English tops Peabody in eventful game

LYNN – First-game jitters. That?s how English football coach Peter Holey described it.It?s as good an explanation as any for why both the Bulldogs and Peabody combined for eight turnovers, six of them by the Tanners, in a 29-15 English win Thursday night in the opening game for both teams.Things got real crazy in the fourth quarter when the two teams turned the ball over four straight times, three on fumbles and the last on an interception by English?s Anthony Delacruz.But that last interception was important, as it set up the Bulldogs for the insurance touchdown on Jordan (Javier) Lark?s one-yard run.Lark, a transfer from Haverhill, was 8-for-15 for 183 yards in his Bulldog debut, passing for two touchdowns and rushing for a third.But there were so many others for English who helped the team win. Zach Lozzi had 33 yards on the ground late in the game, 12 of them to keep English?s game-clinching drive going. Delacruz made two huge catches as well as the key interception.?Lozzi is one of our toughest players,” said English coach Peter Holey, “and Delacruz made some big plays both ways.?But I have to tell you,” Holey said, “Peabody played its butts off. They should be very proud of their kids.”Peabody drew first blood in this one. After convincing everyone he was going to ground and pound, new Peabody coach Mark Bettencourt turned around and had quarterback Mike Raymond loft a 46-yard play-action pass to a wide-open Ryan Collins to set the Tanners up on the English 20. Three plays later, Doug Santos gave everyone a glimpse of what was to come with him, scoring on a three-yard run.?We found a real warrior in Doug tonight,” said Bettencourt of his sophomore back?s 14-carry, 148-yard performance.Sadly, for Peabody, the Tanners lost captain Cody Wlasuk by the half with an injured ankle, “and we looked to Doug a lot after that,” Bettencourt said. “He was great.”English got its first break when Peabody?s punter, Pat Tuohy, fielding a short snap, inadvertently touched his knee to the ground, giving English the ball. The Bulldogs? Daekwon Shepard capitalized with a two-yard run.Peabody could do nothing on its next possession, and when English got the ball back, on the Tanner 45, it only took the Bulldogs three plays to score … this one on a 26-yard pass from Lark to Chris Lessard, who won the jump ball after being well covered by a Peabody defender.Before the half was out, English scored again, this time on a second Lark-to-Lessard bomb, this one from 50 yards out.Peabody looked to be getting itself back into the game late in the second quarter, methodically carving up the Bulldog defense until getting down to the English 2. There, with time running out, the Bulldog defense harassed Raymond into committing an intentional grounding infraction on the 20. With time for one more play, Raymond only gained back eight.?Getting out of that situation was huge,” said Holey. “It was a tough series. I told the kids before the game started that there was a question about Lynn English, and that I couldn?t answer it. Only they could. And I think they did.”The heat and turnovers took their toll in the second half, but Peabody tried to climb back into it with a nine-play, 80-yard drive that resulted in Santos? second touchdown of the game with 40 seconds to go in the third quarter.After four straight turnovers, English finally took control with Lark?s one-yard run.?I saw some good things,” said Bettencourt. “We were still in it midway through the fourth quarter without Cody Wlasuk, we were in the right places … it shows you the kids are responding to our coaching.”English?s game next Friday night may be at Manning Field unless Wakefield?s new turf is ready. Peabody plays Somerville.