WEST NEWBURY — The last time the Pentucket football program even played a playoff game, nobody on this current roster was even at the high school yet. The last time the Panthers won one — all the way back at the beginning of the decade in 2021 — they didn’t even have a home field.
Man, how times have changed.
But through forfeits and the grace of the MIAA algorithm, playoff football was back on the West Newbury-Groveland line on Friday afternoon.
By 0.06 of a percentage point, no less.
And the home fans had plenty to cheer about, as in its trimphant return to the postseason, No. 8 Pentucket eventually pulled away for the convincing victory over No. 9 Nantucket in the first round of the Division 6 tournament, 35-15. A returning Nick Carrion both rushed in and caught a touchdown from quarterback Steven Harper, and a stingy effort from the defensive front-7 sent the Panthers back to the state quarterfinals for the first time since that Chase Dwight-led 2021 team.
“It’s awesome to be able to win at home,” said Harper. “The MIAA blessed us, but it was awesome out there today and a great team win. Everyone contributed, and it was just great to get it done at home.”
Pentucket (6-3) has long been synonomous with playoff football, and to be able to pay off the return with a victory was cathartic.
“It’s felt like a long time. It was huge for these guys, getting a home game was definitely big. For these seniors, they hadn’t even played in a playoff game, period. So to host one was awesome, and I just thought that they battled for four quarters. And we knew it was going to take that, because (Nantucket) is a good team.”
And it started quick.
After deferring the opening kick and forcing a quick three-and-out, Pentucket marched down the field and took a 7-0 lead when Carrion ran it in from the 2. He also had a big 24-yard catch on the drive to set up the score, as the Panthers are happy to have him back after he missed the last two games. Despite that, Carrion still came into the game leading our area in receiving with 23 catches for 495 yards.
“That kid is electric,” said Harper of Carrion. “You just gotta, I mean, if he’s 1-on-1 you’re throwing him the ball. That kid is a hell of a player.”
But Nanatucket (8-1) showed why it came into the game undefeated.
Following that opening score, the Whalers went on a methodical 16-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a 3-yard Canton Jenkinson touchdown. Pentucket was able to retake the lead thanks to a 7-yard rushing TD from Harper, but the Whalers would end the half putting together another long drive. They got down to the 6-yard-line with three seconds left on the clock, and opted to go for it instead of kicking a field goal.
The pass fell incomplete, so Pentucket was able to jog into halftime up 14-7.
Then coming out of the break, the Panthers turned up the defensive dial.
Led by a defensive front of Liam Hammond, Jesse Wirwicz, Tedy Cloutier, Jacob LeBel, Chase Dowling and Max Cloutier, the Panthers were able to take over the game. Harper actually hit Carrion on a beautiful 43-yard bomb touchdown on the first drive of the third quarter, and two plays later, Cooper Zaneski made a terrific open-field tackle and forced a fumble that was recovered by Wirwicz.
And just three plays after that, Jackson Miller ran in a 3-yard touchdown to break the game open at 28-7 following another successful PAT from Charles Rec.
“I saw the ball and it was just like ‘I need it,'” laughed Wirwicz, who had a couple tackles for loss, a sack and plenty of run stuffs during the game. “So I ran after it and was able to grab it.”
That front then forced another turnover on downs, and Zaneksi punctuated the afternoon with an 11-yard touchdown run to make it a 35-7 game with eight minutes left in the fourth. Nantucket was able to find the end zone in the final 30 seconds of the game, but by that point, the celebration was already on in the stands.
“The biggest thing we talked about was that when we had the opportunity to pin them down, whether on a kickoff or a punt, we were trying to keep them on that end of the field,” said Leary. “Once (Nantucket) crosses over midfield, we knew it would be four-down territory for them, and their big running back is tough to stop. So we did a great job of that with our special teams.”
Now, Pentucket is moving on to the Division 6 quarterfinals.
The Panthers will face top-seeded Norwell next Friday with a 7 p.m. scheduled kickoff. The Clippers shut out Joseph Case in their opening round playoff game, 30-0.
“It’s pretty exciting,” said Wirwicz. “This was my first playoff game ever, so it was huge. I feel like we’re going to have some good momentum going into the second round. We’ve played physical teams, we’ve been through battles and we’re battle-tested.”
Pentucket 35, Nantucket 15
Division 6 First Round
Nantucket (8-1): 0 7 0 8 — 15
Pentucket (6-3): 7 7 14 7 — 35
First Quarter
P — Nick Carrion 2 run (Charles Rec kick), 6:22
Second Quarter
N — Canton Jenkinson 3 run (Jake Clarke kick), 9:15
P — Steven Harper 7 run (Rec kick), 1:02
Third Quarter
P — Carrion 43 pass from Harper (Rec kick), 7:24
P — Jackson Miller 4 run (Rec kick), 4:13
Fourth Quarter
P — Cooper Zaneski 11 run (Rec kick), 8:20
N — Arann Hanlon 34 run (Tristan Grimes pass from Burke Lombardi), :23
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: PENTUCKET (32-136): Jackson Miller 17-68, Nick Carrion 3-23, Adam Persichetti 6-23, Steven Harper 5-11, Cooper Zaneski 1-11; NANTUCKET (29-132): Arann Hanlon 6-71, David Guillen-Taveras 11-40, Canton Jenkinson 6-14, Eli MacIver 1-4, Burke Lombardi 5-3
PASSING: P — Harper 8-9-1-0, 133; N — Lombardi 9-18-0-0, 109
RECEIVING: P — Nick Carrion 5-90, Chase Dowling 2-27, Zaneski 1-16; N — Taveras 6-67, Joao Silva 1-33, Jenkinson 1-5, MacIver 1-4