PEABODY — A sure sign the local high school football season is just around the corner is the annual Northeast 7v7 East Regional championship.
The tournament is a day-long marathon for the 40 teams attempting to survive the pool play brackets and advance to the elimination round. For the 16 teams fortunate enough to move on, they face another grueling fight – doing their best to take the title and earn a trip to the New England Championship, to be held July 31 at Milton High.
Saturday at Bishop Fenwick, St. Mary’s cruised to a 28-15 win against Greater Lowell to pick up the Spartans’ second Small School Division championship in three years.
“I’m happy. The kids deserved this,” said Coach Sean Driscoll. “We had a lot of good players making plays today. They’re a good group of kids. We played a lot of football today and there were a lot of moving parts that came together, so it was all good.”
Driscoll highlighted the play of Yaniel Belliard, Sam Phelps, Rowan Merryman, Michael Sherman, and Jimmy Jennings.
Trailing Swampscott, 12-6, with less than 20 seconds to play in the semifinals, Belliard hit Jennings in the end zone and converted a 2-pointer to Merryman to seal a 14-13 comeback.
“I thought Yaniel played very well and Sam had a really good day. Rowan and Michael, and Jimmy, who had another big day,” Driscoll said.
Swampscott was one of the few teams in both divisions with a perfect 4-0 record. Coach Peter Bush said he’s optimistic about the upcoming season, despite the loss of 16 seniors.
“Any time we can get the kids together to let them compete is good,” Bush said. “They don’t lack coachability or work ethic. The only thing they lack is experience. Good or bad, stuff that happens here is a learning experience.”
Bush liked what he saw from Anthony Rapaport, who snagged an interception against St. Mary’s, as well as Chase Groothuis (TD) and quarterback Tegh Sembhi.
“I thought they all played well,” Bush said.
Lynn Tech finished second in its pool with a 3-1 record, setting up a first-round playoff date with St. Mary’s, which also finished 3-1 to earn top seeding in its pool. The Spartans won the cross-city battle, 21-12, bringing an end to the Tigers’ day.
“We only lost [by] one touchdown to these guys. I’m not upset about it at all,” said Tech Coach James Runner. “It’s never too bad when two Lynn teams make it into the playoff pool and then play against each other. I’m very proud of what my kids did today.”
Runner highlighted the play of his three captains.
“Quarterback Jadiel Ortega is looking great,” Runner said. “Colin McGough has a couple of TDs and a couple of picks in pool play and middle linebacker Jacob Garcia has also played really, really well today.”
Lynnfield finished 2-2 in pool play to qualify for the playoffs, only to be eliminated by Greater Lowell, 20-16, in the first round.
“We’ll have a whole new look this year, so there will be lots of opportunities for all of the guys,” Lamusta said. “The Fenwick tournament is always a great preview of what we have as a team.”
Lamusta said quarterback Matt Tracy did a “nice job managing the offense and converting on critical downs.” He also credited Will Mandile for his defensive play and both Luke DiSilvio and Dan Lemieux for their “explosive” play. He added James Pasquale had “an incredible redzone catch that was the best of the day” and Lucas Deraps “showed speed on both sides of the ball.”
Saugus (2-2), KIPP (2-2), Peabody (1-3), and Fenwick (0-4) failed to make the playoff round.
“You want to see the kids come out and compete,” said Saugus Coach Steve Cummings. “We would have liked to have pulled things out in one of our earlier games, but overall, I’m happy.”
Cummings liked what he saw from Pharoah Brandenburg and Eli Fialho.
“Pharoah is really owning a spot at corner defensively and, offensively, he’s coming in and making a difference,” Cummings said. “We’re hoping he’s another piece we can utilize this season.
“Eli is throwing things on time. Everything’s coming out in a spiral,” Cummings added. “The ball is coming out of his hand really well.”
Peabody Coach Scott Therrien highlighted the play of Mark Mendonca and Max Silvia.
“They played really well today. I was really happy with the way they played today and the receivers looked sharp,” Therrien said. “We were in every game today, so it was a good day even though we didn’t make it into the playoff round.”
Despite being shut out from the win column, Fenwick Coach Dave Woods was satisfied.
“The kids did well,” he said. “We lost a lot of seniors last year who played a lot, so we are still working through. Our captains, Dylan Patturelli and Jesse Timson, looked good and today, they and fellow captain Tyler Connolly, who was injured and acting as a coach, did a great job. Everything is good.”
Lowell beat Woburn, 20-12, to win the open division, clinching a spot in the New England Championship.
