Glass slipper fits Beverly as Panthers win Division 3 title

FOXBOROUGH – Cinderella has a new residence and its at Beverly High.On Saturday, the Panthers completed one of the most improbable runs by any team to a Super Bowl championship in recent memory. Shutting down a powerful Somerset attack in the final three quarters, the Panthers rallied from an early 14-0 deficit to take a 28-20 win and the school’s first Super Bowl championship.”Not a lot of people believed in these kids at times this season,” Beverly coach Dan Bauer said. “And this says a lot about these kids and their character. It’s just unbelievable.”As has been their m.o. all season, the Panthers (7-6) stayed with their gameplan even when they were down two touchdowns in the first quarter.Blue Raider tailback Jaron Spear had a 59-yard scoring run on Somerset’s (12-1) first possession of the game and Seth DeMello added a one-yard plunge with 18 seconds left in the first to put the Panthers in a big hole.A Wing-T offense by trade, Beverly and offensive coordinator Roger Day turned to the spread early in the second quarter and it paid dividends immediately.Joe Wioncek hit Mark Giles for a 19-yard gain to the Blue Raider 29. Four plays later, he found Brendan Flaherty wide open on a slant-and-go for a 13-yard touchdown that made it 14-7 with 7:41 left in the half.Somerset answered with Spear’s second touchdown of the game to make it 20-7 late in the half and seemingly had taken the momentum back.Beverly need something big as halftime approached and they got it when back-up QB Dave Rollins hit Blake Sullivan for a 42-yard gain on a reverse pass to the Somerset 11. Wioncek made the gamble pay off when he hit Flaherty on a fade from 15 yards out to cut the lead to 20-14 at the half.”That was a big score before the half,” Bauer said. “Its one of those plays you have in your pocket and it was a great throw by Dave and catch by Blake in the swirling winds.”Even more important for the Panthers was the fact that they began to shut down Somerset’s punishing ground game, dealing the Blue Raiders a big blow when Spear was knocked out with a hip pointer right before the half.Somerset went three-and-out to begin the third quarter and the Panthers needed only four plays to drive 91 yards as Nick Theriault’s 74-yard burst put Beverly ahead 21-20.A long Blue Raider drive would eat the rest of the third quarter but it stalled at the Panther 15. T.J. Eisle’s 32-yard field goal then clanged off the left upright to keep Beverly in front.The Panthers then went back to their trusty ground game to work on the clock as Flaherty ripped off a 24 yard gain and Theriault followed with a 27 yard run to put Beverly on the brink of a title. Wioncek got them a big score with 2:19 left when he snuck in from the one to make it 28-20.Somerset would get the ball back twice in the final 2:19 but the Panther defense was relentless as Tony MacDOnald’s sack on the final play of the game was a fitting end to a Cinderella run.