Lowell hands Cullen first victory

Anthony Rivera helped the Lowell High football team post the first victory of the Shy Cullen era.

The Red Raiders quarterback scored a pair of touchdowns, including the first strike of the game, as Lowell (1-5) leveled Lawrence (0-5) for its first win of the season, 21-6, handing Cullen, a first-year head coach, his first win Friday night.

Lowell managed to take advantage of some costly penalties in a chippy Merrimack Valley Conference clash. A facemask call midway through the contest put the Red Raiders in prime position. Kicker Adam Durkin booted a 31-yard field goal, giving his squad the 10-0 edge at halftime.

The Red Raiders extended its lead in the third quarter. Evan Finn found

Jacob Smith with a 10-yard touchdown pass to pad its 17-0 cushion. Lawrence managed to cut the deficit, but Rivera thwarted any thoughts of a comeback, making a key interception in the closing minutes, before breaking in on a 1-yard TD scamper to seal the deal.

Cullen, a former Lowell High star, went on to play linebacker at Syracuse University.

Dual County League

Westford 21, Lincolnsudbury 6: A defense that caused five turnovers helped guide the Westford Academy football team.

Running back Anthony Rudiman had a monster game, gaining 201 yards on the ground, rushing for a score and hauling in a touchdown pass.

Jake Cullen tossed two touchdown passes, an 8-yard score to Rudiman and a 28-yard TD to Luke Fremault. Fremault was also immense on defense with two interceptions. Alex Wilson also picked off a pass, while Jack Nelkin and Drew Wilson had fumble recoveries.

NHIAA Div. 2

Pelham 35, Milford 13: Senior Ethan Demmons used his 235-pound frame to churn out 166 yards on 21 carries as the Pythons (7-0) remained undefeated at home at Harris Family Field.

Jake Travis ran 11 times for 61 yards as Pelham finished with 273 yards rushing. Travis got the scoring started with a 34-yard run. Scott Paquette added runs of one and six yards for scores and Cesar Martinez

hauled in a 25-yard pass from Travis. Dom Herrling capped the scoring with a 49-yard interception.

Mid-wach

Tyngsboro 35, Littleton 0: Bryce Goulet tossed three touchdown passes, including an 89-yard strike to Gavin Hehir, and ran for a score as Tyngsboro won the battle of the Tigers.

Goulet started things off with a 1-yard run, threw a 19-yard score to Anthony Nicosia, tossed a 17-yard TD to Hehir and then connected with Hehir on the 89-yard score. Hehir capped the scoring with a 9-yard run. Goulet was 4-for-8 for 125 yards. Hehir rushed 18 times for 95 yards and caught two passes for 106 yards and the two scores.

Groton-dunstable 33, Oakmont 18: Zach Romich accounted for three touchdowns to fuel the Crusaders to the road win in Ashburnham.

Nate Bushnell was again a factor on the ground, rushing for touchdowns of one and 24 yards. Hauling in TD passes from Romich were Harry Palmer (24 yards) and Finn Bernard (8 yards). Romich also rushed for a score for G-D (3-3).

Ayer Shirley 34, Narragansett 0: Ayer Shirley (51, 3-0 league) celebrated its homecoming in style with a shutout over Narragansett.

Brian Holmes ran for two touchdowns and tossed two more, an 18-yarder to Jack Thomas and a 28-yard strike to Wyatt Gallant. Cam Marshall added an 11yard rushing score.

Maynard 39, North Middlesex 13: North Middlesex (3-3) fell back to .500 despite playing hard to the final whistle.

The Patriots scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns as Michael Reardon Jr. found Brady Reardon open for a 4-yard score and then hit Cade Callahan with a 19-yard scoring pass.

CAC

Essex Tech 14, Greater Lowell 13: It was an agonizing road loss for the Gryphons, who scored with two seconds left to pull within a point but then had its twopoint conversion attempt fail.

Aviren Chitpaseuth rushed 33 times for 142 yards for the Gryphons (2-4). Brendan Arsenault tossed two touchdowns to Jayson Frasca to account for 12 of Greater Lowell’s points, a 7-yard strike and

a 4-yard TD in the waning seconds.

Middlesex Freedom

Burlington 41, Wilmington 35: Peter Leblanc rushed for three touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough as Burlington (3-3) beat Wilmington

(0-6).

Trailing 28-7, the Wildcats staged a strong second-half surge. Jacob Roque hooked up with Michael Lawler on a big 92yard Hail Mary, cutting the deficit to 41-27.

Leblanc led the comeback, breaking into the end zone on his first of three strikes late in the third quarter. He kept the Wildcats alive with two more in

a fourth-quarter flourish, racing in with his third TD of the game with 33 seconds remaining.

MVC 2

North Andover 46, Dracut 0: The Middies (1-5, 0-3 MVC) were unable to get its offense in motion, as they fell to North Andover.

Quarterback Drew Fitzgerald sent in Cam Partridge with an early touchdown, as the Scarlett Knights took the lead it would not relinquish. North Andover was powered by a strong ground game with Zach Wolinski and James Federico running rampant, building a 26-0 cushion by halftime.

Other action

In NHIAA Div. 1 Central play, Londonderry rolled past Alvirne, 48-14.