RallyNorth.net

Beverly (5-3, 3-0 NEC Small) at Swampscott (7-1, 2-0 NEC Small)

What's at stake

With the new two-tier system in the Northeastern Conference, there's a high probability that the winner of this game will secure a spot in the postseason playoffs. If Beverly triumphs, it would clinch its first league championship in 19 years. If Swampscott comes through Saturday, it still must beat divisional foes Danvers and Marblehead to claim the crown | but those two teams have a combined record of 4-12 heading into this weekend.

Dan Bauer has coached the Beverly High football team for five years, but he has deep Midwest roots.

Growing up in Ballwin, Missouri, just outside of St. Louis, Bauer played football, baseball and was a wrestler at Parkway South High School.

Beverly's dominance over Marblehead continued for an 11th straight season as both Greg Pierce and Rashad Sims each surpassed 100 yards on the ground as the Panthers once again beat Marblehead, 28-7,last night.

There isn't a football coach in the Northeastern Conference that Marblehead's Doug Chernovetz respects more than Beverly's Dan Bauer.

Bauer introduced Chernovetz to NEC football when he hired him as an offensive coordinator/defensive backs coach for the Panthers in 2003. Bauer was later sad to see him leave the program two years later.

Beverly High's work-in-progress football team is 2-0 in the Northeastern Conference small school division after downing upstart Saugus, 19-14, at Hurd Stadium Saturday.

But it's an uncomfortable 2-0 record, which isn't necessarily such a bad thing for the Panthers.

Is it quarterback controversy, quarterback competition or quarterback by committee?

Let's scratch quarterback controversy from that list right off the bat because that casts such a negative light over a program. However, it seems we do have both a quarterback competition and a committee situation right here on the North Shore in Marblehead and Beverly, respectively. While neither Marblehead coach Doug Chernovetz nor Beverly coach Dan Bauer planned on using two quarterbacks during the preseason, both are making the best of it.

DANVERS | It seems as though the Beverly High football team got the memo that the Second Season | better known as the Northeastern Conference Small schedule | began in earnest last night.

Apparently, Danvers High didn't get the same message. Junior running back Rashad Sims scored three rushing touchdowns and senior captain Greg Pierce rambled for 155 yards and another score as the visiting Panthers blew out the Falcons, 34-6, last night at Dr. Deering Stadium.

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.

There may be a sense of urgency in the Beverly High football program this week, but head coach Dan Bauer isn't showing any signs of it.

The Panthers played well early in the season and looked like a team that would compete for the Northeastern Conference South Division crown. But now, in the midst of a three-game losing streak | including telling losses to Gloucester (34-7) and Revere (7-0) | the Panthers appear to be reeling.

REVERE | Every football team has its ups and downs during a long season. Beverly High has to hope that last night's game will represent its lowest point.

Lacking any kind of spark on offense, Beverly allowed Revere to dictate the flow and the physical nature of the game in a 7-0 loss to the Patriots at Della Russo Stadium.