PEABODY — At last, football was back at Coley Lee as Peabody stormed the field for the first time since last fall.
And Friday night, it was all Tanners, who defeated Melrose, 34-13, in a dominant Week 1 performance.
Melrose was held scoreless in the second half against Peabody pressure – and a raucous environment.
“We have to keep rolling. The bar was set. The expectations for this team are completely different since I took over 12 years ago,” said Peabody coach Mark Bettencourt. “The goal is to win.”
Peabody running back Gabe Santos (11 carries, 47 yards) put on a show on the ground, finishing with three touchdowns – all from within the 5-yard line. Caio Santos also put on a pretty good show, finishing with a team-high 78 rushing yards on 16 carries.
Junior quarterback Luke Maglione was nearly perfect, completing 13-of-15 passes for 160 yards and a 20-yard touchdown pass to junior captain Jayne Jean-Pierre, who later came up with a timely interception that set up a Caio Santos 7-yard touchdown to ice the game.
Maglione’s favorite target was Tyler Rappold, who hauled in five receptions for 100 yards. Anthony Silva (3 catches, 27 yards), Doryln Morel (3 catches, 11 yards) and Cory Dooley (catch, 7 yards) also contributed to the air attack.
In his first varsity start, Jake Marcotullio converted four of five extra points.
“Some of these players are four-year players who have waited their turn, and now, are making the most of it,” Bettencourt said.
Truth be told, the game didn’t start well for Peabody, which trailed 13-7 after the first quarter after Melrose’s Maximillan Lanciani scored two first-quarter touchdowns. But, that’s all the opposition got in this one.
The Tanners made it a 41-13 game at the half on two rushing TDs from Gabe Santos (2-yard run, 5-yard run) in the second quarter, then sealed the win with the Jean-Pierre catch in the third and a 7-yard rushing TD from Caio Santos in the final quarter.
Peabody returns home with another non-conference game Friday against Winchester (7 p.m.).
