By Jean DePlacido
PEABODY - When Lynn English junior quarterback Tyler MacDonald wasn't killing Peabody with his arm, he was doing it with his speed and elusiveness. In short, the Tanners had no answer for MacDonald and the Bulldogs in a 42-13 loss on Senior Night at Coley Lee Field.
MacDonald completed 10 of 16 passes for 207 yards and a touchdown — and he rushed for 119 yards on 19 carries and two more TD's as the Bulldogs racked up over 400 yards.
"We knew MacDonald was a great all-around athlete," said Peabody coach Scott Wlasuk, his team now 3-7 on the year heading into the Thanksgiving clash with Saugus. "I talked to the Revere coach, and he said MacDonald was the best athlete he'd seen at his position. I thought we had a good game plan to contain him, and had people in position to stop him, but he's so elusive. English is a tough team to defend because they use the whole field. I can't even count how many times we had them for losses, but just missed the tackle and they run for a first down."
On the opening drive the Bulldogs engineered a 12-play, 73-yard drive capped by MacDonald's 3-yard run up the middle, and Cory Burt booted the first of six extra points with 6:38 gone in the game. The Tanners came right back with a drive to the English 31-yard line before being stopped short on fourth-and-one.
The Bulldogs effectively mixed the passing and running games with big fullback Jermaine "The Train" Patterson bulling his way into the end zone from a yard out.
The Tanners answered with a quick strike from Mike O'Brien to a wide open Jamal Abu-Hijleh, who caught the ball at the English 10 and sprinted in. After Justin Provencher kicked the extra point it was a 14-7 game with 8:38 remaining in the first half.
Things quickly fell apart for Peabody when MacDonald capped an 85-yard drive with a 1-yard run for a 21-7 cushion. They tacked on another score in the final minute of the half with Christian Figueroa crashing in from a yard out. That drive was highlighted by passes of 15 and 36 yards to Travonne Berry-Rogers.
"We weren't happy with our play last week against Salem (a 14-12 win)," said English coach Peter Holey, his team now 8-3. "All week long we've emphasized getting our offensive confidence back; we have to play with swagger. We went back to the fundamentals and ran our routes.
"MacDonald was outstanding. I told him not to worry about interceptions, just throw the ball. He has great receivers, and tonight he let it rip. He's a dangerous runner because he's deceptively fast. Peabody played hard, and I was impressed with several of their players."
The Tanners' night could be best summed up by the opening drive of the third quarter. After a great return by sophomore Brady Doyle, they moved the ball and had a first-and-goal at the English 4-yard line, but couldn't punch it in.
Peabody got on the board in the waning minutes of the game when sophomore D. J. Henrick broke loose for a 10-yard touchdown run.
"Our future looks bright with our young players in the backfield," said Wlasuk. "(Nate) Gaye, Doyle, and Henrick ran well tonight, and Jason Hiou took a few snaps at quarterback. Doyle had some nice returns, and he was one step away from breaking a couple of them. We have him two more years, and he's just going to keep getting better. We want to get a win for the seniors on Thanksgiving, but it's nice to see some bright spots for the future."
