HATHORNE — A spot in the Vocational School large school playoff championship game was on the line Friday night when Essex Tech hosted Whittier Tech. But with only one team able to punch its ticket to the title game, this defensive battle went to the visitors.
The Wildcats broke a tie with a touchdown early in the fourth quarter and hung on to knock off the Hawks, 16-8, at Barry field to advance to the Voke title bout against Diman DVT.
Whittier (9-2) controlled the line of scrimmage throughout and didn’t have to attempt a single pass the entire game while rushing for 233 yards.
“Their offense is long, boring drives — and they sustain it. They stay with it,” said Essex Tech (7-4) head coach Tim Freiermuth. “They’re a good-coached team and they executed. Credit to them; I told (his team) the whole week we had to win at the line of scrimmage.”
Wildcats running back Noah Allen scored the first of his two touchdowns in the first quarter on a 3-yard run. He finished with 107 yards on 19 carries for the winners.
But with time ticking down in the first half, Essex Tech leaned on its star quarterback and senior captain, Jacoby Casinelli-Tarasuik, to make a play — and he did by finding Makaio Bey in the corner of the end zone for a 25 yard touchdown. That play, plus Casinelli-Tarasuik’s ensuing 2-point conversion rush, tied the game at intermission, 8-8.
Defense stepped up for both sides throughout the contests, forcing punts and making stops in the third quarter. But when the fourth quarter rolled around, the Wildcats went back to Allen and were rewarded for it after he scored again, this time from four yards out
The visitors then picked off a pass late, then held on downs on Essex Tech’s final drive to ice the game.
“We couldn’t run the ball (105 yards Friday night), which we’ve been able to do, so we kind of had to play left-handed,” Freiermuth said. “They had a really good scheme and they came out hard, executed plays and we didn’t.”
With one game remaining Thanksgiving Day at Manchester Essex, the Hawks will look to turn it around quickly and hope to end their season with one more win.
“We were 0-2, we got blown out, and then to be where we are right now to have this opportunity” said Freiermuth, “it’s tremendous growth in the program … we just have to finish the year strong.”
Whittier 16, Essex Tech 8
Vocational School playoff semifinals
at Barry Field, Hathorne
Whittier (9-2);8;0;0;8;16
Essex Tech (7-4);0;8;0;0;8
Scoring summary
W — Noah Allen 3 run (Allen rush)
ET — Makaio Bey 25 pass from Jacoby Casinelli-Tarasuik (Casinelli-Tarasuik rush)
W —Allen 4 run (Mateus Paixao rush)
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Whittier — Noah Allen 17-109, Mateus Paixao 13-49, Mark Nealon 8-24, Elijah Jones 3-21, Grady Booth 3-18, Ricky Dichicco 3-12; Essex Tech — Jacoby Casinelli-Tarasuik 10-77, Charlie Lussier 3-17, Makaio Bey 4-11.
PASSING: Whitttier — None; Essex Tech — Casinelli-Tarasuik 6-17-100-1-1.
RECEIVING: Whittier — None; Essex Tech — Bey 4-76, Xavier Parsons 1-14, Jordan Minaya 1-10.