Marblehead running back Jaason Lopez rushed for 124 yards and two scores in the Magicians’ win over Peabody. Item File Photo
By Mike Alongi
MARBLEHEAD — The rain wasn’t enough to slow down the high-powered Marblehead offense, as the Magicians rolled to a 33-14 win over the Peabody Tanners at Piper Field on Friday night.
Jaason Lopez rushed for 124 yards and two touchdowns while also adding 45 receiving yards, while quarterback Drew Gally completed 10-of-18 passes for 132 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Derek Marino had a big game on both sides of the ball, catching a 25-yard touchdown pass, recovering a fumble and recording an interception. Harry Craig also caught a touchdown pass.
“We had a solid week of practice,” said Marblehead coach Jim Rudloff. “But we really didn’t execute well in this one. Too many penalties, some coaching issues, there’s still plenty to work on.”
For Peabody (1-3), Noah Friedman rushed for 72 yards and a touchdown, while Jake Doherty rushed for 65 yards and a touchdown.
“I’m not sure what we were doing out there in the first half,” said Peabody coach Mark Bettencourt. “I don’t know why we couldn’t just pound the ball with our size advantage. We just didn’t want to play football in the first half, that’s the only way I can explain it.”
The Magicians (4-0) were all over the place to open the game. After forcing a fumble on Peabody’s opening drive, Marblehead orchestrated a nine-play, 56-yard drive into the endzone. Lopez did the bulk of the work on the drive, catching two passes for 45 yards and getting the Magicians down to the one-yard line. From there, it was Gally who punched in a quarterback sneak from one yard out. After the extra point, Marblehead led 7-0.
It didn’t take long for the Magicians to score again. After pinning Peabody at its own 15-yard line and forcing a three-and-out, Marblehead blocked a punt and recovered it deep in Peabody territory. After a defensive pass interference call put the Magicians on the five-yard line, Gally hit Harry Craig with a quick five-yard touchdown pass to go up 13-0.
The game settled down a bit after that, with the two teams trading short drives throughout most of the second quarter. Then, with less than two minutes left, Marino intercepted a pass from Jonell Espinal to give the Magicians the ball in the red zone. After a holding penalty pushed them back 10 yards, Gally hit Marino with a deep 25-yard touchdown pass to put the Magicians up 19-0 with just over 30 seconds left in the half.
Having deferred after winning the opening coin toss, Marblehead got the ball right back to start the second half. It only took three plays for them to get into the endzone, with Lopez breaking through a hole and taking it 59 yards to the house. After a Lopez caught the two-point conversion, the Magicians went up 27-0.
Peabody’s first drive of the second half was a long, grinding drive, going 13 plays for 65 yards. All but 13 of those yards came on the ground, as the Tanners rushed the ball 11 times. Doherty and Friedman split the carries on the drive, and Friedman finished it with a five-yard touchdown run to get on the board.
Marblehead responded with its own long drive, going 65 yards in nine plays. Lopez capped off the drive once again, this time with a five-yard touchdown run to go up 33-7.
The Tanners added one more score on a six-yard touchdown run by Doherty, but that’s as close as Peabody would get. The Tanners will try to regroup next week when they host Lynn Classical.
Marblehead will look to continue its undefeated season with a home game against Beverly next week.