Tanners take to the air, blank Revere

Sep. 10—PEABODY — The only thing that seemed capable of stopping Peabody High's offense Friday night was the clock — and even when it showed 00:00 at the end of the second quarter, the Tanners still managed to tack on more points.

Senior quarterback Shea Lynch threw four touchdown passes in only 2 1/2 quarters, his Tanners scored on each of their first five possessions, and Dom Scalese made a 43-yard field goal on an untimed down at the end of the first half in a 40-0 season opening rout of Revere at Coley Lee Field.

Perhaps inspired by an appearance from senior captain Mikey Mastrocola, a lineman who will miss the season battling leukemia, Peabody (1-0) was on fire in the opening half. Mastrocola spent the last month receiving treatment in Boston, came home Wednesday and watched Friday night's game from a special spot on the sidelines with a wide berth to protect his health as he continues to recover.

Revere head coach Lou Cicatelli and his program presented Peabody head coach Mark Bettencourt with a check for the Mastrocola family to help with his medical costs in a classy gesture.

"It was an emotional day. Not a kid on our team suspected Mikey would be here so soon and we saw the entire team light up when they saw him," Bettencourt said. "His recovery so far is a blessing and we're so thankful for all the prayers from the community. I think he liked what he saw tonight."

The play of the day from Mastrocola's standpoint was a third quarter sack in the end zone for a safety that was right in front of where he was sitting — and just happened to be made by his younger brother, sophomore Matt Mastrocola, who was making his first varsity start. The younger Mastrocola added two points to a great debut that included three total tackles-for-loss.

"You couldn't script it any better than that," said Lynch. "Matty had 'big brother' and '66' and his birthday written on his shirt and it means a lot to him to play for his brother ... It means a lot to Mikey too, being able to see Matt do what he can't right now."

Offensively, Lynch was spreading the ball around in midseason form. He completed 14-of-21 passes to six receivers with touchdowns to three different targets. Colin Ridley hauled in a crossing pattern for a 22-yard score to open things up, Danny Barrett caught a 9-yarder in the second and Eli Batista roasted the defense for a 40-yard score to make it 21-0 midway through the second quarter.

Scalese's field goal had it 24-0 at the break after a TD pass was wiped out by holding with no time on the clock. Under federation rules even an offensive penalty calls for an untimed down and Scalese made the most of his chance with a boot that had distance to spare. Ridley took the opening kick of the second half all the way down to the 16-yard line, setting up another TD pass to Batista for a 31-0 lead.

"Very happy to see the offense clicking right off the bat," said Bettencourt. "The kids ran crisp routes and ran the right ones with the right combinations. Shea was in rhythm."

The Tanner defense, with a host of new starters in the front seven, was nearly flawless. Revere (0-1) managed only 70 total yards in the first half and actually had a net loss of yards in the second half. Sophomore linebacker Jimmy Festa forced a fumble for Peabody, Alex Silva and Don Cavanaugh did a fine job at outside linebacker and undersized defensive tackle Jose Lendor had a tremendous all-around game.

"Senior Sam Merrill is the brains of the defense as a linebacker. He made sure everyone was in the right spots," said Bettencourt. "The defensive line did a great job of shooting the right gaps, not getting too deep and making secure tackles."

Revere's biggest play was its first from scrimmage, a 27 yard completion for a first down. They opted to go for it on fourth down near midfield after that and were stuffed — a few minutes later Peabody was off and running with its first touchdown.

"The defense set the tone before we even got on the field," Lynch said. "As an offense, we just ran with the momentum they gave us. I think our defense surprised a lot of people with how the played."

Senior Will Pinto capped the scoring with a 4-yard score and led all rushers with 45 yards on eight carries. Batista led all receivers with 57 yards, Barrett had 38 and Essex Tech transfer Jayce Dooley had two key third down grabs in his Tanner debut.

Now winners of seven straight going back to 2021, Peabody topped Revere in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2003-04. It was their first win over the Patriots at home since 2014, and the most points against their former Greater Boston League rivals in 22 years.

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Peabody 40, Revere 0

at Coley Lee Field, Peabody

Revere (0-1);0;0;0;0;0

Peabody (1-0);7;17;16;0;40

Scoring summary

P- Colin Ridley 22 pass from Shea Lynch (Dom Scalese kick)

P- Danny Barrett 9 pass from Lynch (Scalese kick)

P- Eli Batista 40 pass from Lynch (Scalese kick)

P- Scalese 43 FG

P- Batista 8 pass from Lynch (Scalese kick)

P- Safety (Matt Mastrocola sack in the end zone)

P- Will Pinto 4 run (Scalese kick)

Individual Statistics

RUSHING: Revere — Maykin Gonzalez 3-16, Danny Hou 2-7, Kamal Majid 1-5, William Granidino 1-4, Sami Elarsi 11-(-1), Carlos Rizo 3-(-1), Chris Cassidy 3-(-4) ; Peabody — Will Pinto 8-45, Shea Lynch 5-28, Alex Silva 3-16, Jaden Roman 5-12, Joey Smith 1-5, Alan Paulino 1-0.

PASSING: Revere — Rizo 3-8-40-0-0 ; Peabody — Lynch 14-21-174-4-0.

RECEIVING: Revere — Cassidy 1-27, Domenic Boudreau 2-13 ; Peabody — Eli Batista 4-57, Danny Barrett 4-38, Alan Paulino 2-28, Jayce Dooley 2-26, Colin Ridley 1-22, Silva 1-3.