Peabody’s Cedric Gutierrez and Marcus Barker work together to bring down Beverly’s Sam Abate.
By Anne Marie Tobin
BEVERLY — Costly turnovers and an anemic offense spelled doom for the Peabody football team Saturday afternoon which ended with a 17-14 loss to Beverly at Hurd Stadium.
Make no mistake about it; this was one ugly game.
Turnovers, three-and-outs, punts and missed field goals were the order of the day as both teams offensive units struggled to move the chains.
However, despite picking up only one first down and 63 total yards in the first half, Peabody led 7-0 at halftime, thanks to a 33-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter by Jake Doherty from quarterback Matt D’Amato after a timely interception across the middle by Cam Powers.
Peabody’s defense dominated the Panthers (3-0) for the first three quarters. In the first half alone, the Tanners picked off three Kevin Morency passes to snuff out Panther drives. Beverly’s first seven possessions ended by interceptions (Doherty, Moisse Irizzary and Powers), by downs three times and by two missed field goals.
Peabody’s stats were even worse; six of its eight first half possessions lasted three plays two minutes or less. The Tanners turned the ball over on downs on the first drive of the game after picking up only nine yards on four plays. On its next drive, they picked up three yards on two plays, then lost the ball on a fumble. Three straight three-and-outs resulted in three Rayner Alvarez punts. Its next drive began and ended with an interception; Irizzary’s pick gave Peabody superior field position at the Beverly 32. In its longest drive of the half, Peabody got to the 20 in eight plays, picking up its only first down of the half before turning the ball over on an interception.
In the second half, Peabody’s first three drives gained a total of 16 total yards and ended with a punt, a fumble return for a touchdown and an interception.
In the end, however, it all came down to Beverly waking up at just the right time in the fourth quarter. The Panthers scored twice within a span of 1:24 on a 2-yard scamper by Kyle Chouinard and 26-yard fumble recovery by Alex Copeland to take a 14-7 lead, then bumped the lead to 17-7 with a 41-yard field goal by Luke Samperi with a little more than four minutes to play.
Peabody closed to within three on a 12-yard TD strike from D’Amato to Tyler Rotundo (D’Amato PAT) with 1:49 left, but the Panthers were able to run out the clock to secure the win.
“We should have won this game today,” Peabody head coach Mark Bettencourt said. “We are at our wit’s end and it’s very frustrating. Our defense basically allowed only 10 points today, but we need to find the balance between our offense and our defense. It’s a catch 22, but this one just got away in a hurry.”
Bettencourt said the turning point was early in the third quarter.
“We get a big defensive stop on their first possession, then go three-and-out and never saw the ball again in the quarter,” he said. “We ran three plays in the quarter, then they go on a long drive to tie the game.”
It went from bad to worse in a hurry for Peabody on its next possession when a pitch into the backfield D’Amato went awry. Beverly’s Copeland picked up the fumble and returned it 23 yards into the end zone to put Peabody in a 14-7 hole after Samperi added the point after.
For the first time in the game, Peabody’s offense showed signs of life on the next drive. The Tanners picked up just their second first down of the game with about seven minutes to play when D’Amato hit Cedric Gutierrez for a three yard gain to the Peabody 37-yard line. The drive ended there when Beverly’s Nick Shairs intercepted D’Amato’s pass and returned it to the Peabody 41. The Panthers drove to the 24, where Samperi made good on his third field goal attempt.
With 3:55 to go, the Tanners went hurry-up and needed just two minutes to make it a three-point game at 17-14. Doherty and D’Amato came up big, connecting four times, including a 5-yard pickup on a fourth-and-3 on the Panthers’ 48 to keep the drive alive.
Peabody picked up only 154 yards of total offense, 36 of which was on the ground, while Beverly racked up 266 total yards and held a nearly 2-1 edge in plays (62-42).
Doherty led all receivers with 59 yards on five catches, while Chouinard had a game high 73 yards rushing on 18 carries. D’Amato completed 11 of 25 passes for 118 yards.
For Peabody, it doesn’t get any easier this Friday night when the Tanners travel to NEC rival Marblehead.
“Can we stop them, we certainly have enough athletes to do so,” Bettencourt said. “We have to find the right combination of guys and players on offense, and it’s up to me to figure it out. We are in rough shape as it’s a short week, but we have to find a way to keep our offense on the field.”
BOX SCORE:
At Hurd Stadium
Peabody/0/7 0/7/–/14
Beverly/0/0/0/17/–/17
P — Jake Doherty 33 pass from Matt D’Amato (D’Amato kick)
B — Kyle Chouinard 1 run (Luke Samperi kick)
B — Alex Copeland 23 fumble (Samperi kick)
B — Samperi 41 field goal
P — Tyler Rotundo 12 pass from D’Amato
/P/B
1st downs/7/13
Yards rush/36/159
Yards pass/118/107
C-A-I/11-25-2/9-20-3
Fumb-rec/1-1/2-0
Pen-Yds/2-30/5-40
Tot Yds154/266
Plays/42/62
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
PEABODY — D’Amato 3-13, Noah Freedman 10-11, Nick Nelsnick 3-7, Nick Palma 1-4, Jake Doherty 1-1; BEVERLY — Chouinard 18-73, Sam Abate 7-59, Kevin Morency 7-20, Hugh Calice 6-10, Ameer Alshraft 1-(-1)
PASSING
PEABODY — D’Amato 11-25-2-118; BEVERLY — Morency 9-20-3-107
RECEIVING
PEABODY — Doherty 5-59, Rotundo 2-30, Moise Irrizary 1-15, Cedric Gutieriez 2-10, Palma 1-4; BEVERLY — Abate 4-45, Morency 1-25, Chouinard 1-19
Kevin Flaherty 2-17, Adams 1-1.