This one’s well-earned
Beverly wins title the hard way
No one can ever accuse Beverly of backing into the Division 2 North sectional title.
The Panthers went on the road and defeated a pair of Merrimack Valley Conference Small powers in Tewksbury and Billerica to capture the title — the latter an epic, come-from-behind, 19-18 victory Friday night. The reward for those conquests is a state semifinal date Saturday against No. 1 ranked Duxbury.
The game will be played at Cawley Stadium in Lowell at 1:30 p.m.
“When you look back at some of the teams in our divisions, (Saturday’s game)’s right up there with all of them,” Beverly coach Andrew Morency said. “There are a lot of teams with great programs and we’ll be facing another big challenge with Duxbury.”
For the longest time, it looked like the closest Beverly was going to get to Duxbury was to purchase a ticket for Saturday’s game. Billerica dominated Beverly in the first half, sending the Panthers to the locker room, trailing, 18-0.
“What we told the team at halftime was just to take things one possession at a time,” Morency said. “We didn’t want to even worry about the scoreboard. Let’s just put together a good drive to start the third quarter and see what happens from there.”
The Panthers wasted little time getting started in the third quarter. Sam Abate was the catalyst as he ripped off a 29-yard touchdown run, then was on the receiving end of an 80-yard flea-flicker pass from Kevin Morency to slice the deficit to 18-13.
Abate completed the comeback by scoring from the 5 with six minutes left. The Panthers held on and survived when a potential game-winning 31yard field goal was missed.
“I think a lot of people focused more on what this team lost coming into the season. They lost their running backs, some linemen and a championship coach,” said Morency, who came over this year from Hamilton-Wenham. “But we have a great group of seniors and things have fallen into place. To see the looks on their faces the other night after the win is what we get into coaching for. It was such a rewarding experience, something I won’t forget.”
Going Bowling
The NEPSAC Bowl bids went out yesterday and four Independent School League teams got the call they were hoping for. Belmont Hill, Buckingham, Browne & Nichols, St. George’s and Brooks were selected to play in next weekend’s postseason games.
The Vocational Bowls will be contested later in the week as well with a different format. Unlike past years when there was just one Large School and Small School bowl game, the field has been increased so that there will be semifinal games in each division.
Shawsheen, Blackstone Valley Tech, Diman and Northeast Regional were selected to play in the Large School playoffs. The Small School teams are Upper Cape, Old Colony, Blue Hills and Franklin Tech.
Sweet 16
1. DUXBURY (10-0): Strong get stronger with the return of wide receiver Ryan Reagan from the injured list.
2. XAVERIAN (9-1): Rest assured, the BC High offense is happy it will not have to deal with the Xaverian defense again.
3. EVERETT (8-2): Gets another crack at Xaverian in the Division 1 Super Bowl.
4. KING PHILIP (10-0): Holds off a red-hot BridgewaterRaynham team to capture the elusive Div. 1A South title.
5. HAVERHILL (8-2): Defense stepped up nicely against Peabody.
6. FALMOUTH (10-0): Left no doubt with a second consecutive double-digit win over Westwood.
7. CENTRAL CATHOLIC (72): Relied on depth to handle Acton-Boxboro.
8. NORTH ATTLEBORO (82): A pair of one-touchdown losses to Duxbury and King Philip are the only blemishes on the record.
9. ST. JOHN’S PREP (7-3): Still have a chance to salvage the season by defeating Xaverian to claim the Catholic Conference title.
10. BC HIGH (6-3): Finishes things up on Thanksgiving Day against Catholic Memorial.
11. MARBLEHEAD (10-0): Magicians worked their magic on both sides of the ball against North Reading.
12. HANOVER (10-0): Waited a year to get a crack at Holliston and it was worth every second.
13. CATHOLIC MEMORIAL (64): Jack McGowan tackled everything but the kitchen sink against Marshfield, and even that is in question.
14. BEVERLY (8-2): Don’t think the Panthers will be welcome around the Merrimack Valley Conference Small anytime soon.
15. TEWKSBURY (9-1): A crack at a 10-win season is nothing to sneeze at.
16. BILLERICA (8-2): Secondcollapse still has the Indians shaking their collective heads in disbelief.