BEVERLY — The English football team came into Hurd Stadium looking to keep its season rolling after a big win at Swampscott last week. Beverly had other plans.
The Panthers’ defense came ready to play and shocked the Bulldogs in a 21-7 win Saturday afternoon. Beverly coach Andrew Morency was happy to see his team rise to the occasion.
“We really had to focus this week on our defense,” Morency said. “We wanted to kind of prove ourselves a little bit as a viable contender. That all starts with defense. We felt like we had a good shot but we were kind of the underdog. We played that role and it worked out to our advantage.”
The Bulldogs struggled up front on both sides of the ball. The Panthers’ defensive pressure caused havoc for the Bulldogs’ offense from start to finish.
“We couldn’t block up front and then we missed some throws,” English coach Chris Carroll said. “Because of the pressure we had to alter our throws a bit and we couldn’t hook up. Those are plays we usually make. It wasn’t our day. They had constant pressure and you’re not going to win games like that.”
Both defenses dominated in a scoreless first quarter before running back Marje Mulumba distanced the Panthers with a pair of big plays. The senior broke off a 63-yard touchdown and, after a stalled English drive, returned a punt 79 yards to put the Panthers ahead 14-0 (Joe Loreti kicks).
It was a perfect start for Mulumba, who missed Beverly’s opener at Winthrop two weeks ago with an injury.
“He was unbelievable,” Morency said. “Marje is somebody we’ve been waiting for because he was out last week (21-6 win at Winthrop). He was chomping at the bit to get back out there. To see him get out there and perform to the level he did was great.”
The Bulldogs put their only scoring drive together before the half. Quarterback Mathias Fowler (18 carries, 58 yards) ran English into scoring position and then connected with Jessie O’Furie for a 19-yard touchdown pass to cut the Beverly lead to 14-7 (Tyler Drinan kick).
But Beverly started the second half perfectly. A six minute, 56-yard drive was capped with a 6-yard Mulumba touchdown run to give the Panthers a 21-7 lead.
“That drive to start the second half, they eat up six minutes, a bunch of time and went right down and scored,” Carroll said. “We had no answer for them up front. We got them into some long situations but we just didn’t execute. Point blank we didn’t execute and they did. They took it to us, all the credit to them. They covered us up well and they deserved to win.”
An already struggling English offense was dug into an even deeper hole with injuries sidelining Fowler and starting running back Sam O’Furie in the second half. A fumble on the Bulldogs’ final drive sealed the game for the Panthers.
The Panthers (2-0) have another tough test at home against Swampscott Saturday (1) while the Bulldogs (1-1) travel to Salem Friday (7).
“More importantly than who we have next is we need to find ourselves,” Carroll said. “We need to get back to doing the basics right. The way we played (Saturday), we’re not going to win a lot of games playing like this. But it’s why football’s a great sport. We have next week and we’ll bounce back.”