MARBLEHEAD— Shea Lynch and the rest of the Peabody High football team had been receiving a lot of hype of late after the Tanners’ 3-0 start to the season.
And they certainly backed it up Friday night at Piper Field.
The Tanners shocked the Marblehead Magicians at home, giving them their first loss in over three years, and ending their incredible win streak at 23.
“The game plan was the same as every week, our alignment, guys hitting the proper gaps, our defensive backfield being on the same page and our linebackers cleaning up the mess,” said Peabody Head Coach Mark Bettencourt. “That’s what we’ve been doing for four games and it’s been working.”
Perhaps the most stunning part about Peabody’s victory? The game wasn’t even close.
Lynch threw for 309 yards and four touchdowns on 21 of 27 passing en route to a 40-7 bludgeoning over the defending division three state champions. Peabody’s offense had been rolling all season, but it looked like they would be tested against a strong Magician defense.
However, Lynch and company silenced the Marblehead crowd on the first drive of the game. Peabody typically relies on their vertical passing game, but had a very balanced approach on the first possession. Yoskar Batista and Will Pinto both got touches that helped Peabody advance the ball on the ground. Lynch was able to use his feet as well, running a QB keep to get the Tanners inside the 10 yard line which would set up a 10 yard rushing touchdown for Pinto to put Peabody in front 7-0 early.
It was then quarterback Miles O’Neill’s turn to respond for Marblehead. He led his team downfield with a 43 yard pass to receiver Brooks Keefe on the teams first drive. O’Neill then ran a QB keeper for a 20 yard gain before senior running back Eddie Johns trucked his way into the endzone on a 3 yard run to tie the game at 7. The game appeared to be heading towards a quarterback duel between Lynch and O’Neill, however, it quickly became a one sided affair.
After that touchdown, Peabody was able to shut down Marblehead’s explosive vertical passing game, keeping the Magicians scoreless for the next three quarters. The Tanners defensive effort gave their offense a chance to show that they can air it out too.
Junior receiver Danny Barrett was Lynch’s favorite target and carved up the Magicians for 149 yards and two touchdowns on 12 catches. Peabody capitalized again on their second drive with an 8 yard touchdown run by senior running back Alan Paulino. Lynch credited the team’s offensive showing to their preparation earlier in the week.
“It starts on Monday with the game plan. I think the coaches put together a great plan, we were able to execute it,” the quarterback said. “The scout defense set us up a lot, they gave us great looks all week and we just came out and executed.”
O’Neill threw for 121 yards in the first half, but the offense was very inefficient thanks to the Tanners defense taking away big plays and forcing a number of incomplete passes. Down 14-7 in the second quarter, Marblehead’s defense was able to get a stop and give the ball back to the offense.
On their third drive, the Magicians had a golden opportunity to tie the game. O’Neill dropped back to throw and launched a ball downfield from their own 30 yard line that was intended for a wide open Keefe, but the ball was dropped for what would have been a 70 yard touchdown. Marblehead ended up turning the ball over on downs and failed to get anything going offensively for the rest of the game. The Tanners went into the half with a 20-7 lead and although Peabody had dominated the first half, there was hope that Marblehead could make the necessary adjustments in the locker room to get back into the game.
The Tanners refused to let that happen and Barrett talked about how the team was able to shut down the high powered Magician offense.
“Coach Powers came up with an unbelievable game plan to shut down 22 (Marblehead receiver Connor Cronin),” he said. “They scored on the first drive, but we shut them out after that.”
Marblehead received the second half kickoff, but Peabody’s secondary immediately forced back to back incompletions to force a Magician punt. Later in the quarter, Peabody was the beneficiary of a little bit of luck when Lynch threw a pass over the middle that was tipped by Marblehead, but was grabbed from the air by Batista who then darted for a 56 yard receiving touchdown. Lynch threw the fifth and final touchdown for Peabody on a pass to receiver Jayce Dooley for 35 yards.
Lynch was phenomenal under pressure in the game. He was able to complete a number of passes with blitzing defenders closing in and was able to buy time for his receivers to get open. Lynch and company were able to move the ball effectively all night and put up five touchdowns on a Marblehead defense that had not allowed more than 18 points in any game.
“We’ll celebrate tonight, tonight was a great night,” said Lynch. “But I think tomorrow, we flip the page to Leominster, watch some film, get a great game plan in, and we’ll get after it on Monday.”
Despite the tough loss, Marblehead’s season is far from over as the team still holds a record of 3-1 and will try to get back on track against Masconomet next Friday at home.
As for Peabody, the Tanners stay undefeated and improve to 4-0. The team will certainly celebrate this one, but will get back to work this weekend to prepare for a home game against Leominster.
