PEABODY – When looking again on the lengthy and storied historical past of Peabody High School soccer, there’s a nice legacy of standout working backs who performed beneath terrific coaches like Arthur Adamopoulos and Ed Nizwantowski.
But occasions change and so has the highlight within the Tanners backfield. That now squarely shines on senior quarterback Shea Lynch, a serious purpose the Tanners are one of many favorites to contend when the Division 2 playoffs kick off.
One particular person with an up shut and private take a look at the change led by Lynch is former Peabody participant and now Tanners head coach Mark Bettencourt, who may be very succinct in what his quarterback has performed for this system.
“You can safely say that he has changed the face of Peabody football,” Bettencourt mentioned. “This was always a ground and pound, run the ball 90 percent of the time program. Now we are a completely spread program in the last three years. We always wanted to do it but now we have the receivers and quarterback to do it.”
Being a quarterback was seemingly predestined virtually from the time he might stroll for the 5-foot- 11-inch, 195-pound senior.
Lynch’s dad, Scott, was a standout quarterback at Lynn English again within the Nineteen Eighties and there isn’t quite a lot of issues he hasn’t seen on the soccer area. It’s that experience and eye for particulars that the youthful Lynch says has been a serious assist for him.
“He was my coach all through youth football,” Lynch mentioned. “He sits there and watches the film and helps break down what I’m doing and what the opponents are going to do. He’s able to tell me what I should be looking for in certain situations.”
Opposing defenses have to choose their poison in the case of shutting down what Lynch and the Tanners do. If they sit again and play protection, Lynch has developed the persistence to methodically choose aside a protection. On the flip aspect, in the event that they elect to placed on a heavy rush, Lynch can use his legs to achieve yardage when wanted.
It’s that attribute that Bettencourt says now has turned Lynch into one of many state’s elite dual-threat quarterbacks.
“Shea’s ability to keep his eyes downfield when he’s pressured is special. We had to fight with him as coaches to tell him to take the ball and go when he sees 20 yards in front of him,” Bettencourt mentioned. “That’s the last piece of the puzzle that makes him dangerous. Now you have to spy him every play.”
That was on show final Friday night time in entrance of a capability crowd at Piper Field in Marblehead when the Tanners made an announcement on their intentions for this season by blasting previous reigning Super Bowl champion Marblehead, 40-7.
With the Magicians speeding solely three males, Lynch had time to take a seat again and discover open receivers to the tune of 21-of-26 for 304 yards and 4 touchdowns. He additionally added 30 yards on the bottom when Marblehead did get strain within the backfield.
The win over the Magicians pushed the Tanners from ninth within the MIAA’s preliminary energy rankings for Division 2 into the No. 3 place getting into tonight’s dwelling sport in opposition to fellow unbeaten Leominster, placing Peabody in a great spot to make the playoffs.
That was one thing that they felt ought to have occurred a 12 months in the past after they received the NEC’s Lynch Division however have been neglected of the sector when the brackets for Division 2 have been introduced.
“Last year, we didn’t really see that coming,” Lynch mentioned. “We talked about it and with the kids that we had coming back, we weren’t going to let that happen again. We are just taking it game by game and this week our focus is on Leominster.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com