HAVERHILL – For the past two-and-a-half years, Haverhill High quarterback James Farrell has been putting up video game-type numbers.
On Friday night, he gave the controller to someone else.
Freshman running back Bryan Dos Santos rushed for 205 yards and scored four touchdowns to lead the Hillies to a 38-0 dominating win over Dracut at Veterans Stadium.
Dos Santos had 101 rushing yards in the first quarter alone, scored TD runs of 15 and 5 in the first half, before going in untouched from 61 yards out early in the third quarter and capping it off with a 13-yarder a few minutes later.
“It was just my mindset and my offensive line cheering me on, and my coaches helping me,” said Dos Santos, who three weeks ago had two touchdowns and 173 yards in the wild loss to Billerica. “The offensive line was great. This just feels amazing.”
The win snaps a five-game losing streak for the Hillies, which included giving up 252 points.
“We all worked together really good so the win was a team thing,” said Dos Santos. “(Losing 29-0 to) Andover (last week) was very upsetting to all of us. We felt that this game was our game to prove to everybody that we could win. We were down because we lost for five straight weeks. We wanted to break that as fast as possible.”
Haverhill led 20-0 at the half, before adding 18 more points in the third behind two touchdowns and a safety. Besides Dos Santos, Farrell tossed a TD pass to Jathian DeJesus, who also caught a pair of two-point conversion passes.
On the night, the Hillies had 523 total yards of offense. Farrell completed 16 of 23 passes for 214 yards and also had 46 rushing yards. DeJesus had six receptions for 155 yards and Zavion Alvarez finished with seven receptions for 65 yards.
“This win means a lot to the kids. They put in a lot of work so it’s nice to see it pay off with a victory for them. It was fun,” said Haverhill head coach Rob Pike.
Pike also fully enjoyed watching his ninth grader go to work.
“The biggest thing is his attitude,” said Pike of Dos Santos. “He just comes to work every single day and always has a smile on his face and wants to get better. He’s fast, he’s explosive and he’s really learning the feel for the offense. He’s making the right cuts and you saw that tonight. He’s just a real tough kid. He’s a worker and he’s real enthusiastic and he’s a fun kid to coach.”
Defensively, Haverhill held the Middies to 89 total yards of offense, including negative-8 on the ground. Besides the safety, Brewer Murray had a QB sack and Jayde Berube had an interception and also recovered the onside squib kick to open the game.
“The kids on defense made the plays that they needed to make,” said Pike. They played as a unit and flew around and that’s what we’re after. Stavy Baptiste at linebacker was excellent, and on the line Donovan Carroll and Fabio Georges Yepez also had great games.”
Haverhill also welcomed senior captain Jake Bourque, a linebacker, back to the lineup.
“He played for the first four or five games last year and has been out ever since. He’s been hurt for a long time and he finally was cleared,” said Pike. “It’s great to have him back. He’s a terrific football player. Having him is a difference maker on defense. He’s one of our captains so he’s a leader in that sense but on the field he’s a big, physical presence. He really reads well and knows where the ball is going.”
Haverhill 38, Dracut 0First Quarter
H: Bryan Dos Santos 15 run (rush failed)
H: Jathian DeJesus 45 pass from James Farrell (pass failed)
Second Quarter
H: Dos Santos 5 run (Brandon Piraino rush)
Third Quarter
H: Dos Santos 61 run (DeJesus pass from Farrell)
H: Safety
H: Dos Santos 13 run (DeJesus pass from Farrell)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Passing: James Farrell 16-for-23, 214 yards, 1 TD; Michael Bayko 3-for-3, 35 yards.
Rushing: Bryan Dos Santos 19-205; James Farrell 10-46; Walner Javier Fabian 8-12; Brandon Piraino 1-11.
Receiving: Jathian DeJesus 6-155; Zavion Alvarez 7-61; Brandon Piraino 2-19; Bryan Dos Santos 2-7; Parker DiNatale 1-4; Walner Javier Fabian 1-3;