Busy weekend for high schools

Judging by his track record at the Wrentham Development Center, Peabody?s super sophomore, Marcelo Rocha, has found a course that fits his running style.After winning the Division 1 freshman race at the Frank Kelley Invitational last season, Rocha became a force for the Tanners. On Saturday, he stepped up to the varsity race and blew away the competition, taking first place in 16:11.52 on an unseasonably hot afternoon.The Tanners finished second as a team with 55 points, placing six runners in the top 22 spots. Cambridge did them one better, though, as five of the Falcons? runners finished in the top 15 to take the team title by 12 points.Rocha?s teammate, Alex Greco, came home third overall in 16:37.21. Riley Dowd finished 12th while Alex Marcus was 19th and Cody Jordan, 20th.The winning wasn?t limited to Peabody out of the Northeastern Conference on Saturday as Marblehead?s Andrew Ernst easily outdistanced the competition in the Division 2 meet, taking first in 16:20.77, as the Magicians finished second to Seekonk in the team competition.On the girls side of the ledger, Beverly led the locals in the Division 1 race as the Panthers took second overall behind Woburn. Julianna Wesley led the way with a fourth-place finish for Beverly. Peabody?s Lauren Barrett was sixth.In the Division 2 competition, Lynnfield?s Tia Patterson turned in a standout fourth-place performance in 20:15.63. Marblehead?s Sarah Oliver was sixth (20:25.72) and St. Mary?s Tia Foglietta was 17th (22:02.71).FOOTBALLBeverly 30, Gloucester 16At Hurd Stadium in Beverly on Saturday, it was the Matt Madden show in a battle between two longtime heavyweights in the NEC. Madden scored on touchdowns of 57, 30 and 4 yards while also catching a touchdown pass from Brian Flaherty in the fourth quarter to get the Panthers (2-2) back to .500.Madden had a pair of touchdowns in the first quarter to help the Panthers out to a 14-0 lead. Gloucester cut the lead to six at the break on Pat Goss? 21-yard run and conversion rush.Madden ripped off three straight scores to open the fourth.In other action, Peabody defeated Danvers 35-19.BOYS SOCCERMarblehead 7, Saugus 4At Marblehead, Jakob Wikar scored four goals for the Magicians (5-4).?He?s come a long way,” coach Scott Laramie said of Wikar, a junior who plays mainly outside halfback. “He?s starting to produce what he was going to be … He?s truly becoming one of our offensive threats.”Wikar increased his season totals to 8-9 goals.Claudio Alvarez, Will Gaddis and Liam Healy each had single goals for the Magicians, who snapped a 3-3 halftime tie.?There was a lot of scoring,” Laramie said.Peabody 5, Billerica 0At Lee Field in Peabody on Saturday, the Tanners (6-1-1) played their first game on the new FieldTurf at Lee Field and made the most of the chance as they scored three second-half goals to blow the game open.Joao Correia had two goals and an assist to lead Peabody. Nick Bettencourt had two assists. Bobby Caproni, Andrias Vagelli and Kevin Bena also had goals.?We were able to control the game and finish our chances,” Peabody coach Stan McKeen said.St. John?s 1, Weymouth 1At Needham as a part of the Catholic Conference/Bay State League challenge on Saturday, the Eagles (7-0-2) had the lead most of the way thanks to a Josh Lang goal but saw Weymouth put one in with just over a minute to go to steal the tie.Keeper Zach Rowell made five saves for The Prep, which is on the road today against St. John?s (Shrewsbury).In other action, Beverly took a 2-1 win over North Reading.GIRLS SOCCERFenwick 2, Danvers 1At Donaldson Field in Peabody, the Crusaders got into an early 1-0 hole but rallied back to get the win thanks to a pair of Abbey Rocker goals. Jackie Edgett of Lynn and Sydney Brennan both had assists. Merry Harrington had a good game in goal.