D’Addario, Peabody power their way past Cambridge

CAMBRIDGE – It was early in the second half, and Peabody senior running back Mark D’Addario sat on the bench, chatting with fellow senior Anthony LaFratta.D’Addario could afford the respite. He had capped his team’s previous possession with a 1-yard touchdown run that gave the Tanners the lead for good in an eventual 21-12 win at Russell Field Friday. And D’Addario shouldered much of the workload, carrying 34 times for 261 yards and two scores.”Obviously our first option was to ride Mark,” said Tanners coach Scott Wlasuk, whose team (1-1) got its first win of the season after losing to St. John’s in its opener last week. “He’s one of the top backs in the area. He wants the ball. He’ll run it every play if you give it to him.”The Tanners took the field for the second half looking at a 12-7 deficit with the Falcons taking the opening kickoff. However, Tanner senior Jason Potash recovered a fumble on the return, putting Peabody on the Falcons’ 38. D’Addario carried on six of the seven plays of the drive, including the aforementioned 1-yard rush into the end zone. Justin Provencher kicked the PAT, putting Peabody up 14-12.As shown by Potash’s fumble recovery, the Tanner defense did its share of work, too, and it would contribute key stops in the fourth quarter. After the Cambridge ‘D’ did yeoman work of its own, forcing a turnover on downs to open the final quarter, it was the Tanner defense’s time to step up. After Cambridge QB and tri-captain John Antonopoulous broke off a 46-yard dash to the Tanners’ 14, the defense forced another fumble and recovered.Cambridge caused Peabody to punt, but the defense stepped up yet again in the closing minutes. With junior Greg Celentano pumping up the Peabody faithful, the Tanners faced fourth-and-6 at their 41 and two minutes left. Potash and Nick Pigulski were among the Tanners who pursued Antonopoulous on the play, which drew a flag on Peabody – and groans from the Tanner fans. In the end, Peabody was assessed a penalty on a sideline hit after play had ended ? and the Tanners had a first down on their 27 with 1:52 left.”Even though us coaches complain a lot, and there are some calls we think are controversial, we respect the calls,” Wlasuk said.It was left to D’Addario to write the punctuation mark with a 67-yard scamper with 1:28 remaining. Provencher kicked the PAT for the final score. And while Cambridge reached the Tanners’ 21 on its final drive, Antonopoulous could not connect with Kevin Lovaincy on the game’s last play.Next week will see another challenging opponent for Peabody: Swampscott.”We saw them play Winchester,” Wlasuk said. “Coach (Steve) Dembowski is, first and foremost, a class act. He’s a great coach with a great program.”Lovaincy caught a 7-yard scoring pass from Antonopoulous early in the second quarter for a 6-0 Falcons lead (Peabody blocked the PAT). While a Peabody field-goal attempt failed, Pigulski recovered a Falcons fumble, setting up a drive that concluded when quarterback Mike O’Brien found Jamal Abu-Hijleh for a 20-yard touchdown pass and a 7-6 lead (after Provencher’s kick) with 2:28 before halftime. Cambridge reclaimed the lead on Antonopoulous’ 19-yarder to Cliff Anderson with 27.4 seconds left in the half (the rush attempt failed).Wlasuk dedicated the win to three seniors who areout for the year with injuries: Dave Richardson, co-captain Mike DiFrancisco and Mike Kerwin.