BEVERLY — Starting the day minus their top three running backs and some starting linemen already put the Beverly High football team in a precarious situation Saturday in the rain at Hurd Stadium.
They most certainly did not need the two-pronged offensive attack of North Andover senior tailback Ben Iglesias and junior quarterback Billy Vincent adding salt to their wounds.
Iglesias ran for 156 yards and three touchdowns while Vincent had 82 yards on the ground, 132 more through the air, and accounted for a trio of scores himself as the Scarlet Knights captured a 40-14 victory over the Panthers.
Beverly was without injured backfield threats captain Roman Sullivan, fellow senior Jayden Santos, and junior Sean Costa (injured during Friday’s walk-through). Another running back, junior Xavier Auk, was injured defending a pass in the second quarter and did not return.
Among their other missing bodies was starting center Colby McLane, another senior.
In some instances, third and fourth stringers were forced into action Saturday. For example, five of the seven members of the secondary were not starters to begin the season three weeks ago.
“Our theme of the week was resiliency, but it seems these days like every practice is a new challenge: this guy’s in the lineup, this guy’s out. It’s like a wave upon a wave, and we’re almost out of next-man-up’s,” said Beverly head coach Jeff Hutton.
“But the effort and intensity could not be questioned, though, no matter who was on the field,” he continued. “You feel bad for the kids, though, those guys who were busting their butts in the weight room all offseason, and they’re the ones getting hurt.”
The Panthers (now 1-2) got within a touchdown midway through the second quarter when junior captain Danny Pierce hit senior wideout Ray Kwiatek over the middle for a 32-yard touchdown pass. Pierce, showing touch with a wet ball on a wet field, went 5-for-5 on the scoring drive.
But North Andover, which continually owned the line of scrimmage and seemed to get every big play they needed, responded with a seven-play, 53-yard drive, capped off by Iglesias going around left end from six yards out with 1:40 left in the half.
Then, after holding Beverly to 3-and-out and using their timeouts wisely, the Scarlet Knights scored again as Vincent found Jake Jackson down the left sideline for a 42-yard score. Jackson beat his man 1-on-1 in coverage and rambled to paydirt for a commanding 28-7 halftime edge.
To its credit, the Orange-and-Black got a nice runback from Kwiatek to open the second half and scored seven plays later, with senior Gregory White powering his way in from seven yards out and Maverick Genest adding his second point-after kick. But again North Andover responded, getting 44 yards on 3rd-and-13 (a 44-yard pass from Vincent to Adam Bernat) and another 18 on a 4th-and-10 scamper from Vincent, before the QB took found paydirt two plays later from six yards away.
“There were a lot of third-and-longs were we let them off the hook,” admitted Hutton. “We simply can’t be doing that. When you don’t have all your guys, there’s no margin for error.”
Vincent then sealed the deal with 2:37 remaining, taking it around right end for a 13-yard touchdown.
Beverly hopes to get some healthy bodies back in the lineup as it aims to snap its two-game losing streak next Friday at Wakefield (6 p.m.).
North Andover 40, Beverly 14
at Hurd Stadium, Beverly
North Andover (2-0);7;21;6;6;40
Beverly (1-2);0;7;7;0;14
Scoring summary
NA — Ben Iglesias 5 run (Nathan Wessel kick)
NA — Iglesias 36 run (kick failed)
B — Ray Kwiatek 32 pass from Danny Pierce (Maverick Genest kick)
NA — Iglesias 6 run (Billy Vincent rush)
NA — Jake Jackson 42 pass from Vincent (Wessel kick)
B — Gregory White 7 run (Genest kick)
NA — Vincent 6 run (kick failed)
NA — Vincent 13 run (kick failed)
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: North Andover — Ben Iglesias 20-156, Billy Vincent 18-82; Beverly — Gregory White 6-25, Jonnathan Bleichwel 2-13, Xavier Auk 1-1, Danny Pierce 4-(-1), Charlie Frost 7-(-5).
PASSING: North Andover — Vincent 4-6-132-1-0; Beverly — Pierce 8-11-67-1-1.
RECEIVING: North Andover — Adam Bernat 1-44, Jake Jackson 1-42, Iglesias 1-27, Jeff La Volpicelo 1-19; Beverly — Ray Kwiatek 2-29, Callan McCay 2-28, Liam Timpone 2-7, White 2-3.