Malden Catholic 14, Peabody 12: Souza plays a march on Tanners

PEABODY – They call John Philip Sousa the March King, and while Malden Catholic senior Steven Souza spells his last name a little differently, he did help his fellow Lancers march past Peabody, 14-12, at Coley Lee Field on Thanksgiving Day.Souza scored both touchdowns for the Lancers, who finished 6-5 in their first year under coach Bob Almeida. Perhaps appropriately, both Almeida and Souza have Wilmington connections: Almeida enjoyed success in his previous coaching stop there, and Souza is from Wilmington.Click here to see a photo gallery of Thursday?s Malden Catholic-Peabody game.Peabody, meanwhile, found both celebration and frustration in the game. The Tanners, too, have a first-year coach, Scott Wlasuk, and the last-minute loss to the Lancers – Souza’s second score, and the go-ahead two-point conversion from Andrew Desimone, came with 2:17 remaining and ended Peabody’s bid for one more win this season.”It was a tough, tough loss,” Wlasuk said. “First of all, give MC credit. We shut them down. They came back and played a great second half.”For most of the first half and a good part of the second, this was the Tanners’ ballgame. Peabody took a 6-0 lead (the PAT misfired) on Mark D’Addario’s 70-yard first-quarter touchdown run and the score remained 6-0 until D’Addario scored late in the third quarter from four yards out with to push the Peabody margin to 12-0 (a conversion try failed on an errant snap).Things looked even better for Peabody after it recovered a fumble on the first play of the ensuing Lancer drive, but MC forced a punt, fielding it at the Lancers’ 35. Quarterback Desimone would throw for several first downs on the drive, which eventually reached the Peabody four-yard line.”We haven’t thrown really well this year,” Almeida said. “We just couldn’t run the ball (against Peabody).””I give their quarterback credit,” Wlasuk said. “He threw some nice balls right on the money. That’s tough to defend.”From the four, Souza took it in to ruin the shutout (a bad snap foiled an extra-point try).Peabody went three-and-out on its next possession, and Desimone brought the Lancers down the field, finding Quinn McDonough for 28 yards to the Tanner 12. Two plays later, Souza tied the game on a run. Desimone’s conversion gave MC the winning points.”I’m probably going to stay home and sulk,” Wlasuk said wryly. “I’m not too hungry right now.”That second Lancer score did not mean the ballgame was over. Peabody got a 20-yard kick return from Jon Balcacer and reached its 47 on a last-ditch drive. However, on fourth and two, Tanner quarterback Tom Ciulla misfired on a pass to Balcacer.The muddy field conditions impacted the style of play throughout the game.”I almost lost my shoe four times on the sideline,” Almeida said. “I felt like the guy from ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,’ the principal.””I probably would have liked (the field) a little drier,” Wlasuk said. “It hurt our perimeter game. I wish (Almeida’s) quarterback had lost his shoe.”