Danvers holds off Winthrop

WINTHROP – Displaying remarkable resilience, Danvers dedicated Saturday night?s 39-27 victory against Winthrop at Miller Field to the memory of slain math teacher Colleen Ritzer, allegedly murdered by one of her students last week.Admission to Saturday?s game was free with fans instead asked to donate to the Colleen Ritzer Memorial Scholarship Fund. Both teams wore helmet decals emblazoned with “CR: In Loving Memory,” 24 pink balloons were released during a pre-game moment of silence, and the flag was flown at half-staff.In a post-game interview with WBZ TV?s Paul Burton, Danvers coach Sean Rogers said: “I couldn?t be any more proud of these guys. They responded better than I thought any team could. They did a great job of just focusing on football and using it as an escape from obviously a tragedy most kids don?t have to face or endure.”The Falcons (5-0, 6-1) clinched an outright NEC South championship with the victory and host Cape Ann League Kinney Division foe Masconomet in a Division 3 Northeast quarterfinal round playoff game Friday at 7.Danvers overcame a 14-13 halftime deficit on Alex Valles? 44-yard scoring run and Lucas Lentine?s 42-yard TD pass from quarterback Nick Andreas that made it 27-14 heading into the final quarter.Valles scored on a six-yard run in the first half while Chris Behen had a 27-yard TD run in the second quarter and an 80-yard kickoff return in the fourth quarter. Anthony Cordoba?s 40-yard run on the game?s final play closed the scoring.Jordan Corbett-Frank scored three short-range touchdowns for the Vikings and Reese Turansky hauled in a 35-yard scoring pass from Dylan Driscoll.