HAVERHILL – Blackstone Valley Tech showed Friday night it’s not a matter of how many plays you run, it’s how many of them end up in the end zone.
Despite running just over half as many plays as the host, the visiting Beavers used an efficient passing attack to knock off Whittier Tech 34-22 and advance to the State Vocational Super Bowl.
“We just came out on the short end of some plays here and there,” Whittier coach Kevin Bradley said. “We just didn’t keep anything going. We scored right away, but we never sustained drives.”
Taking the opening kickoff, the Wildcats (7-3) went on one of their typical 15-play drives, covering 70 yards in 8:41 seconds to take a 6-0 lead on a 4-yard Nick Almanzar run.
And after Blackstone Valley quickly went three-and-out, it appeared, Whittier was ready to control the clock and field position.
“They did one of those patented double-wing drives to start the game,” Blackstone Valley coach Anthony Landini said. “It took like seven and a half minutes off. I was like ‘Oh, my God. It’s going to be a long night.’ But we made some adjustments.”
The changes began in the second quarter when Alexander Burgos connected on the first two of his five touchdown passes on the night. The first covered five yards to Tyler Clare. The following 10-yarder to Nicholas Whitlock with 4 seconds left in the half was just the beginning of that particular connection.
Burgos and Whitlock opened the second half with a 33-yard scoring pass that capped an 11-play, 77-yard drive – the longest the Beavers had – for a 20-6 lead.
The Wildcats did close to within six when Almanzar capped a 75-yard march on a 4-yard run with 9:37 left in the third. Almanzar’s conversion run made the score 20-14.
“If we had played the first half like we did the second half, we would’ve been alright,” Bradley said. “The second quarter killed us. You take that out, it’s a different game.”
But Burgos and Whitlock would not let the Wildcats off the hook as they scored on 12- and 13-yard touchdowns on back-to-back possessions to open a 34-14 lead with 3:31 left in the game. Burgos, who had a team-high 67 yards rushing, completed 11 of his 17 attempts for 140 yards and the five scores while Whitlock hauled in six passes for 90 yards.
“Alex Burgos and Bryce Sheldon (62 yards on seven rushes) really carried the load tonight,” Landini said. “Nick Whitlock, our receiver made some big plays for us.”
Whittier, which ran 26 more plays than the visitors, did score less than a minute after the Beavers’ final touchdown as Giorgio Goldasis completed four passes on a quick drive that resulted in a 21-yard scoring toss to Billy Galvin and the conversion run by Devin Cloyd.
“Give them credit, they did a great job,” Bradley said of the Beavers (6-4). “Their quarterback was a good guy.”
State Vocational Semifinal
Blackstone Valley 34, Whittier 22
Blackstone Valley (6-4) 0 13 7 14 – 34
Whittier (7-4) 6 0 0 16 – 22
First quarter
Whittier – Nick Almanzar 4 run (run failed) 3:19
Second quarter
BV – Tyler Clare 5 pass from Alexander Burgos (run failed 2:33
BV – Nicholas Whitlock 10 pass from Burgos (Dale Boudreau kick) 0:04
Third quarter
BV – Whitlock 33 pass from Burgos (Boudreau kick) 5:48
Fourth quarter
Whittier – Almanzar 4 run (Almanzar run) 9:37
BV – Whitlock 12 pass from Burgos (Boudreau kick) 8:39
BV – Whitlock 13 pass from Burgos (Boudreau kick) 3:31
Whittier – Billy Galvin 21 pass from Georgio Gioldasis (Devin Cloyd run) 2:33
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: BV (21-144) – Burgos 7-67, Bryce Sheldon 7-62, Jeremiah Thomas 4-10, Adam Fransen 3-5; Whittier (48-182) – Almanzar 22-103, Cloyd 10-42, Anderson Pineda 7-19, Gioldasis 6-14, Anthony Midolo 3-8
PASSING: BV – Burgos 11-17-0, 140 yards; Whittier – Gioldasis 10-16-0, 127
RECEIVING: BV – Whitlock 6-90, Alexander Vosburgh 2-21, Ryan Rezek 1-15, Sheldon 1-13, Clare 1-5; Whittier – Galvin 7-61, Pineda 2-53, Jacob Chase 1-13