PEABODY — Those that played in this 74th Thanksgiving Day football game between Peabody and Saugus didn’t want any pie for dessert. Instead, they asked for sweet and savory turnovers.
There were eight combined turnovers between these rivals Thursday morning, but five interceptions by the Tanner defense made the difference in a 27-6 win at Coley Lee Field.
The ninth consecutive Thanksgiving Day victory for the Northeastern Conference champion Tanners put a cap on a 10-1 season. It’s the first time Peabody High has won 10 games in back-to-back seasons in the school’s 131-year history of varsity football.
“It’s not really hitting me yet that it’s over,” said senior captain Eli Batista, who graduates as Peabody’s (and the North Shore’s) all-time leader in receptions with 174. “I told myself I was going to give it 110 percent, just give it my all and have fun out there because it’s my last game in Tanner blue.”
An electric punt return by Batista for his 44th career touchdown touched off a 20-point opening quarter that put the hosts in control. The dangerous speedster fielded a bouncing ball near midfield, evaded a couple of Sachem tackles and weaved his way to the opposite sideline before hitting the jets for a 7-0 edge two minutes in.
“I find myself flashing back to being at Higgins Middle School the day Eli told me and Doug (Santos) he was coming to Peabody High to play for us,” said Tanner head coach Mark Bettencourt. “To think about everything we’ve been through from that moment to now is overwhelming.
“Eli’s an old school player: team first, me second. That’s what makes him extra special.”
Peabody’s first offensive play was the first of three fumbles recovered by Saugus (5-6), but after the Tanner defense forced another punt the Blue-and-White needed just one play to extend the lead. Senior captain Alex Silva raced 54 yards up the middle for touchdown and a 14-0 lead.
“This game felt amazing. We had a fun week of practice and wanted to leave it all on the field,” said Silva, who ran for 75 yards on eight carries and also had one of his team’s five INTs. “As a defense we went out there, got our stops and did our thing.”
Senior outside linebacker Don Cavanaugh jumped a Sachem route and took his interception back 31 yards for another Peabody score just before the first quarter ended. After a nice punt return by captain Nick Dresser, Cavanaugh posted Peabody’s second 1-play scoring drive by rushing 23 yards for his second touchdown of the game.
Ahead 27-0, the Tanners leaned on their defense to close out the victory. Saugus and captain Tommy DeSimone (40 yards on 23 carries) ran hard, but it was tough sledding going into monsters like Alex Jackson, Jimmy Festa and Matt Mastrocola, with Silva and Cavanaugh doing the tackling.
The Sachems had just 35 net rushing yards, the eighth opponent Peabody held under 100 rushing yards this fall while allowing a average of only 60.7 per game.
Senior Joey Thibault led the defensive line with three tackles-for-loss while Cory Dooley, Jackson and Mastrocola also had stops behind the line.
When the Sachems opted to pass, the Tanners stole the ball. Junior Dorlyn Morel had a pair of interceptions along with those by Cavanaugh and Silva.
After DeSimone scored on a 13-yard run to make it 27-6 in the third, Saugus recovered an onside kick and had a chance to draw within two scores. The first play of the drive was picked off by Dresser, though, for Peabody’s 14th interception of the season.
“This felt great,” said Dresser, who got the share the field with younger brother Matt (a freshman lineman) for a few snaps.
The Tanners dug into their bag of tricks to try to extend the lead. An option pass by Batista nearly resulted in a touchdown but was dropped, as were some other deep shots. Just before halftime, senior Marco Dominici blocked a punt for 1st-and-goal from the 2-yard line. The Sachem defense stuffed three straight runs as time expired, however.
“We took our foot off the gas,” noted Bettencourt.
Getting a lot of players, and seniors, involved on offense saw Peabody use nine ballcarriers and amass 173 yards. Dresser had 30 receiving yards and sophomore QB Luke Maglione was 6-of-10 for 50 yards. Senior linemen Reymi Andino and Mark Clanton helped the hosts control the line of scrimmage.
Senior Domenic Scalese added three extra points to his school record career total of 135 and narrowly missed what would’ve been a school record 49-yard field goal. Fellow senior Robert Smith also did a solid job punting.
Alex Silva was particularly thankful to share the field with his brother, Anthony, who missed about half the season with a knee injury.
“I love playing with him and almost took it for granted until he got hurt. I wish I had more games with him,” said Silva, a two-year captain who helped the Tanners go 20-2 those two seasons and 32-7 in his four varsity campaigns.
“It’s a great group of guys and we came full circle from youth football. We’ve got a winning culture here in Peabody. That’s what its all about.”
The three Saugus fumble recoveries were by Ethan Malcolm, Braden Faiella and Koby Jette, but none resulted in points.
Peabody surpassed 300 points in three straight seasons for the first time ever while also posting three straight NEC Lynch titles. The Tanners’ 16 seniors had a lot to be proud of since they put the program back among the top 20 or so in the state. But with an expected move back to the NEC Dunn next fall and a restlessness about the program’s 30-yard Super Bowl drought, there’s plenty of work ahead for the underclassmen.
“I’m happy for our seniors. They made it a point to bring this program back to credibility. People assumed we’d be back down after last year and these kids didn’t let that happen. They raised the bar another level,” said Bettencourt.
“Now the question for the juniors is, ‘How do you top it?’ It’s going to take a lot of hard work.”
Peabody 27, Saugus 6
at Coley Lee Field, Peabody
Saugus (5-6);0;0;6;0;6
Peabody (10-1);20;7;0;0;27
Scoring summary
P- Eli Batista 48 punt return (Domenic Scalese kick)
P- Alex Silva 54 run (Scalese kick)
P- Don Cavanaugh 31 interception return (kick failed)
P- Cavanaugh 23 run (Scalese kick)
S- Tommy DeSimone 13 run (pass failed)
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Saugus — Tommy DeSimone 22-40, Cody Munafo 3-2, Ryan Shea 1-1, Jordan Rodriguez 3-(-10) ; Peabody — Alex Silva 8-75, Don Cavanaugh 1-23, Jaydin Mam 3-14, Gabe Santos 3-8, Gabe Casiano 1-7, Caio Santos 2-3, Kyle Moura 3-0, Joey Smith 1-(-2), Luke Maglione 3-(-5).
PASSING: Saugus — J. Rodriguez 5-22-21-0-5; Peabody — Maglione 6-10-50-0-0, Eli Batista 0-1-0-0-0.
RECEIVING: Saugus — Munafo 2-14, DeSimone 3-7 ; Peabody — Nick Dresser 2-30, Batista 3-25, Silva 1-(-5) .