Reading’s defense steps up vs. Danvers

DANVERS — After winning on offense its first two weeks, Reading showed it can also impress on defense.

Leading by four with just over a minute to go and Danvers flirting with the goahead score, Brendan Lindmark stepped in front of a Travis Voisine pass for a game-sealing interception as No. 9 Reading grinded out a 14-10 win over 18th-ranked Danvers on Friday night at Danvers High School.

Both sides pitched defensive shutouts in the second half with no drive lasting more than eight plays until the Falcons’ final opportunity. “I was just focused on my man,” Lindmark said of his game-clinching interception. “When my man came across the field, and (the quarterback) rolled out I just knew where the ball was going and could see it happening.”

Trailing 14-10 with 3:15 to go, the Falcons found themselves backed up on their own 1-yard line after a defensive stop at the goal line kept the deficit at four. On three separate occasions the Rockets forced the Falcons into fourth down but Danvers converted all three times — two on penalties — to move into Rockets’ territory.

Danvers got all the way down to the Rockets’ 27yard line with 1:03 remaining when Voisine connected with Colin Kelter for 22 yards. Lindmark, however, saved the day as the junior defensive back stayed with his man as Voisine rolled out of the pocket and stepped in front of the sophomore quarterback’s pass to clinch a key road win for the Rockets.

“Some calls went against us, some calls went for us but you just have to keep playing,” Reading coach John Fiore said. “We did not know how we were going to hold up against (Danvers) physically but we hung in there. There was a good lesson for our guys tonight about situational football.”

Junior quarterback James Murphy finished 18-of-26 for 252 yards and two total touchdowns for Reading. His main target for the evening, Ryan Strout, finished with 107 receiving yards.

Reading worked seamlessly on its opening drive as Murphy went 4-for-4, capped off by a 28-yard catch-and-run by Colby Goodchild for a touchdown, to put the Rockets on top 7-0.

Danvers answered by going on an eight-play, 72yard drive that finished with Dominic Baez trucking in from eight yards out to tie the score, 7-7.

The Rockets reclaimed the lead with Murphy continuing his early-game groove as he connected with Strout and Alex DiNapoli for 28 yards before keeping it himself on a zone read for a 17-yard TD run.

An Aidan Smith 20-yard field goal trimmed the Falcons’ deficit to 14-10 before the half.