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Beverly searching for confidence before hitting NEC South schedule

Friday, October, 05 By Matt Jenkins
Staff writer

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.

Beverly needs to put things back together, and it has only one more week of preparation before it gets into the NEC South portion of its schedule. Tomorrow's home game against Peabody at Hurd Stadium (2:30 p.m.) will be the final tune-up before the games count toward the postseason. "We were obviously down from last Friday night's game (against Revere)," Bauer said. "We thought we'd play better. Since then, the kids have responded with a couple great practices. It's a matter of regaining focus and confidence." If all of this was going down last week, the Panthers probably would have felt good about the Tanners coming to town.

Now? Not so much.

Peabody's confidence is at a season-high after its 6-3 victory over Danvers, the first for hed coach Dick Woodbury. "We definitely needed it to build confidence," Woodbury said about his club's victory over the Falcons, courtesy of a 1-yard touchdown run by Scott Diefenbach in the fourth quarter. "They know how to win now, and that's a big deal. We had to get that across. They also know they've still got a lot of work to do."

Tom Ciulla is back at quarterback for the Tanners after suffering a separated shoulder in his team's opening game, which means they can run an offense that is much closer to the one they expected during the preseason.

Woodbury knows playing well on defense will be the key tomorrow. Peabody has to get to the ballcarrier in groups, especially when Greg Pierce is the one running with it.

On the flip side, Bauer has also been pleased with the improved play of Brian Kureta, Paul Drinkwater and sophomore quarterbacks Mark Hannable and Mark Theriault. The sophomore duo has been alternating playing time for the past two weeks.

Everyone in Pantherland knows the biggest games of the 2007 season are still down the road. But the Orange and Black need to raise their confidence level during this week's matchup.

"We look at every game is a big game. We take that approach no matter what," Bauer said. "We're still trying to find some identity on both sides of the ball, but there have been improvements. Unfortunately, it hasn't shown up the last couple of weeks in the win column."