RallyNorth.net

Small school showdown, huge implications

Thursday, November, 01 By Mike Grenier
Staff writer

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.

3 keys to victory

Beverly

1. Eliminate | or at least limit | Swampscott's big plays. Big Blue quarterback Peter Kinchley has thrown for 1,158 yards, and the team's spread offense is capable of scoring from anyplace on the field. Beverly's pass defense hasn't seen anything like it all year, so this will be a supreme test for its pass rushers and the secondary. You'd have to think that fatigue could play into it in the second half, so Beverly must find a way to keep fresh bodies out there.

2. Finish off long drives, which is another way of saying the best defense against a team like Swampscott is your offense. With Greg Pierce (1,223 yards) and Rashad Sims (102 yards in last week's win over Marblehead) in the backfield and sophomore Mark Theriault improving as a passer, Beverly is indeed capable of chewing up the clock and keeping Swampscott's offense off the gridiron.

3. Maintain good field position. Even if some of their drives stall, the Panthers can help themselves immensely by pinning Swampscott deep in its own territory with solid play by their special teams. As is the case with any high school team, the more plays you have to make on offense, the more prone you are to making a mistake.

Swampscott

1. Bottle up Beverly's running game. If Pierce and Sims are allowed to pound away like they did last week when they combined for over 200 yards against Marblehead, Swampscott's defense will be drained by the second half. Swampscott coach Steve Dembowski is concerned about Beverly's balanced running attack and adds that its offensive line is doing a great job at the point of attack. Swampscott has had a tendency to allow teams to move the ball between the 20s, but it must tighten up in this game.

2. Win the turnover battle. Swampscott has had just nine turnovers in eight games, but Dembowski has seen how damaging it can be when his team loses the ball. The Big Blue had three turnovers against Lynn English, and the Bulldogs eventually turned two of them into two touchdowns in a shaky 21-20 Swampscott win. Swampscott also threw two end zone interceptions in a 21-14 loss to undefeated Gloucester.

3. Get the ball to the playmakers. Swampscott has a ton of them. Kinchley has completed passes to 10 different players | and five of them have nine or more receptions. The Big Blue also have three players who've rushed for 185 or more yards, including Kinchley himself. All of this can be extremely confusing to an opposing defense. Swampscott hopes that will be the case this week.