LAWRENCE — When you are facing a high school quarterback who can put up numbers like Kirk Cousins did last week for the Atlanta Falcons, you lose a lot of sleep.
But when you’re corps of running backs can compile 420 yards on the ground, you can go back to sleeping like a baby.
Just like he was last week in the wild loss to Billerica, Haverhill senior quarterback James Farrell was sensational, throwing for 339 yards three TDs, while running for three more.
Again that wasn’t enough for the Hillies as Central Catholic’s 471 yards of offense and eight touchdowns were enough to push them to the 57-40 victory played at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
“I was up all week worried about their little onside squib kicks, worried about their quarterback, and frankly worried about what Coach (Rob) Pike was going to do offensively,” said Central head coach John Sexton. “He’s a really smart guy and he can pick up a couple of things that he knows that maybe you’re not doing a great job with, and he will beat you with that. Their quarterback is a really good player and they’ve got a really good, smart coach, so they’re a pain in the neck.”
Haverhill (1-4) marched right down the field on the opening kickoff and scored on a 15-yard run by Farrell. Central (3-3) came right back as Jefferson Morales scored two of his three touchdowns on the night from 17 and 11 yards out, to take the lead.
Although things got hairy at times after that, the Raiders never looked back.
“Our offensive line played really well, our quarterback runs tough and we came into this game thinking we could run it and we did,” said Sexton. “We’ve been waiting for Jefferson to have a breakout game like this. He’s a good back, and he helped us set the tone tonight with those two early scores.”
Morales added a 52-yard run in the second half. He said he has never had a three-touchdown game before, and plans to have more.
“This is huge for me. I think it’s very big. I’ve always wanted to get that one touchdown mark, because I know I can do it. I hit the holes today. I had the vision and made some runs up the field, but it was all because of my linemen – Thomas Galusha, Brian Waller-Reitano, Timothy Jaracz, Preston Lee and Dylan Brown — they are all studs.”
Sophomore quarterback Caden Smith added 113 rushing yards and two scores, while he also tossed a TD pass to Drew O’Keefe. Also, junior Caden Chase finished with a game high 149 rushing yards and a score, and Connor Grella added the other rushing TD.
“I want to get as many guys as we can touches, carries and receptions, so that the defense that we’re playing isn’t coming into the game saying, ‘OK we’re going to take this away.’ It’s a process but we were able to spread it around tonight and it was a pretty good effort,” said Sexton.
Haverhill has now put up 94 points in two games. Farrell tossed a pair of TD passes to Zavion Alvarez (9 catches, 115 yards) and another to Jathian DeJesus (9 catches, 126 yards), while, Farrell rushed in three scores as part of his 22 carries for 60 yard night – on top of his 339 passing yards.
“We are doing a lot of good things offensively. I think we put a lot of pressure on teams with the pace that we go at,” said Pike. “James can run, he can throw and he’s the real deal. and we’ve got some receivers who can go and get it. We also have (Bryan) Dos Santos who has been running great. We’ve got a really good offensive line that has a lot of experience. (Jadriel) Sanchez, Brian Tejeda and Alex Feil are blocking their tails off. There are some positives to come out of this as we’re competing against some of the top teams in the state. We’ve just got to improve on the defensive side.”
Central Catholic 57, Haverhill 40
First Quarter
H: James Farrell 15 run (rush failed)
C: Jefferson Morales 17 run (Drew O’Keefe kick)
C: Morales 11 run (Drew Alsup rush)
Second Quarter
C: Connor Grella 20 run (O’Keefe kick)
H: Zavion Alvarez 22 pass from Farrell (pass failed)
C: O’Keefe 19 pass from Caden Smith (O’Keefe kick)
H: Alvarez 21 pass from Farrell (Brandon Piraino pass from Farrell)
Third Quarter
C: Smith 54 run (O’Keefe kick)
H: Farrell 6 run (Bryan Dos Santos rush)
C: Caden Chase 6 run (O’Keefe kick)
Fourth Quarter
H: Farrell 1 run (pass failed)
C: Morales 52 run (O’Keefe kick)
C: Smith 42 run (O’Keefe kick)
H: Jathian DeJesus 4 pass from Farrell (rush failed)
Individual Leaders
Passing: Haverhill, James Farrell 27 for 48, 339 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs; Central Catholic, Caden Smith 4 for 6, 51 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs.
Rushing: Haverhill, James Farrell 22-60, 3 TDs; Bryan Dos Santos 16-49; Central Catholic: Caden Chase 15-149, 1 TD; Caden Smith 4-113, 2 TDs; Jefferson Morales 6-91, 3 TDs; Armari Mills 6-48; Connor Grella 1-20, 1 TD.
Receiving: Haverhill, Jathian DeJesus 9-126, 1 TD; Zavion Alvarez 9-115, 2 TDs; Brandon Piraino 5-67; Parker DiNatale 3-27; Bryan Dos Santos 1-4; Central, Drew O’Keefe 1-18, 1 TD; Drew Alsup 1-13; Aermari Mills 1-12; Connor Grella 1-7.