Beverly Pop Warner "D" Team

Beverly D Team Snags First Win Last Sunday, as an Indian Summer sun warmed the cheering faithful at Hurd Stadium, the Beverly Pop Warner D Team beat a tough Triton squad 13-0. Beverly combined a crafty offensive attack and a hard-nosed defensive performance to take its first win of the season. Things looked good early for Beverly, when twenty-five of the squad's thirty-four players were ready to go by coach Toma's 7:45 AM reporting deadline.  When Corey Palazola hopped the fence as cals began at 8:00 AM, almost the entire throng was on board.  (Note to Joe Talbot:  please buy new alarm clock.)  It was the best showing we've had all year.  As game time approached, Beverly's good fortune continued.  Everybody made the weight, including the helmetless Connor Walsh, and we won the toss. Both teams slugged out a tough first half, with very few penalties, and no turnovers.  Walsh and Greg Pierce pounded out nice gains, behind the fine blocking of P.D. Drinkwater, James Ricker, Ben Chapman, and the rest of the offensive line.  Kyle Donovan picked up crucial yardage, and  just missed on a couple of sweet passes that could have broken things open for Beverly.  But, the "Beverly" and "Black" Defenses kept the Panthers in the game by completely shutting down Triton's offense.  Beverly came out in a new 5-5 set, with a linebacking core of Drinkwater, Walsh, Zak Kline, Steven Capodilupo, and Pat Abate.  All the boys made a number of critical, crushing tackles, but it was the free-ranging play of monster-back Abate the inspired the squad.   Nose guards Jordan Smith and Kyle Tuneburg battered Triton's center.  Defensive tackles David Patanaude, Jon Caruso, John Scotti, and Mark Connor forged an impenetrable blockade.     As Beverly jogged off the field at halftime, with the score knotted at zero, the boys, no, the young men, knew that today was going to be different.  And different it was. Beverly kicked off to start the second half and put its feared Blue Defense on the line.  Ryan Skerrit was immense.  Matt Kennedy foamed at the mouth. Matt, make that "Mugsy," Malone howled at his Triton counterpart "I'm gonna eat you alive!"  "Relax Mugsy" pleaded Jeff Attridge.  Tom Cacciola just smiled menacingly, because with quiet self-confidence he knew this was Beverly's day.  The Blue Defense held! Throughout the second half, the White and Orange offenses both advanced Beverly's cause well.   To no one's surprise, though, it was Pierce, behind the blocking of Jules Jefferson, Capodilupo, and Kline, who put Beverly on the board with a nifty run on a 35-Blast for a thirty-yard score.  Triton tried to fight back, but Beverly defenders Jefferson and Brian Castellanos each recorded monstrous sacks.  Early in the fourth quarter, Pierce broadened the cushion with a mad dash around the end where he saw, as Coach Toma tells it, "nothing but green grass, white lines, and end zone."  After a penalty on Beverly's first try at the extra point, Donovan completed a beautiful 45-Counter Pass to put Beverly ahead 13-0. >From there, Beverly's Orange Offense took the field, controlled the ball, and ran out the clock.  Greg Darr quarterbacked the unit with confidence, and Tyler Halpburn ran well.    Time ran out, and once again, all was right in the universe.

	Kyle Donovan (above) had this conversion run called back, but was able to hit Greg Pierce for the extra point on the next play.  Below, Pierce scores one of his two TDs as the Beverly Pop Warner D Team picked up their first win by blanking Triton, 13-0