conversion and the teams were deadlocked at 8-8 at the break.
Just like the other quarters, the third featured one long drive by both teams. Essex moved the ball to midfield before punting, and Whittier took over and ran 13 straight times for a combined 76 yards with Allen scoring his second TD of the game from four yards out coming on the second play of the fourth quarter. Jay Vazquez rushed in the conversion making it 16-8.
That led up to Comeau’s interception.
“Last year we played here (for a regular season game). We had high hopes coming in and we got totally crushed. We lost 20-8, so we knew (coming in tonight) that we had a chip on our shoulder and needed to come back and do something big,” said Comeau. “To get back to the Vocational Championship game means everything to us. We lost in last year’s final to Bay Path, so we’re coming after it now.”
Offensively, the trio of Allen, Vazquez and Mark Nealon combined to rush for 212 of the team’s 239 rushing yards on the night. Whittier didn’t attempt a single pass.
“It’s unbelievable for this team to reach the (State Vocational) championship two years in a row. That speaks very highly of the kids and the program,” said Bradley. “We have gone through so many injuries but every time someone else has stepped up. Everyone on this team has had their opportunity.”
“Our defense kept making big stops. They owned the second half. They rattled (the Essex Tech) quarterback, making him uncomfortable and he missed on those (late fourth quarter pass attempts),” added the coach.
Whittier Tech 16, Essex Tech 8Scoring Summary
Second Quarter
WT: Noah Allen 2 run (Allen rush), 9:45
ET: Makai Bay 24 pass from Jacoby Casinelli-Tarasuik (Charlie Lussier rush), 11:52
Third Quarter
WT: Allen 4 run (Jay Vazquez rush), 0:45
Individual Stats
Rushing: Noah Allen 10-87; Jay Vazquez 16-85; Mark Nealon 9-40; Elijah Jones 3-19; Ricky DiChicco 2-8.