BEVERLY — Senior quarterback Dean Borders and senior tailback Matt Andreas combined for all five Danvers touchdowns in its 35-28 victory over Beverly on Saturday afternoon at Hurd Stadium.
The Falcons had cruised to a 35-14 lead following Andreas’s second touchdown of the game from 33 yards out with only 5:17 to play.
But on the arm of junior quarterback Kevin Morency, the Panthers clawed their way back.
Morency drove Beverly down the field and hit senior Kyle Chouinard for an 8-yard touchdown pass. The successful PAT by senior Luke Samperi trimmed the deficit to 14.
Danvers (5-1) recovered the onside kick but quickly went three and out.
Morency and Chouinard connected again for a 60-yard completion just shy of the goal line. Two plays later senior Sam Abate caught a 2-yard touchdown from Morency.
Trailing by 7 with 51 seconds left, Samperi’s onside kick tipped off the hands of a Danvers player before being corralled by Andreas.
“I always come to the games expecting a win, but you can never assume against a great team like Beverly that you are going to put up 35,’’ said Andreas.
Danvers jumped out to a 7-0 lead on the game’s opening drive as Borders sneaked his way up the middle for a 1-yard touchdown.
Beverly (4-2) answered on its first possession when Chouinard found a huge hole in the middle of the line and took it 46 yards into the end zone.
Borders scored again on a 26-yard quarterback draw early in the second quarter and Andreas increased the lead on the Falcons’ next drive as he broke three tackles for a 9-yard touchdown. Senior kicker David Dzebic was perfect on all his extra point attempts on the day.
“I’m comfortable with it and it helps if I run the ball, defenses don’t just key in on Matt, they kind of have to watch out for both of us now,’’ Borders said.
Senior wideout Chris Cole snagged a 16-yard touchdown pass from Morency right before the half giving the Panthers a sense of momentum as they received the second-half kick.
The Danvers defense was up to the task to begin the third quarter even without senior captain linebacker Quintin Holland as senior Zach Sasso collected one of four Falcon sacks in the game to force a punt.
“Holland was out this week and he is the heart and soul of our defense,’’ Danvers coach Shawn Theriault said. “Sasso stepped in and did a great job.’’
“The linebackers just keep getting better and better every week and I was proud of what they did.’’
Both teams were held scoreless in the third quarter but after the snap of a punt sailed over Samperi’s head to the 5-yard line, Danvers was threatening to start the fourth.
Borders sneaked in from the 1-yard line for a second time two plays into the final frame.
