Surging Beverly football squad defeats English

LYNN ? The Beverly High football team isn’t last year’s juggernaut, but the Panthers still have Isaiah White.View Photo GalleryWhite rushed for 125 yards and three touchdowns and hauled back an interception for another score to lead Beverly to a 33-18 win over Lynn English, Friday night, at Manning Field.With wins over Marblehead and English in the last two weeks, the Panthers (3-3) suddenly find themselves in position to secure their third post-season berth in the last four years.”We don’t talk about that. We talk about trying to get better every week,” Beverly coach Dan Bauer said. “We’ve played good defense the past two games, and we’ve been able to run the ball better than we did early in the season.”As for English (2-3), the Bulldogs face the prospect of having to beat Northeastern Conference leader Marblehead at Piper Field next Friday (7 p.m.) and hope for an at-large playoff bid.”This wasn’t a must win, but now next week’s game is,” English coach Peter Holey said.The Bulldogs led, 10-6, at halftime, but Beverly took control of the game in the second half, scoring on its two offensive possessions in the third quarter. White’s 32-yard interception return on the first play of the fourth quarter sealed the Panthers’ win.”(White) is obviously one of our better players, but we have a lot of experienced players who have helped us win a lot of games over the past couple of years,” Bauer said. “Zach Duguid. Joe Kozlowski didn’t start last year, but he played a lot. People forget that (quarterback) Nick Manthorne started four games last year for us and won them all.”Manthorne only threw three passes — two of which were completions to White for 28 yards — but managed the game superbly.English’s spread offense, on the other hand, had some moments in the first half, but was almost completely shut down in the second half. The Bulldogs picked up just one first down in the second half until there were 4:56 left in the game, until English added cosmetic touchdown against Beverly’s reserves.”We made some adjustments on defense, and the kids made some adjustments,” Bauer said. “That’s a very good offense (English has), and our kids picked it up.”After a scoreless first quarter, English marched 61 yards for its first score, with Jordan Lark connecting with Kyle O’Connor for 16 yards for the points. Beverly answered with a 54-yard drive, all on the ground, that concluded with White’s first touchdown – a 1-yard run with 1:26 left in the first half. English quickly moved in range for a 37-yard field goal from Chris Lessard with 5.7 seconds left in the half to extend its lead.English got the ball to open the third quarter but went three-and-out, and then Beverly drove 64 yards to take its first lead when White bolted around left end for a 12-yard touchdown. The Bulldogs couldn’t pick up a first down on their next series, and Beverly scored again, with a White reception for 15 yards on 3rd-and-8 keeping the drive alive. Three plays later, White scored his third touchdown, from four yards out.”We completely broke down on defense,” Holey said. “The kids didn’t stay with their assignments and do what they were told. Sometimes the players have to take responsibility for not doing what they’re coached to do.”Matt Madden added a 44-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter to make the score 33-10. With 2:15 left, O’Connor caught his second touchdown pass, this one from Lessard, who played quarterback after Lark left the game due to injury. Holey said Lark would be fine for next week’s game against Marblehead.