With one game left now, the Triton football team has the opportunity to earn the program’s most wins in a season in eight years.
Yup, almost quietly it’s been that good of a fall.
That’s because on Friday night, Triton went on the road and absolutely rolled over Boston Latin in a non-playoff game, 56-13. So now heading into their annual Thanksgiving Day battle against Pentucket, the Vikings (7-3) can finish a game back of the 2016 team that finished 9-3.
But focusing on this year’s squad, it’s been quite the two-week run.
Over its two non-playoff games, Triton crushed Medford and Boston Latin by a combined score of 109-29 — and this came after a 42-21 doubling-up of Essex Tech during the final week of the regular season.
So the Vikings will enter the holiday scorching hot on offense.
Friday night, junior Everett Romano rushed for 150 yards and two touchdowns, and Carl Lucy added a 1-yard TD run and a 60-yard punt return to fuel the blowout. Boston Latin (5-5) actually got on the scoreboard first, but the Vikings would explode to take a 42-13 lead into halftime. A 3-yard Romano TD started the scoring, followed by Lucy’s scoring run and punt return. Jason Holscher and Liam Friis would haul in TD passes of 60 and 17 yards from junior QB Braylon Lupa, and a 70-yard Romano sprint was the final nail in the coffin to the first half.
Athan Eggleston added 25-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, and Sam Harding would find the endzone from 7 yards out in the fourth. Defensively, Charlie Molineaux had two interceptions and five tackles, and Friis was a perfect 8-for-8 on PATs.
Pentucket downed by Danvers
The quest to finish above .500 this year unfortunately won’t come to pass for Pentucket.
During Friday night’s second, and final, non-playoff game, the Panthers couldn’t stop the rushing attack of Danvers in a 42-14 loss. Two captains led the way for the Falcons (4-6), with Owen Shanbar rushing for 196 yards on 21 carries, while Mike Albano piled up 186 yards on 15 carries.
Pentucket (4-6) scored on a Steven Harper run in the second quarter, but still went into the half trailing 28-6. Despite the lopsided score, the Panthers still showed some life with Harper finding Nick Carrion for a touchdown — followed by Jackson Miller on the conversion — to cut it to 28-14 early in the third quarter. But Danvers would march right down and immediately find the endzone, and would score again early in the fourth quarter to cap the scoring for the night.
Harper would finish his day 18-of-25 passing for 179 yards, and now has 2,109 yards for the season. Miller had 73 yards rushing and 61 more through the air on eight receptions, while Carrion hauled in a team-high 70 yards on four catches.
Pentucket will now get ready to travel over to rival Triton on Thanksgiving morning for a 10 a.m. kickoff.
Triton 56, Boston Latin 13
Triton (7-3): 7 35 7 7 — 56
Boston Latin (5-5): 7 6 0 0 — 13
First Quarter
T — Everett Romano 3 run (Liam Friis kick)
Second Quarter
T — Carl Lucy 1 run (Friis kick)
T — Lucy 60 punt return (Friis kick)
T — Jason Holscher 60 pass from Braylon Lupa (Friis kick)
T — Romano 70 run (Friis kick)
T — Friis 17 pass from Lupa (Friis kick)
Third Quarter
T — Athan Eggleston 25 run (Friis kick)
Fourth Quarter
T — Sam Harding 7 run (Friis kick)
Danvers 42, Pentucket 14
Danvers (4-6): 14 14 7 7 — 42
Pentucket (4-6): 0 6 8 0 — 14
Pentucket Scoring Plays
P — Steven Harper run (kick failed)
P — Nick Carrion pass from Harper (Jackson Miller pass from Harper)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: PENTUCKET (26-150): Jackson Miller 10-73, Steven Harper 11-54, Nick Carrion 4-17, Aaron Ketschke 1-6
PASSING: P — Harper 18-25-1-2, 179
RECEIVING : P — Nick Carrion 4-70, Jackson Miller 8-61, Aaron Ketschke 6-48