Santos leads Peabody football past Somerville

SOMERVILLE – Coach Mark Bettencourt and the Peabody football team saw no reason to fix what wasn’t broken on Friday evening and its lack of originality (if you will) paid off in a 34-6 victory over Somerville.For the second consecutive week, the Tanners turned to Doug Santos for the brunt of the offensive workload and were rewarded with 239 rushing yards and three touchdowns from the junior running back.”We found a weakness that we thought we could exploit and stayed with it,” explained Bettencourt whose team defeated English in Week 1 behind 279 yards and five scores from Santos.”Last week was all about his vision as a runner but tonight we saw Doug’s ability to make something out of nothing. We took what we thought we were being given and continued going to him.”Santos opened the scoring with a one-yard plunge at 7:14 of the second quarter after the visitor’s defense forced a turnover on downs. The third-year dynamo set himself up for the score with a 50-yard burst to the five.Following another strong defensive stand, Santos earned 33 yards on two touches before quarterback Michael Raymond (5-8, 57 yards) hit tight end, Tanner Moquin (4 catches, 45 yards), with a 16-yard touchdown pass.”I told those guys to be patient while we established offensive position,” said Bettencourt of the two seniors. “Obviously we were having success running the ball but we made some adjustments to throw and it paid off.”Peabody didn’t wait long to increase its lead in the second half, needing just seven plays to go 59 yards, culminating in an eight-yard run to pay dirt from Santos, who ended the first half with 115 yards.The Highlanders would answer back with a two-yard scoring run from Kevin Raymond who finished with 89 yards on the ground.A nine-yard touchdown from Santos on the heels of a 49-yard gain allowed the Tanners to go into the final 11 minutes ahead 27-6.Senior running back would cap the scoring on a four-yard run, punctuating a nine-play sequence set up by an interception from junior Evan Thompson, the visitors third of four forced turnovers (1 fumble recovery).”A lot of that has to do with them being in the right place at the right time,” lauded Bettencourt of the defenses ability to kill drives. “We weren’t at that level last year but you’re seeing it early on this season.”After a pick-off from Collins on just the second play of the game, the visitors embarked on a 15-play, clock-eating drive that had its desired effect, despite failing to produce points.”Whether we score or not, we look to burn six to seven minutes off of that clock and keep the opposing team’s offense off the field,” said Bettencourt. “Sometimes the best defense is a good offense and that’s something I’ve been preaching since day one.”