Peabody defeats Classical in a thriller

PEABODY – Peabody High may not have the best football team in the Northeastern Conference, but it may have the most exciting.The Tanners (3-4) took their fans on another thrill ride, Friday night at Lee Field, with a 21-20 win over Lynn Classical, in another game that wasn’t decided until late in the fourth quarter.Nick Hiou scored all three touchdowns for Peabody, while backup placekicker Will DeRoo stepped in and booted three extra points, the last of which provided the Tanners with their winning margin.”I’m so proud of these kids,” said Peabody coach Scott Wlasuk, who added his team matured after playing Gloucester evenly for most of the first half last weekend. “I was concerned they’d be demoralized after playing so well and losing, but then I heard yelling and screaming and I realized it was my team and I thought to myself ‘This is where we’ve been trying to get them.'”As uplifting as this win was for Peabody, it was as devastating loss for Classical (3-4). The Rams squandered a 14-0 first quarter lead along with two chances to score inside Peabody’s 20-yard line in the second half.”This is a tough one,” Clasical coach Tim Phelps said. “The kids played hard. We hit them in the mouth, but Peabody got up.”The Rams also lost halfback Cam Smith, who was taken away in an ambulance after suffering a knee injury in the third quarter. Not only did Classical miss its most experienced back, the Rams also missed their only holder on placekicks, which came into play when Classical went for a two-point conversion after its third touchdown that was stopped short.Smith scored the Rams’ first two tocuhdowns, while quarterback Jasper Grassa added a 2-yard scoring run at the end of the third quarter.Classical attempted a 31-yard field goal with 4:15 left in the game, but without Smith, the snap never got settled and Stephan Bhulasar’s kick barely got off the ground.”We had to go for a field goal because it was fourth-and-long,” Phelps said.The game started horribly for Peabody, with Classical’s Ricky Bigwood recovering a fumble at the Tanners’ 34-yard line on the first play from scrimmage. Grassa threw to Casey Johnson for 24 yards on the next play and then Smith ran for 12 yards into the end zone to give the Rams a 7-0 lead just 37 seconds into the game.Peabody fumbled on the second play of its next possession, with Smith returning the ball 21 yards to the Tanners’ 14. Six plays later, Smith plowed in from the 1-yard line on fourth down and the Rams led, 14-0, with 6:09 still left to play in the first quarter.”I was shocked,” Wlasuk said. “They hit us with those two scores so quickly. The good thing was it was still early in the game, and we didn’t panic.”The Tanners drove 70 yards in 14 plays, the last of which was a 16-yard touchdown run on fourth down by Hiou with 10:06 left in the first half. With 42 seconds left before halftime, Peabody tied the game with a 4-yard run by Hiou after another long drive that went 69 yards in 15 plays.Classical’s first drive of the second half went as far as the Tanners’ 16 before Grassa was sacked on fourth down. The Rams next drive was more successful, with Grassa scoring on a sneak at the end of the third quarter.The two key plays were fourth down conversions. On fourth-and-8 from the Classical 37, Grassa hooked up with Keith Nance for 13 yards, while Grassa found Gary Sisson for 14 yards to Peabody’s 28 on fourth-and-2.Hiou returned the ensuing kickoff 72 yards down the left sideline before he was knocked out-of-bounds at the Rams’ 8-yard line. After a 4-yard run by Mark D’Addario and an offside penalty, Hiou ran to the left for the touchdown. DeRoo, who was substituting for Justion Provencher, whose ankle prevented him from kicking, booted the extra point through the uprights to give Peabody a 21-20 lead.Classical took over at its 40-yard line and moved the ball as far as Peabody’s 15, but three plays only picked up one yard before the failed field goal.The Tanners ran out the final 4:10 by picking