PEABODY — Thursday night’s pelting rain and high winds did not bother Sean Costa.
“Are you kidding?” asked the Beverly High football captain. “This is real football weather, which makes it fun. Running backs live for weather like this and look forward to it.”
Costa, who ran for a game-high 87 yards and scored all three of his team’s touchdowns, and an inspired Panthers’ defense certainly didn’t let the elements affect them. They left Coley Lee Field with a 22-0 victory over host Peabody High.
Now 5-3 at the end of the regular season, Beverly will move on to the Division 2 state playoffs for the first time in four years; the pairings will be announced Sunday afternoon.
“We knew what we had to do coming in here to get the job done, and we trusted each other,” senior defensive back Xavier Auk. “We really communicated well tonight, and the defense played great.”
It was the Panthers’ first shutout over Peabody since a 49-0 blasting during Beverly’s unbeaten Super Bowl championship season of 2012.
“All of our guys are keyed up for the playoffs,” said Panther head coach Jeff Hutton, who will find out his team’s postseason foe and when the game will be played when the pairings are released Sunday afternoon. “A lot of teams might take it for granted, but I hope our guys realize how much work they’ve done the last three years to make this happen.”
Peabody (0-8), which had not been shut out since opening night against Melrose (21-0) will play in a pair of non-playoff ‘consolation’ contests prior to their annual Thanksgiving tilt against Saugus.
“We shot ourselves in the foot a few times, which has been a theme all season,” said Peabody head coach Mark Bettencourt, his team falling to 0-8. “We had some chances; even when it was 16-0, we were telling the guys ‘We’re still in this; we’re only two scores down.’ We just couldn’t make it happen.”
Part of that was a stout Beverly defensive line that made running the back difficult for the hosts and put pressure on pass protectors all game. Alex Marquez and Jerome Sutton never came out of the ballgame from their defensive end spots, while Joao Reis, Colin Moloney and Ricky Torres rotated in at nose guard with efficiency.
“Those guys really got after it all night,” said Auk.
Having first began in 1920, this was the 72nd meeting between the two schools, with Beverly now holding a 38-31-3 all-time lead. Peabody had captured four of the previous five meetings.
It was a sloppy first half for both squads, who worked their way into enemy territory only to turn the ball over on downs or via turnover.
Beverly picked off three Peabody passes in the opening 24 minutes, with two of those turning into touchdowns.
The first came when senior Floyd White intercepted a throw on the hosts’ 45-yard line, taking it up the left sideline before he was eventually brought down at the 5. On the very next play, Costa bulled his way into the end zone for a 7-0 lead late in the first.
Late in the first half, Tanners quarterback Luke Maglione threw the ball towards the Beverly end zone on fourth down, but Costa stepped in front of the intended receiver and came up with the theft. A 17-yard run by Sean Okhuozagbon and a 34-yard quarterback draw by Danny Pierce put the Panthers in scoring range, and two plays later Costa shed a would-be tackler on a toss left and scored on another 5-yard run just 11 seconds before halftime.
“I’ll have to watch the film, but I’m pretty sure all four of our defensive linemen had a chance to bring down Pierce but couldn’t,” said Bettencourt. “We’ve got to make plays; if we bring him down at the 50-yard line, they probably run two more plays and go to halftime and we’re only down seven. Instead, we’re down 14 and giving them the ball to start the second half.”
Beverly added two points to its total in the third quarter by way of a safety. A slippery ball due to the intensifying rain sailed over the head of Peabody’s backup QB —Maglione had to come out for a play because his helmet came off on the previous down — and by the time he recovered it in the end zone, Panther senior linebacker Elvis Heredia quickly got him in his grasp and brought him down.
Costa’s third and final score came in the fourth quarter on another toss left, this one from six yards out.
“For us as a program, we want to close the book on the regular season and focus on our last three games,” said Bettencourt, referring to his team’s two upcoming non-playoff contests plus its annual Thanksgiving tilt vs. Saugus. “There’s the opportunity for us to go into the offseason with a three-game winning streak; that’s the way we have to think.”
Senior Lucas Monfette had Beverly’s other interception off a tipped ball in the first quarter.
Beverly 22, Peabody 0
at Coley Lee Field, Peabody
Beverly (4-3 coming in);7;7;2;6;22 Peabody (0-7 coming in);0;0;0;0;0 Scoring summary
B — Sean Costa 5 run (Luca Guevara kick)
B — Costa 5 run (Guevara kick)
B — Safety, Elvis Heredia tackles quarterback in end zone
B — Costa 6 run (kick failed)
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Beverly — Sean Costa 15-87, Stephan Sullivan 5-56, Sean Okhuozagbon 13-50, Pierce 6-43, Floyd White 2-7, George Frost 1-4, Xavier Auk 1-(-8); Peabody — Yadiel Villanueva 5-16, Christ Jeune 4-11, Jaoquim Chaves 10-11, Vincent Alexandre 1-(-2), Luke Maglione 4-(-10).
PASSING: Beverly — Pierce 4-12-46-0-0; Peabody — Maglione 9-17-79-0-3.
RECEIVING: Beverly — Costa 1-24, White 3-22; Peabody — Cory Dooley 4-27, Brian Collins Dixon 2-23, Mark Mendonca 1-16, Gabriel Casiano 1-7, Jack Smith 1-6.
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