PEABODY — Twice in the fourth quarter, the Peabody High football team faced must-have fourth downs with a chance to take the lead against undefeated rival Danvers. Both times, Falcon senior captain Nick Xerras made sure the Tanners couldn’t have them.
A sack by Xerras with 7:06 to go and his tipped pass at the line of scrimmage with 2:01 remaining did the job defensively. The visiting Falcons got a 60-yard punt return touchdown from another captain, Colby Medeiros, for their only second half points to earn a scintillating 17-14 victory over Peabody at Coley Lee Field.
By finishing only the third unbeaten regular season in program history, Danvers (7-0) locked up its sixth all-time Northeastern Conference Dunn title and first since 2019.
“It means so much … I’ve been so close to the NEC title in different sports and come up short,” said Medeiros, a three-sport captain for Danvers. “To get it in football, senior year, means everything.”
Peabody (6-2) threw everything it had at the Falcons, outgaining the visitors 279-194 in the game and by a staggering 127-34 margin in the second half.
Under pressure, though, the Danvers defense made stops, turning the hosts over on downs to end a 13-play drive midway through the fourth quarter and once again with 2:01 to go. Xerras, a monster defensive end, got his hand on Peabody QB Dominik Mercier’s pass to take away what looked like a wide open first down.
“There wasn’t much to say. We just had to play together as a team,” Xerras said of what got his defense going. “Play our rules and sprint to the ball.”
Down by three (10-7) at halftime, Peabody asserted itself with a 15-play scoring drive capped by Drake Dixon’s short touchdown to seize its first lead, 14-10. After forcing a Falcon punt, the Tanners appeared to have all the momentum … but Danvers held serve by forcing a punt that wound up changing the game for good.
Medeiros fielded the bouncing ball, hit the sideline and raced more-or-less untouched for a 60-yard touchdown to restore Danvers’ advantage, 17-14.
“To be honest, there wasn’t much for me to do,” said Medeiros. “As soon as it bounced, I saw a hole and went. The blocking was perfect. All I had to do was hit it.”
Led by linebackers Andrew Senfuma and Stylz Bonaventure, plus a Herculean effort at defensive end by Matt Dresser, Peabody’s defense didn’t concede a first down to Danvers until Falcon senior Jack Houston willed himself to a clock-killing fresh set with under a minute to play.
“You can’t simulate the speed Danvers plays with in practice, so we knew it would take a quarter or two to catch up to them,” said Peabody head coach Mark Bettencourt. “Our guys did a great job with the second half adjustments.”
Mercier drove the bus for Peabody, throwing for 143 yards and a touchdown and rushing for 75 yards.
Danvers head coach Ryan Nolan credited Medeiros’ play at safety for making sure a few 10-15 yard runs by Mercier didn’t turn into 50-plus yard gashers. The Falcons also mixed up man and zone coverages, with senior Aidan McClearn doing a nice job and ace running back Zach Fultz sliding out to corner at times.
“We had so many guys make plays across the board,” Nolan said. “We responded to a lot of adversity. We showed resilience and we showed character.”
Fultz (96 yards rushing) set the tone on the opening drive as Danvers needed just six plays to take a 7-0 lead. Peabody nearly matched the Falcons, but Ethan Schweitzer intercepted a fourth down pass to keep the Tanners off the scoreboard. Medeiros then hit a 30-yard field goal to make it 10-0.
The Tanners responded with their own scoring drive, capped by Mercier hitting captain Mark Mendonca over the middle for a 17-yard score. Those were the first points allowed by Danvers in four games and 175 minutes and 13 seconds of total game time going back to Sept. 25.
“Dom’s the heart and soul of our offense,” Bettencourt noted.
After seizing the lead on Medeiros’ punt return, the Falcons called for an onside kick that Medeiros executed perfectly and recovered himself (“Incredible. he can hardly breath after the return and he does that,” Nolan said). It was a chance to extend the lead and KO the hosts, but the Tanners dug in for a defensive stop.
“Our toughness was questioned and we answered the bell,” said Bettencourt. “We didn’t fold. We played a full game against a very physical team. A lot of people, including myself, were wondering if we were capable of that.”
Captain Brian Collins Dixon was Peabody’s leading receiver with six grabs for 53 yards and Aniel Espinal also gained 45 total yards and had two key fourth down conversions.
Sticking within a touchdown of the Falcons should do enough to keep the Tanners in position for a home game in next week’s Division 2 playoffs, with the pairings announced on Sunday.
For Danvers, Houston ran for 58 yards. The Falcons project as a top four seed in the Division 4 playoff draw and can enjoy their first NEC title in seven years for at least a couple of days.
“It’s an unreal feeling. I couldn’t be any prouder of all these guys,” said Xerras. “Winning our league means so much for our town … but we’re very much not done yet.”
Danvers 17, Peabody 14
at Coley Lee Field, Peabody
Danvers (7-0);7;3;7;0;17
Peabody (6-2);0;7;7;0;14
Scoring summary
D — Zach Fultz 5 run (Colby Medeiros kick)
D — Medeiros 30 field goal
P — Mark Mendonca 17 pass from Dominik Mercier (Jack Marcotullio kick)
P — Drake Dixon 3 run (Marcotullio kick)
D — Medeiros 60 punt return (Medeiros kick)
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Danvers — Zach Fultz 14-96, Jack Houston 15-68, Evan Kaciqi 3-20, Nate Wise 3-2; Peabody — Dominik Mercier 22-75, Drake Dixon 10-45, Logan Bryte 1-11, Aniel Espinal 1-5.
PASSING: Danvers — Wise 1-2-8-0-0; Peabody — Mercier 15-24-143-1-1.
RECEIVING: Danvers — Houston 1-8; Peabody — Brian Collins Dixon 6-52, Mark Mendonca 5-51, Espinal 2-40, Jack Smith 2-0.