Thanksgiving preview: Peabody has fought back from a tough 2012 season

When first-year Peabody head football coach Mark Bettencourt inherited a Tanners team coming off a difficult 2012 campaign, he knew better than to expect instant success. Instead, Bettencourt put a plan in motion to establish a winning culture in the near future while avoiding a “rebuilding stage” identity.View season’s photos from throughout the fall season on the North ShoreHeading into their annual Thanksgiving Day matchup with Saugus, the Tanners are just 3-7, but have come a long way since the season began. Bettencourt set a few goals in the offseason and believes that the majority of them have been met in year one.?I was pretty set on putting together a coaching staff that would be on the same page throughout the season,” explained Bettencourt. “We all agreed on establishing a program based on work ethic and discipline. We also focused on the basic fundamentals like blocking and tackling all year long”Such a change could in many cases result in boredom for a team, especially for the nine seniors on the Tanners roster. This however was never the case as Bettencourt credited his elder-statesman with being nothing but influential throughout the season.?The kids really bought in to the system we were trying to run and I have nothing but praise for them,” said Bettencourt court. “We have 47 freshmen on the team who practiced with us every day and our older guys have really taken on a leadership role.”One of Bettencourt?s primary goals coming into the year was to teach those nine seniors about what it means to be a leader. This is where a 3-7 record actually becomes a blessing in disguise, as the fourth-years were tasked with keeping things positive, especially amidst the team?s current three-game losing streak.?Coming into the season it appeared that it wasn?t quite clear what being a captain or a senior leader meant,” said Bettencourt. “Our coaching staff spent the year building certain qualities in our older guys and tried to help them keep a winning mentality despite our record.”Three senior in particular stood out to Bettencourt as players that grew into their roles as leaders, albeit different paths.?Cody Wlasuk (LB/RB) did a tremendous job as a captain this year despite going through a tough time,” explained Bettencourt. “His father (Scott) was head coach last year, so things were obviously different for him but we made sure he knew how important he was to the team and he really responded for us.”Bettencourt also singled out OG/DE Matt Crawford and Andrew McLaughlin. “I made a mistake in not nominating Matt as a captain this year. He was the leader of our offensive line and really carried us. Andrew was a first year player who kicked for us and was a top receiver as well.”Cast beneath the shadow of the varsity team are a few big reasons for high optimism within the program. The Tanners junior varsity and freshman teams both went 6-4 this season after poor finishes in 2012. The JV squad went winless while the first-years had just three wins.Perhaps most pleasing to Bettencourt however, is the fact that 108 kids remained academically eligible throughout the season. Bettencourt is hoping for another strong crop of freshman next year, with the same mentality as this years.?Hard work reaps positive benefits,” explained Bettencourt. “These kids really took a step forward this year in growing on and off the field.Despite the mediocre record, Bettencourt has been pleased with the progression through the first ten games. Peabody?s three wins came against Somerville, Winthrop and Salem.?I?ve been happy with the way things have been run for the most part,” said Bettencourt. “We were only not competitive in the Lynn Classical game (a 40-0 loss) and also ran into some new teams (Chelmsford, Andover and Lawrence) that we were at a bit of a disadvantage against.”Consecutive losses to the latter three teams could all be cast to the back-burner with a win on Turkey Day and Bettencourt is rearing to go.?This game extenuates the reasoning