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PEABODY -- The Peabody football program has been on the downswing for the past few seasons, but the Tanners showed some signs of hope against Salem last night at Coley Lee Field.

Peabody dominated play for the majority of the contest, but squandered an opportunity to push across the game-winning points late in the fourth quarter, and Salem's Melikke Van Alstyne scored his second touchdown of the game in overtime to lift the Witches to a 20-14 win.

Salem High football coach Scott Connolly may have trouble convincing his players, but when he was playing for the Witches, the Salem-Peabody game was just as big as the Salem-Beverly Thanksgiving Day rivalry.

Peabody was shut out for the second straight game in losing at Lynn Classical Friday, 40-0.

Classical quarterback Alex Watler connected with Quavari Jackson on touchdown passes of 25 and 37 yards as the host Rams (5-1) sent Peabody (1-6) to its fourth shutout of the season.

PEABODY | In one sense, the Gloucester High School football team was playing its season opener last night at Peabody High School's Lee Field.

For the first time this fall, the Fishermen and the Tanners got to see what they were made of against a fellow Northeastern Conference Large opponent, and unbeaten Gloucester used that as motivation en route to a dominant 39-0 victory. With the win Gloucester improved to 6-0, while Peabody dropped to 1-5.

BEVERLY | The snarl was back for the Beverly High football team on a sun-kissed day here Saturday.

It didn't matter that the Panthers didn't completely dominate struggling Peabody in a 13-6 win. It made no difference that the offense wasn't exactly crisp and that the passing game is still lacking (1 for 3 for a total of six yards). Beverly still has time to fine tune those things, although it had better hurry up since every game the rest of the way has postseason implications in the Northeastern Conference small school division.

PEABODY | A high school football game 75 years in the making produced a grand total of nine points.

But that mattered not to the Peabody High football team, who came away with a victory they were so desperately seeking.

ARLINGTON | For one quarter, everything was right in Tannerland.

On the second play from scrimmage late yesterday afternoon, Peabody High quarterback Scott Diefenbach found wideout Nick Pointer alone behind Arlington's secondary for a 72-yard touchdown strike. It not only represented the Tanners' first points this season, but also snapped a 314-day scoring drought dating back to last year and gave Peabody its first points of the Dick Woodbury era.

CAMBRIDGE | The Peabody High football team isn't only looking for its first win of the Dick Woodbury Era | they're still looking for their first points.

Hitting the road for the first time this season, the Tanners and their new head coach travelled to Cambridge and, for the second straight week, were held off the scoreboard in falling to the host Falcons, 36-0.

Peabody’s senior football center, Anthony Panopoulos. suffered a broken back on the fourth play of his team’s 44-0 opening night loss to St. John’s Prep.

Panopoulos will face at least a year of rehabilitation, head coach Dick Woodbury said.

PEABODY | The beginning of the Dick Woodbury era in Peabody didn't go as planned last night. The crowd was large and enthusiastic for the first Arthur Adamopoulos Football Classic in memory of the late Tanner coach, who was at the helm for 20 years. The Eagles spoiled the party by scoring on seven of their first eight possessions and rolled to a 44-0 win.