By Mike Sidhly
NEFJ Correspondent
PEABODY – Football season doesn’t start for a few more months, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t championships to be won and hardware to bring home in the meantime.
The East Super Regional 7 v 7 Tournament was held on Saturday at Bishop Fenwick High School in Peabody, MA. The event was presented by Gold Athletics, and teams from 40 different schools across the state competed around an action-packed day filled with big plays and surprising upsets.
The schools were separated into two different Divisions, the Small School Division, and the Open Division. After almost six hours of non-stop competition, Peabody came away with a 24-14 victory over Masco to win the Open Division Championship, and Lynnfield defeated Danvers, 15-7 to win the Small Division Championship.
Peabody’s day was filled with rife with big moments, as they had to face heavyweight contender Xaverian High School in the semi-finals, led by nationally acclaimed quarterback and Penn State Commit Will Wood.
Wood had a fantastic day overall, with threaded passes and big arm talent leading the Brothers to the Open Division Semis. Even early on against Peabody, he was finding success and dotting up his receivers for huge gains and scores.
But in the end and with time winding down, Peabody defensive back Ryan Levesque came up with a clutch interception in the end zone, and sealed the 18-12 victory as the stunned Xaverian team was eliminated from contention.
Peabody’s offense led the way in the Championship game. Transfer quarterback Dominik Mercier was the main catalyst as Peabody cruised to a 24-14 victory over Masco.
“It felt great to win today, because I just transferred in here too”, said Mercier.
“Coming back with my friends and being able to get that connection back, and winning it all in the first 7 v 7 Tournament we had, it felt great.”
Dominik also knows that this early work is vital in shaking the cobwebs off heading into training camp, which is right around the corner.
“All the rust is gone, I’m finally comfortable again,” he said.
“This offseason was big for me, and now that we’re on to 7 v 7’s and all the tournaments, you can tell. So it’s big.”
In Lynnfield’s journey to victory, they also had a big defensive moment that changed the tide of a ball game, but there’s came in the Championship round. Up 15-7 with a little under one minute to play, Danvers was driving down to score.
As time ticked away, a pass was fired towards the middle of the field. The Lynnfield defense converged, and as the ball got tipped into the air, defensive back Chase Buoniconti corralled the interception, and clinched the Small Division Championship for the Pioneers.
Lynnfield quarterback Spencer Brown played great throughout the event, and his laser throw to senior wide receiver Lucas Deraps against Mashpee really stood out during group play.
There were many other standouts amongst the chaos and excitement that was the 7 v 7 slate as well.
The day started with Buckingham Browne and Nichols quarterback Jake Kelley launching a deep throw to freshman receiver Darin Shaw, who leaped up into double-coverage and came down with an incredible catch against Woburn during group play.
Lincoln-Sudbury quarterback Jamie Champa scanned the field and threw a well placed ball over the heads of multiple defenders, with Ben Sellazzo making an incredible bobble-catch that resulted in a touchdown.
Finally, what a treat it was to watch Governor’s Academy duel-threat quarterback Aiden Bly compete on the field. Despite his phenomenal track-level speed, it’s evident that he’s more than just his legs. I got to watch him go through his progressions and make pinpoint throws to his receivers in stride – all day long.