PEABODY — One thing you need to know about the new-look Peabody High football team is that it’s far from a one-man show.
So while senior quarterback Dominik Mercier had another sublime performance Friday night, rushing for 131 yards and four touchdowns, head coach Mark Bettencourt came away most impressed by just how many players made major contributions to a 44-6 triumph over Malden in the home opener at Coley Lee Field.
“The analogy I use is making brownies,” said Bettencourt, whose team is 2-0 for the fourth time in the last five seasons. “We have the vegetable oil. We have the butter. We have the milk and the eggs. We have all the ingredients. Can we bring them together and turn the into something that we’ll remember?”
What were some of the ingredients in Bettencourt’s winning recipe Friday? Look to senior captain Jake Marcotullio, who started at right tackle in place of injured freshman Zaiden Nazaire and had a tremendous game; Marcotullio was also a perfect 6-for-6 on extra points.
Look to junior captain Mark Bettencourt, who slid into Nazaire’s defensive end spot and was also perfect on his offensive snaps at center.
On defense, Peabody was without injured captain Brian Collins Dixon and saw juniors Joe Fagundes and Drake Dixon fill in tremendously at the critical outside linebacker spot.
Sophomore Stylz Bonaventure had another great game playing sideline-to-sideline at middle linebacker. Sophomore Ryan Levesque jumped in front of a Malden pass a took it back 95 yards for a touchdown to highlight the fourth quarter.
Junior Ty Lomasney also had a game-changing play, charging in on a corner blitz and sacking Malden’s QB in the end zone for a safety.
Topping off the winning formula was senior Shawn Costa, who blocked like a bulldozer at offensive guard and uncorked a 40-plus yard punt.
As the unbeaten Tanners ran away from Malden (1-1) by scoring the game’s last 30 points and holding a 23-0 second half advantage, the results proved delicious for the fans on hand at Coley Lee Field.
“We got that blend. We got contributions from so many different people,” said Bettencourt. “A lot of kids stepped up and made sure there wasn’t a huge drop off from the guys who were out. That’s what good teams find ways to do.”
Mercier proved impossible for the Golden Tornadoes to contain on the ground. His first two touchdowns came on runs of 18- and 17 yards with an interception by senior captain Mark Mendonca helping set up the early 14-0 lead.
Malden’s Jayden McGuffie (who rushed for over 2,000 yards in 2025) broke free for a 65 yard touchdown to halve the lead (at 14-6) late in the second. He ran for 124 yards on 12 carries but didn’t touch the ball in the second half after taking two unsportsmanlike conduct flags, which by rule meant he had to leave the game.
Tanner junior Drake Dixon scored his first varsity TD on a four yard run to make it 21-6 at the break. Tuck-and-runs by Mercier for 14- and 42 yards helped cap the scoring, and for good measure the senior signal caller completed 14-of-15 passes for 131 yards.
“Defenses have to account for Dom, which means we’re playing against 10 guys because one is on him,” Bettencourt noted. “He adds a completely new aspect to our offense and it opens up so many different things that we can do.”
Senior captain Matt Dresser also recovered a fumble for Peabody, which won the turnover battle 3-0. Defensively, Aniel Espinal had five tackles, Bonaventure had six and Jameson Cejour had a sack plus a very strong all-around game. Senior James Hooper also excelled on the line and Jack Smith led the receivers with 73 yards on five catches.
“The way we responded after the long TD run made me very proud,” Bettencourt said. “We did it tonight on offense, defense and special teams.”
One thing to clean up is penalties, with the Tanners being flagged for nearly 100 yards for a second straight week. Overall, they outgained Malden 293-177 to extend the all-time series lead to 27-9. It was also the first time Peabody reached 40 points in back-to-back weeks since November of 2022.
“There’s a lot to feel good about, but plenty to clean up,” said Bettencourt. “We know we need to be better (next week) against Lynn English.”
Peabody 44, Malden 6
at Coley Lee Field, Peabody
Malden (1-1);0;6;0;0;6
Peabody (2-0);7;14;16;7;44
Scoring summary
P — Dominik Mercier 18 run (Jake Marcotullio kick)
P — Mercier 17 run (Marcotullio kick)
M — Jayden McGuffie 65 run (rush failed)
P — Drake Dixon 4 run (Marcotullio kick)
P — Mercier 14 run (Marcotullio kick)
P — Safety (Ty Lomasney sacked Malden QB in end zone)
P — Mercier 42 run (Marcotullio kick)
P — Ryan Levesque 95 interception return (Marcotullio kick)
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Malden — Jayden McGuffie 12-124, Josh Dion 8-0, Ryan Lucas 1-0, Josh Bly 1-(-2); Peabody — Dominik Mercier 13-131, Drake Dixon 7-34.
PASSING: Malden — Dion 4-11-51-0-2; Peabody — Mercier 14-15-128-0-0.
RECEIVING: Malden— Nathan Schonton 2-26, Jeremiah Charles 1-13, McGuffie 1-12; Peabody — Jack Smith 5-73, Aniel Espinal 4-32, Mark Mendonca 4-25, Dixon 1-(-2).