Generals Grind Out 6-0 Victory Over Triton on Gridiron

In the first half of its season-opener against Triton, the Hamilton-Wenham football team controlled both on offense and defense. But it only had a six-point advantage.

While the offense stalled in the second half, the defense turned up the pressure, resulting in a tight, 6-0 victory for the Generals in Byfield.

“That was a great game; a gutsy job by the defense,” said Hamilton-Wenham coach Andrew Morency. “They are a tough team. We knew that coming in, especially on their home field.”

The visitor’s 31-8 advantage in plays from scrimmage was a major concern for Vikings coach Patrick Sheehan and he changed his game plan after the break by mixing the pass and run more.

But its second-half opening 11-play drive stalled at the Generals 30-yard line when Hamilton-Wenham senior captain Kevin Anthony snuffed out a pass in the flat and took down Triton’s Ryan Clark for a two-yard loss.

Then when the Vikings got the ball back one last time with 3:15 remaining in the game, senior Paul Kim thwarted any idea of a game-tying score when he flushed out quarterback Blaise Whitman and dragged him down as he threw an incomplete pass on the run.

Anthony was all over the field and transfer Luke Wendt continually put heat on the quarterback.

“All I was thinking on that last play was to give it my all,” said Kim, a nose guard. “After I missed the PAT (in the first half) I wanted to make up for it on defense.”

“Paul is a senior who had to wait his turn. He has worked very hard,” said Morency. “And Luke and Kevin Anthony take a lot of pride in their defense.”

Hamilton-Wenham put the only points on the board on the first drive of the game.

Elliot Burr (25 carries, 113 yards) got the ball on the first three snaps of the 15-play drive and moved his team to the Generals 40 yard line.

Hamilton-Wenham grinded it out until it faced a 4-and-2 play at the Triton 25. But junior quarterback Trevor Lyons (3-for-7, 36 yards) found Matt Puter (2 receptions, 32 yards) down the middle for 17 yards. And two plays later Burr, a senior captain, was in the end zone.

“Tackling (Burr) proved to be a difficult task,” said Sheehan. “We had some guys who hit (him) at the point of attack but they rumbled for more yards.”

Special teams also contributed as Jenkins repeatedly pinned the Vikings deep in their territory with his high and long punts. And on the Generals final punt with 15 seconds remaining Will White pounced on a fumble to secure the win.

It was a tough result for Triton, which fell to Hamilton-Wenham by six points last year, too, 14-8.

“I was happy with our effort,” Sheehan said. “But we can’t worry about the little things, the breaks, refs’ calls, because we can’t control that.”