Page 4 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2021 THANKSGIVING | FROM PAGE 3 Sachems last emerged victorious against Peabody in 2013. This season, the team has struggled mightily to put points on the board. Saugus has tallied just 45 points total (fi nishing in double-digits just once) and has been shut out four times. Still, the off ense has shown flashes of potential. Quarterback Sean O’Rourke has faced a barrage of pressure from opposing defenses all year but has connected on some big pass plays, mostly to senior receiver Drew Gardiner. In the loss to East Boston last week, Ryan Mabee got into the act with a nice 64-yard TD reception. The running game has had diffi culty being consistent, but senior Mark MacEachern and more recently Tommy Desimone have produced some solid gains. In all, though, it hasn’t been enough to get Saugus into the win category. The Sachems have come excruciatingly close to triumphs twice this year. A last-second, 15-14 defeat at Greater Lawrence Tech back on Nov. 4 was a major heartbreaker. The Sachems led 14-7 before Greater Lawrence scored on the fi nal play of the game and won it with a two-point conversion. A 12-6 defeat at Salem on Oct. 7 was almost as agonizing, as the Sachems held a 6-0 advantage through three and a half periods before Salem scored twice in the final three minutes to swipe the victory. What made it even more painful is that the Sachems appeared to be driving for the go-ahead score when Salem intercepted an O’Rourke pass and returned it 90 yards for the game-winning touchdown. Head Coach Steve Cummings will be completing his second full season as Sachems Head Coach. The team went 3-8 in 2019 and 2-5 in last spring’s shortened season. He would like nothing better than to see his team, the senior players in particular, go out on a high note. He has said that this obviously hasn’t been the kind of year they wanted for the seniors. But he added that any future success will be attributed to how this year’s senior corps handled the adversity and carried themselves, and the example this has set for the younger players. Peabody comes into the Thanksgiving clash on a roll, having won five in a row after losing four straight. Against common opponents, the Tanners defeated Winthrop, Gloucester and Salem fairCAPTAINS: Pictured from left to right, are; Mark MacEachern, Tre Sanders, Sean O’Rourke, and Mekhi Coburn. Pictured from left to right: Coaches Mike Finnemore, Gus Dettorre, Head Coach Steve Cummings, Anthony LaFratta and Ruben Reinoso. Not pictured: Mark Poto. ly handily, while the Sachems suffered defeats to all three (though Salem could have been a victory). Peabody also gave Div. 5 powerhouse Swampscott a battle before succumbing 2821. The Sachems lost by a 41-6 count at home to the Big Blue. The Thanksgiving clash is scheduled for 10 a.m. at Peabody’s Veterans Memorial Stadium. Town reports 93 newly confi rmed cases over the past week, according to town manager By Mark E. Vogler C OVID-19 cases continue to surge in Saugus, raising concerns for town offi - cials. The number of newly confi rmed COVID-19 cases reported on Monday (Nov. 22) by the town over the most recent seven-day period was 93, according to Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree. The recently confi rmed COVID cases raised the number of total cases to 5,269 since March of last year, Crabtree said in a press release on Monday. Meanwhile, the number of deaths linked to the killer virus remained at 81. “Our hearts and prayers go out to those families aff ected by this health pandemic,” Crabtree said. Of the 3,540 Saugus residents tested for the virus over the period of Oct. 31 through Nov. 13, 4.38 percent tested positive, according to the state Department of Public Health. The state positivity rate for that period was 2.26 percent.
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