Laying down the law.
That’s the message sent to the Peabody High football team this year, a year that Tanners’ head coach Mark Bettencourt says will be make-or-break for the entire coaching staff.
“This is about as big a year as it gets for us as coaches,” said Bettencourt, who led the Tanners to a record of 5-6 last season. “This year will determine whether we are a .500 or better team or a .500 or worse team. The past four years it has been just chaos on both sides of the ball. We changed our offense every week, we changed our defense every week, and we basically a jack-of-all-trades and master of none. That’s on me, and I am cognizant of my failures, but this is the year we learn from that, find out who we are, and stick with a game plan.”
Bettencourt, who has compiled a record of 22-22 through his first four years coaching the Tanners, said he implemented new team disciplinary rules and also tweaked the coaching staff.
“We are laying down the law and cleaning house,” he said. “We are imposing strict discipline with regard to attendance at practice. No practice? No play. It’s all or nothing from here on in.”
This year’s team has some holes to fill, but is losing only three all-stars in NEC All-Conference honoree Jake Doherty and NEC All-Stars Cedric Gutierrez and Patrick Maguire.
The good news, however, is the Tanners are returning All-Conference seniors Eric DeMayo, a linebacker and running back, defensive end/tight end Cam Powers and free safety Nolan Murphy.
DeMayo, Powers and Noah Freedman will serve as captains of this year’s team. Freedman suffered a season-ending injury late last year and had surgery, but is healthy and ready to go.
Senior Ryan Vinagro, juniors Tyler Norman, Colten Cole, Luis Guirdys, and Jake Sousa, and sophomores Declan Russell, Angel Paulino, Joe Casey, along with Fenwick junior Joe Mastromatteo, will likely see time in the backfield behind DeMayo and Freedman.
“The younger kids have been a big surprise so far, some of these sophomores have looked good,” said Bettencourt. “Don’t be surprised if you see five or six sophomores on the field at the same time, it’s a very good sophomore class.”
Another sophomore Bettencourt expects to play a major role is sophomore quarterback Colby Therrien.
“Right now, it looks like he is going to win that job,” said Bettencourt. “He is like a sponge in terms of processing information and has learned the offense in a short time and running the offense well.”
Seniors Jonell Espinal and Cole Cuzzi are also in the mix, and “will find their spots,” according to Bettencourt.
Senior Dariel Canela and junior Michael Lock return to the offensive line. Canela, junior Mark DeLuca, sophomore James Guiry and sophomore Sean Bell are in the mix at guard, while Locke, Prep junior transfer Chris Glass and junior Aiden Kelleher are in the mix at tackle.
At tight end, Bettencourt said he has plenty of talent in Powers, sophomore Ramon Franco and juniors Kyle McDonald and Owen Carr.
The wide receiver group includes seniors Elijah White, Cuzzi and Sean Pacheco, juniors Cole and Jack Woods as well as Mastromatteo and his brother, Sam, a junior.
Peabody opens the season Friday night at 7 against Somerville at Dilboy Stadium. The Tanners have two non-conference games, against Danvers Sept. 15 and Masconomet Oct. 6.
“The last time we played Masco was six years ago and I think the score was basically ‘a lot to a little’, said Bettencourt. “We are developing a nice rivalry with Beverly and Danvers and we also play Marblehead, but thankfully all the big games are at home.
“We are very young, so much so that we had only two scrimmages as we all felt we needed that time to work on fundamentals.”
