Peabody’s Gaye didn’t waste time reaching the 1,000-yard mark

PEABODY ? Peabody High’s Nat Gaye has all the intangibles any coach would want in a running back, but one of his traits isn’t drama. The junior entered Thursday’s game with Saugus needing 82 yards to pass the 1,000-yard mark for the season, and he didn’t wait around long.Gaye ripped off a scoring run of 64 yards on his way to amassing 112 yards in the first half. He added a second touchdown in the second half and finished with 152 yards on 18 carries in the Tanners’ 34-13 win over Saugus, at Lee Field.Gaye ended up the season with 1,060 yards, the most for any Peabody back in 14 years. Mark D’addario had 1,011 yards rushing for Peabody last season.”It’s great, but the most important thing was we were able to win,” said Gaye. “Our offensive linemen are the ones who deserve most of the credit. They executed.”Indeed, Peabody’s front five of Roni Aliu, George Haraktsis, Nick Vargas, Theo Goulos and Chris Greene, along with ends Brian DeAngelis and Nick Allen, helped the Tanners dominate the line of scrimmage. Brady Doyle added 145 rushing yards, and Peabody amassed 313 yards on the ground for the game.”Nat’s a heck of a football player, but he’s very humble,” Peabody coach Scott Wlasuk said.”I’m sure if you asked him, the first thing he’d say is that it all starts with the offensive line. He’s a hard-nosed player, and he epitomizes what our program is all about.”Gaye, Doyle, fullback D.J. Henrick and quarterback Jason Hiou are all juniors, which should give the Tanners reason for hope coming into next season.The Tanners finished with a 5-6 record – not quite .500, but a marked improvement from some of the recent one-win seasons in the post-Ed Nizwantowski era.”You can see it. I think we’ve turned the corner a little bit,” said Wlasuk. “One of the things about this year’s team was that it worked hard, not just on the field but off of it. The seniors wanted to be the ones who set the standards for the years to follow, and we’ve got a good junior class coming in behind them.”uSaugus played the entire game without being assessed any penalty yards. The Sachems were flagged only once, for off-setting personal fouls in the last minute of the game. Peabody was assessed five penalties, including a 15-yarder for block below the waist on an extra point attempt in the second quarter. Peabody kicker Sean Wlasuk made the long extra point kick anyway. The teams also combined to attempt three field goals in the second quarter, though all three were unsuccessful ? Peabody’s last win on Thanksgiving occurred in 2005, at Stackpole Field. The Sachems upset the Tanners, 13-0, at a rain-drenched Lee Field in 2006, in the Peabody High football program’s last game as a formal member of the Greater Boston League. The Tanners joined the Northeastern Conference, but played a home-and-away series with non-league opponent Malden Catholic, losing in both 2007 (35-7) and 2008 (14-12), before resuming the series with the Sachems as an NEC non-divisional game last year. Saugus won, 14-6. Prior to 2006, Peabody had won 17 straight in the series ? Peabody fullback D.J.Henrick, the Tanners’ short-yardage specialist, had an anomaly of a day statistically, with four rushes for zero yards and two touchdowns. Both of Henrick’s scores came on one-yard runs. His other two carries were for minus-one yard apiece ? Peabody senior Devin Upton closed out the game in style, with a 14-yard run around right end on the final play. The run drew a huge cheer from the teammates of the 5-7, 133-pound Upton.