IPSWICH — Unfortunately for Ipswich, too many horses escaped the barn before it shut the door as the Tigers dropped a 19-0 verdict to another solid Pentucket squad.
The victory extended a shutout streak of 18 quarters for the Sachems. Pentucket has not allowed a point since the second quarter of its opening contest.
Facing an impressive double-barrel ground attack of seniors Chris Modlish and Dan Johanson, the winless Tigers showed a lot of spirit against the Sachems, now 4-1.
Sparked by a physical game from linebacker Jim Cadogan, who closed holes repeatedly to the tune of a team-high 10 tackles, Pentucket was stopped on downs twice and forced to punt two other times. Cadogan then drove the offense, grinding out 121 yards on 18 carries to garner all but 20 yards of Ipswich's attack.
"Jim's been our unsung hero on defense," said Tiger head coach Ted Flaherty. "He's in the position of having to cover on pass plays and support the run defense. But he has great instincts, takes great angles to the ball, he has all that covered. He's underestimated on the defensive side."
Other quality defensive efforts came from sophomore linebacker Nils Swenson (six tackles) and junior safety James Riel (four stops and a defended pass).
But a pair of touchdowns on their opening possessions gave the Sachems a secure advantage as Modlish (133 yards on 12 carries) rambled 40 yards to pay dirt two minutes into the game followed by a 3-yard quarterback sneak from Jordan Silva 41âÑ2 minutes later.
"I think we were shocked at their strength and speed immediately at the start," Flaherty said. "They got off the ball well, and they really caught us off balance. We got up to game speed after that but we were down two scores."
The closest Ipswich could come to scoring was in response to Pentucket's second TD, riding Cadogan's back to the Sachem 28. But two costly penalties including a 15-yard chop block call followed, with a third-down sack putting the Tigers at midfield and forcing a punt.
Modlish wrapped up the scoring on a 4-yard fourth-quarter run set up by Johanson, who picked up 22 of his 81 yards on the five-play mini-march.
