PEABODY — At first glance, you might not think the Peabody and Lynnfield football teams have much in common as they prepare for the 2025 season. From roster size to divisions and leagues to experience at quarterback, it would be easy to conclude that each team faces unique challenges.
In reality, however, the Tanners and Pioneers are in the same predicament when it comes to one thing – how to find the personnel to fill their respective lines which were decimated by graduation.
The Tanners return only one starter on the offensive line, senior captain Matt Dresser. The Pioneers’ lone returning starter on either line is senior captain Ben Gazit.
On Saturday at Coley Lee Field, both teams had a chance to evaluate their preseason progress in a full-contact scrimmage. Both coaches came away with favorable first looks.
“I liked our intensity and physicality today,” Peabody Head Coach Mark Bettencourt said. “And I liked the fact that our offensive line didn’t have one holding call. The biggest question on our team is our offensive line which is a glaring hole. We have a lot of new faces and kids that are green who are learning and some kids who are going to get thrown into the fire. Today was the first day in the cooker and I thought they did very, very well. No holding calls in our first 40 plays is a huge step in the right direction.”
“I saw some nice things from the young, new offensive and defensive lines,” Lynnfield Head Coach Pat Lamusta said. “There’s still a lot of learning to get to, but, in terms of effort, that was really good. We just want to get to the point where they’re all confident. The size and the effort is there, but we just want to make it the whole package.”
Bettencourt was happy with the play of junior left tackle James Hooper, junior right guard Bernando Marciel and sophomore center Mark Bettencourt.
“Obviously, there are tons of improvements to make, but they all had a good first game. The season is coming really quickly with only two weeks until our first game against Melrose,” Bettencourt said. “We knew this was going to be a project but we are in a better place than we thought we could have been, especially with the offensive line.”
Bettencourt was also encouraged by the running backs — and pleased that “we held onto the ball and didn’t fumble.”
“There is a fight right now for the starting running back. I thought senior Yardial Villanueva ran the ball well and looked good in the first 10 carries,” Bettencourt said. “Senior Andrew Anthony-Santos also ran the ball well. We protected the ball which made me feel we may get there quicker than I thought.”
Bettencourt also highlighted the play of junior Jason Palladino, senior Alex Vincent, junior Christ Jeune.
“We have a lot of competition for the running back position and each one of them brings something different, so it’s a matter of combining all that together,” Bettencourt said. “Depth is one thing, but they are all fighting for a job.”
Bettencourt said the Tanners needed to be quicker and also needed to “have better reads – running backs finding the right holes and cutbacks and lanes. With the receivers, there were some balls they didn’t get to on good throws from (senior captain) Luke Maglione. They stopped their routes, but their blocking downfield was excellent.”
Bettencourt was “very happy” with the defensive line.
“They were being disruptive keeping offensive linemen off the backs of the linebackers so they were free to roam and make plays,” he said.
In terms of tackling, Bettencourt said he gave a B- grade.
“We had real good contact, but didn’t finish, we didn’t wrap,” Bettencourt said. “We talk about hit-wrap, hit-wrap. We also did some arm tackling. We need to go low and stay low.”
Lamusta’s overall take on the Pioneers’ performance was that it was “a good first showing.
“But the reality check is we need to be a lot better,” Lamusta said. “The bar is still high for a first-year starter even if you’re a sophomore or junior. They have to learn fast. That was really the message. Watch film on your own. Focus on it when we watch as a team and then let’s try to get better next week and be competitive against Melrose in the next scrimmage.”
Lamusta said he was pleased with “nice explosive plays” on offense and the defense’s energy.
“I liked the connection between (senior captain and quarterback) Matt Tracy and (senior captain and wide receiver) Luke DiSilvio on a tunnel screen. Lucas Deraps had a nice, long outside run that he cut up and broke a tackle,” Lamusta said. “I thought defensively, our pursuit was pretty good in terms of everyone trying to fly to the ball.”
He also praised the “cohesiveness” among senior Kevin Keyes and juniors Lucas Deraps and Chase Bergeron.
“That’s also a young group, but they’re pretty strong,” Lamusta said. “I saw some good knock-back from that group. On the defensive line, sophomore Marko Tare, sophomore Alex Amico and senior captain Ben Gazit also looked good.”
On the flip side, Lamusta said execution needs improvement.
“I would say that is always the No. 1 thing with the first scrimmage,” Lamusta said. “But I think when everyone focuses a little more in practice, they will know what to do and do it faster.”
Tracy said the Pioneers improved as the scrimmage went on.
“The second offensive series was much better than the first,” Tracy said. “The run game opened up pretty well. The first series was definitely sloppy all around. We just have to be better.”
Gazit said the offensive line was “a little shaky” at the start.
“We have a lot of new guys who aren’t familiar with our offense, so we have to get them right and we’ll be good,” Gazit said.
DiSilvio added that with only three returning starters, “it’s going to take some time for everyone to come together. We just need to keep gelling.”
