BEVERLY — It was a great day to be a Witch.
Feasting on their holiday foes in the 125th playing of ‘The Game’, Salem did what was necessary Thanksgiving morning: play great defense, receive some big plays offensively, and stay healthy to prepare for next week’s Division 6 Super Bowl against Fairhaven at Gillette Stadium.
It added up to a 35-14 victory for the Witches over Beverly High, their first win at Hurd Stadium in 13 years. It also gave them back-to-back triumphs over the Panthers for the first time in 23 seasons.
“We knew that we were the better team and just had to play our game,” said senior captain and quarterback Corey Grimes, who completed 10-of-18 passes for 164 yards and three touchdowns. “That’s what we did coming out of that slow first quarter … in the second quarter, we just took off.”
Now 10-2, Salem can fully turn its attention to Fairhaven (11-1) in the school’s first Super Bowl game in 24 years. That’s also the last time the Witches won 10 games in a season.
Another captain, junior Quinn Rocco Ryan, got separation on the grass at Hurd (“it took a little while” he admitted) and caught five passes for a game-high 127 yards and two touchdowns. Both came in the second quarter — from 18 and 15 yards out, respectively — to give the Witches a 14-0 lead.
Senior Shane Field, a 5-foot-10, 205-pound bull out of the backfield, also had a terrific day for the Red-and-Black, running for 90 yards and a 17-yard TD while also returning a third quarter interception 35 yards for a touchdown to make it 28-6.
“We’re always going to take what the defense is giving us, and a lot of times Beverly was lining up to shut down Devante (Ozuna),” said Salem head coach Matt Bouchard. “So it gave us a lot of opportunities for Shane. On just about any other team he’d be the star tailback. He gives us that flexibility to be successful not only in our league, but in next week’s game, too.”
Before an estimated crowd of over 3,000, Salem had a strong balance between its run game (196 yards) and through the air (165). In doing so, they increased their school record for points in a season (443).
Salem’s seniors gained a measure of revenge as well, remembering the last time they played at Hurd two years ago they were on the losing end of a 60-28 blowout.
“It means everything to these guys, especially our seniors,” said Bouchard. “This team has been on a difficult difficult road (in their careers), and a lot of young people are always looking for offramps. Those offramps are enticing because they say ‘This is an easier way’, and a lot of times those offramps don’t lead to success. These guys kept their head down and kept plowing. Even when it was hardest, they kept forging forward, and this is how they got here.
“In life you’re going to have a lot of challenges,” Bouchard continued. “You proved it to yourselves, in your high school career, that no matter what roads are ahead of you, you’ll be successful. And worse case scenario, you can always call Ol’ Bouchard. I’m always looking for a long walk.”
Beverly, which still has a comfortable lead in the all-time series (64-54-7), lost on the holiday for only the seventh time in 23 contests played in the 21st century.
The Orange-and-Black played stout defensively for much of the first half, holding the fort when Salem drove to the BHS 2-yard line to begin the game and making the visitors turn the ball over on downs again on their next series. But they didn’t help themselves offensively, gaining just 19 yards by halftime.
By that time, Salem had gotten untracked and took a 21-0 lead into the break, then extended that when Field picked off a pass four plays in the third quarter and returned it 35 yards to the house.
“It was the 125th game of one of the biggest rivalries in the state. It was definitely important to us,” said Field.
“That No. 35 was the best player on the field today,” Beverly (1-10) head coach Jeff Hutton said. “He’s tough, comes downhill, runs hard and was the best defensive player for either team. He’s one of those stack guys we tried to run everything away from, but he still made plays.”
Sophomore quarterback Danny Pierce had a pair of touchdown passes for the Panthers in the second half. After executing his team’s second fake punt/fourth down conversion of the day by hitting Xavier Auk for a 33-yard gain, he found junior wide receiver Liam Timpone with a 19-yard TD pass over the middle. He then finished off a 6-play, 55-yard drive by finding sophomore running back Jayden Torres in the right corner of the end zone from 10 yards out.
“Our defense played their hearts out in that first half; we just needed some first downs that we weren’t able to convert,” said Hutton, whose team got strong games from senior linebacker Ben Hering (8 tackles), junior end Jack Consedine, and captain Danny Conant.
Salem’s other score came with two seconds left in the first half when Grimes hit Albert Pujols on a 3-yard slant. The Witches also got a great performance from sophomore Elvis Espinal playing the team’s hybrid defensive end/outside linebacker spot and helping to force Panther runners back inside the tackles.
Salem 35, Beverly 14
at Hurd Stadium, Beverly
Salem (10-2);0;21;14;0;35
Beverly (1-10);0;0;6;8;14
Scoring summary
S — Quinn Rocco Ryan 18 pass from Corey Grimes (Grimes kick)
S — Rocco Ryan 15 pass from Grimes (pass failed)
S — Albert Pujols 3 pass from Grimes (Shane Field rush)
S — Field 35 interception return (Grimes kick)
B — Liam Timpone 19 pass from Danny Pierce (kick blocked)
S — Field 17 run (Grimes kick)
B — Jayden Santos 10 pass from Pierce (Gregory White pass from Pierce)
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Salem — Shane Field 11-90, Elvis Espinal 7-48, Devante Ozuna 9-37, Corey Grimes 4-15, Quinn Rocco Ryan 2-5, Angel Nolasco 2-2, Fernandes 1-(-1); Beverly — Kevin Hubbard 2-38, Gregory White 2-11, Jayden Santos 12-9, Danny Conant 1-2, Danny Pierce 5-1.
PASSING: Salem — Grimes 10-18-164-3-1, Jordan O’Malley 1-2-1-0-0, Alfred Ferrioli 0-1-0-0-0, Julian Ortiz 0-1-0-0-0; Beverly — Pierce 12-25-127-2-1, Liam Timpone 1-1-14-0-0.
RECEIVING: Salem — Rocco Ryan 5-127, Ortiz 1-21, Field 2-10, Albert Pujols 1-3, Ozuna 2-3, Oscar Fernandes 1-1; Beverly — Timpone 2-43, Shane Callahan 5-34, Xavier Auk 1-33, Santos 3-17, Pierce 1-14.