Football: Provencher boots Peabody past Arlington

The Peabody football team came within seconds of knocking off Cambridge last week. On Sunday, the Tanners were finally able to complete the deal.Justin Provencher’s 30-yard field goal was the difference as the Tanners bested former Greater Boston League rival Arlington, 23-21, in Arlington.”The kids really needed this,” Peabody coach Scott Wlasuk said. “I think that this will put us over the hump.”The game was moved from Peabody to the FieldTurf surface at Arlington because of the heavy rains that overwhelmed the area over the weekend.The Tanners (1-2) trailed 14-6 at halftime but outscored the Spy Ponders 17-0 in the second half.Arlington took a 7-0 lead on Alex Maurice’s 16-yard touchdown pass to Greg Moulton. Peabody responded with a seven-yard Tom Ciulla to Derek West pass. Provencher’s kick was no good, keeping Arlington ahead.Matt Willey stretched the lead to 14-6 at the break with an 11-yard run. But the Tanners turned the momentum in the third quarter.The Tanner defense stoned Arlington on a fourth-and-goal from the one, after having seen the Spy Ponders pull the same on them earlier in the third. Stuck at the one, Peabody gave the ball to Kevin Bettencourt, and he dashed the length of the field to cut the gap to 14-12 (Provencher’s kick was blocked).”For him to do that was amazing,” Wlasuk said.Peabody grabbed the lead late in the third on Bettencourt’s second score of the night, a two-yard plunge. Jonathan Balcacer’s 2-point conversion gave the Tanners a 20-14 lead.But Maurice threw his second score of the game, a 49-yarder to Dan O’Laughlin to give Arlington a one-point lead with six minutes left.Peabody got the ball and converted a fourth-and-20 on a drive that reached the Arlington 15 with 35 seconds left. Provencher was called on and he drilled the game-winning field goal.”Last week was a game that we felt we should have won,” Wlasuk said. “And to come back and win like this was good for the team.”G’ster 35, Beverly 0At Newell Stadium in Gloucester, the Fishermen (3-0) were dominant in all three phases as Conor Ressel’s 52-yard punt return early in the first quarter sent Gloucester on its way.Luis Hernandez and Ross Carlson each rushed for over 100 yards and each had a touchdown. Carlson’s 47-yard burst gave Gloucester a 14-0 first-quarter lead and Hernandez’ 10-yard run made it 21-0 at the break.Ressel had a two-yard plunge to make it 28-0 and sophomore Gilbert Brown closed the scoring with a 12-yard dash.