Unbeaten Beverly bowls over English, 45-6

BEVERLY – The Beverly football team wasted little time imposing its will on English Saturday afternoon. From the moment junior Isaiah White raced 75 yards to the English eight-yard line on the Panthers’ first snap, Beverly dominated all facets in a 45-6 romp at Hurd Stadium.The undefeated Panthers (3-0) rolled up 405 yards of total offense, registered three scoring plays of 45 yards or longer; and feasted on five English turnovers, four in the first half en route to an insurmountable 26-0 halftime lead.The junior White (8 carries, 151 yards, TD) and seniors Kenny Pierce (8 carries, 84 yards, 2 TDs) and Brendan Flaherty (12 carries, 71 yards) did the legwork on offense. And Flaherty – who had scoring runs of 13 and 48 yards erased by penalties – was a beast on defense with a 56-yard interception return for a score, a forced fumble and a tipped pass that resulted in a diving interception by White. Josh Winston and Luke McDonald also had interceptions as the defense hounded Bulldogs quarterbacks Chris Lessard, Lucas Harris and D.J. Mullen throughout.”You always want to start fast. We had that first defensive stand to keep things under control, then the offense took over,” said Beverly coach Dan Bauer. “I thought our secondary and linebackers did a nice job. We were coming off two games against running teams, so they did a nice job with the adjustments and reads against a spread team. English is very athletic and we stressed giving up no big plays.”English’s longest gainer, Lessard’s 27-yard dash in the first quarter, ended in a turnover as Flaherty tracked him down and purposely punched out the ball with Zach Dugid recovering at the Panthers’ 27 with 6:26 to play in the quarter.”That first turnover was a key – you just can’t have turnovers against a team like Beverly,” said English coach Peter Holey. “We’re not embarrassed. The only time that happens as a coach is when your team quits and we didn’t; we kept fighting right to the end and I’m proud of them for that. We’ll be fine and we’ll be back.”Holey cited the performance of junior running back Isaiah Davis (14 carries, 96 yards) in particular.”Isaiah is learning how to become a varsity football player. He runs hard and played through to the end today,” Holey said.Josh Michael’s 18-yard return of a short game-opening kickoff put the Bulldogs in prime position to do some immediate damage but they went three-and-out and Lessard’s punt pinned Beverly at its 17-yard line, though not for long. White’s 75-yard dash to the English eight led to Pierce’s score on 4th-and-1 and Harry Brown’s PAT gave the Panthers a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.Flaherty forced Lessard’s fumble on the Bulldogs’ next possession. Four plays later, Pierce sprinted 60 yards on a jet sweep to the left and Brown’s kick made it 14-0 with 5:17 left in the period. When Flaherty returned a Lessard overthrow 56 yards for a 20-0 lead on the final play of the quarter, the rout was on.English had a chance to answer on its ensuing possession after Alex Ortega’s 16-yard kickoff return and a personal foul against Beverly placed the ball at the Beverly 37. Harris completed passes of 13 yards to Josh Bautista and 12 yards to Davis (following a remarkable scramble). The Bulldogs drove to the eight but Harris’s 4th-and-6 pass was tipped and intercepted by Beverly linebacker Sean Winston, essentially ending it.White’s 45-yard TD jaunt with 1:12 left in the half made it 26-0 at the break. McDonald’s 28-yard interception return set up quarterback Nick Manthorpe’s one-yard sneak for a score and 33-0 lead midway through the third.English broke the shutout with a quick three-play, 43-yard march to close out the period. Davis runs of 24 and 14 yards set up Michael’s five-yard scoring run. Beverly countered with scoring runs of seven yards by Dom Abate and 22 yards by McDonald in the fourth quarter.”We’ll be back. We went through this last year, but we’ll stay together and I’m confident we’ll go on our run,” said Hol