WINCHESTER — Not again.
That had to be the only thing anyone on the Peabody High sideline was thinking Friday night as Winchester’s Gianni DePrimeau broke free up the home sideline for a back-breaking 86-yard kick return touchdown in the fourth quarter of this Division 2 playoff clash.
The 11th seeded Tanners had just gone ahead for the first time all night, and once they missed the extra point, that lead lasted all of 25 seconds. Trailing by a point, Peabody still had 5:55 to work with and advanced over midfield seeking the go-ahead score. Winchester’s Joe Guida jumped a post pattern and made a rally-ending interception to cap off a 35-27 victory for the Black-and-Red.
Winchester, the No. 6 seed, led 28-27 at the time of the interception which was returned deep into Tanner territory. Peabody elected to let DePrimeau score from 19 yards out in order to get the ball with 1:26 on the clock and a prayer of tying things up down by eight. With wind and rain picking up, the Tanners managed only one short completion and turned the ball over on downs as the Black-and-Red (7-2) advanced to next week’s quarterfinal found against No. 3 Marshfield.
“That’s a tough ending. Really tough,” said Peabody head coach Mark Bettencourt. “I’m really proud of the way we fought. No body on this team quit. No body left anything in the tank. I honestly can’t think of much that I would’ve done differently in this game.”
Peabody (4-5) had topped Winchester by a touchdown, 27-20, in Week 2. The Division 2 rivals were just as evenly matched with the higher stakes of the playoffs Friday night, trading touchdowns throughout and going to the fourth quarter dead even at 21-21.
The Tanner defense forced its first punt of the game with 11:45 to play and with well-mixed runs by seniors Gabe Santos (80 yards rushing) and Caio Santos (65 yards rushing), the offense began to move the chains. A couple of key completions from junior Luke Maglione (130 yards passing) to senior Tyler Rappold set up a 4-yard burst by Gabe Santos that put Peabody ahead, 27-20, with 6:20 remaining.
But just as it did in losses to Swampscott and Danvers, kick coverage doomed the Tanners with DePrimeau bringing the kickoff back to the house to restore Winchester’s lead immediately, 28-27, thanks to the fourth of Will Bolognese’s five PATs.
“We’ve tried everything,” said Bettencourt. “We practice the kickoff team to death. We have to stay in our lanes and we have to tackle … and when we get in the game, we don’t do it.”
DePrimeau ran for 155 yards on 24 carries for Winchester while QB Ronan O’Connell was very effective on pull runs with 65 yards rushing. His 36-yard TD run opening the scoring in the first, but Peabody answered when Rappold returned the next kickoff 75 yards to set the first of Gabe Santos’ three touchdowns to make it 7-7.
O’Connell hit Ryan Martin with a 21-yard scoring strike to put the Black-and-Red up, 14-7, but again the Tanners answered with an eight play scoring drive capped by Gabe Santos, though a missed extra point kept the hosts on top, 14-13. O’Connell scored once again before halftime and Winchester led it 21-13.
Peabody flexed its muscles on the opening drive of the second half, marching 75 yards on 12 plays capped by Caio Santos’ 2-yard burst. An end-around to Rappold for the two-point conversion evened the game up, 21-21.
“Offensively, we did the things we wanted to do,” said Bettencourt. “I thought our offensive line was excellent in the second half. Gabe and Caio both rna hard. They moved piles and they set the tone.”
Captain Jimmy Festa led the Tanner defense, getting two crucial fourth down stops inside Peabody territory. Senior Matt Mastrocola was excellent in the trenches while Aneudy Medrano had a tackle-for-loss and seniors Alex Silva and Christos Wilkins excelled at linebacker.
“We played tough, together and inspired team football,” said Bettencourt. “It’s not easy to beat a team twice in one season and Winchester’s a really good football team. We got them the first time and they got us tonight. This was about as evenly matched a game as you’ll find.”
Peabody now turns its attention to next week’s MIAA consolation game, which will be announced on Sunday.
“That’s a really important game for us,” Bettencourt noted, “because we don’t want to be the team that goes under .500. We need to win that game and we need to win on Thanksgiving. 6-5 sounds a heck of a lot better than 5-6 or 4-7.”
Winchester 35, Peabody 27
Division 2 first round
at Knowlton Stadium, Winchester
Peabody (4-5);7;6;8;6;27
Winchester (7-2);7;14;0;14;35
Scoring summary
W- Ronan O’Connell 36 run (Will Bolognese kick)
P- Gabe Santos 2 run (Jake Marcotullio kick)
W- Ryan Martin 21 pass from O’Connell (Bolognese kick)
P- G. Santos 3 run (kick failed)
W- O’Connell 5 run (Bolognese kick)
P- Caio Santos 2 run (Tyler Rappold rush)
P- G. Santos 4 run (kick failed)
W- Gianni DePrimeau 86 kick return (Bolognese kick)
W- DePrimeau 19 run (Bolognese kick)
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Peabody — Gabe Santos 18-80, Caio Santos 11-65, Luke Maglione 2-(-1); Winchester — Gianni DePrimeau 24-155, Ronan O’Connell 4-65, Nicky Rotondi 3-24.
PASSING: Peabody — Maglione 16-24-130-0-1; Winchester — O’Connell 7-12-62-1-0, DePrimeau 0-1-0-0-0.
RECEIVING: Peabody — Tyler Rappold 8-67, Cory Dooley 4-29, Jayce Jean Pierre 2-25, Joquim Chaves 2-10; Winchester — Rotondi 1-20, Ryan Martin 2-19, DePrimeau 1-13, Ted Budreski 2-10.