Karen Magnifico

Jack Fabiano with the toe-tap snag.

In Masco’s home opener, the Chieftains demolished the Tanners 41-6 on Friday night.

The Chieftains asserted dominance as early as the opening kickoff and had most of their starters pulled by halftime. Every offensive possession in the first half felt like a firework waiting to explode, adding another six to the scoreboard.

Masco’s freight-train running back, senior captain Jack Fabiano, didn’t get his typical workload but still finished with quite the stat line. Fabiano touched the ball three times and ended the first half with three touchdowns. He took carries of one yard, 55 yards, and 49 yards all to the house before halftime. So far through five games, Fabiano has 657 rushing yards, averaging 9 yards per carry, with an astounding 14 touchdowns.

Fabiano wasn’t the only Chieftain dominating with the ball in his hands. Senior quarterback Drew Gustafson was stellar in this contest. His best throw of the night was a beautiful 49-yard deep shot to his go-to guy, senior captain Cal Weidman, who took it past the pylon for a touchdown. That was Weidman’s lone reception of the night.

“The pass game opened up because we ran the football very well from the beginning of the game, and they worried about stopping the run from the start,” said senior receiver Liam Ginley.

Gustafson later threw his second touchdown of the night to Ginley. Ginley was Masco’s leading receiver and the team’s player of the game. He not only recorded four grabs for 57 yards but also had two interceptions on defense — one of which resulted in a 16-yard pick-six.

“Cal Weidman and Liam Ginley played a complete game in all three phases,” said head coach Sheehan. “Those guys have tremendous value to the program and do a lot of things that don’t show up on the stat sheet, which they demonstrated tonight. That was a really, really good job by those two. It was a great effort from the whole team in all three phases of the game.”

Gallery • 3 Photos

Karen Magnifico

Masco running out

As good as the offense was, the defense was just as dominant, holding Peabody to six garbage-time points. It was quite the improvement from the week prior when the Chieftains gave up 56 points.

“Defensively, we were unselfish for all four quarters,” said senior lineman Alex Russo. “Everyone did their jobs exactly how they were asked, and for the first time all year, we played great team defense as one unit.”

Russo has been a key contributor on the defensive line, pestering the quarterback — especially on passing downs. He recorded a big third-down sack and blew through the line for a huge tackle for loss.

“When pass rushing, it’s all about speed and a violent get-off,” said Russo. “If you’re fast enough off the line, it makes the offensive lineman nervous, and they start to get sloppy with their footwork and hands. It’s always easier with Mags [Lucas Magnifico] and [Mike] Kenny forcing the quarterback to step up in the pocket right to me as well.”

After a crushing Week 4 loss, Masco was due for a blowout win.

“Winchester was a humbling experience, but we bounced back impressively,” said Sheehan. “We knew we couldn’t continue to do it that way. We had a new sense of urgency for practice this week. These kids did a great job responding and are resilient. They know how to play the game, they know what it requires, and they did it tonight. Our skill guys had quite the night.”

The Chieftains will now face a familiar offense similar to their Week 2 opponent, Billerica. The Danvers Falcons like to run the grueling wing-T offense. Against Billerica, it took Masco nearly the entire first half to adjust, but once they did, the Billerica offense was stuck in the mud.

“Just like the Billerica game, we’ll roothog [defensive technique] their offensive line, play physical, and stop their run game,” said Ginley.

After a tough loss to Beverly last week, the Falcons will look to compete in this NEC showdown. However, Masco had their number last season, and the dominant win over Peabody suggests the Falcons may go home still searching for their first conference victory. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. at Danvers High School. 

Masconomet 41, Peabody 6

at Walt Roberts Field, Boxford

Peabody (0-5);0;0;0;6;6

Masconomet (4-1);14;20;7;0;41

Scoring summary

M — Jack Fabiano 1 run (Nicco Cefalo kick)

M — Cal Weidman 49 pass from Drew Gustafson (Cefalo kick)

M — Fabiano 55 run (Cefalo kick)

M — Fabiano 49 run (Cefalo kick)

M — Liam Ginley 15 pass form Gustafson (kick blocked)

M — Ginley 16 interception return (Cefalo kick)

P- Mark Mendonca 21 pass from Luke Maglione (kick blocked)

Individual Statistics

RUSHING: 

Peabody — Chris Jeune 7-23, Jaoquim Chaves 5-13, Yadiel Villaneuve 4-12, Luke Maglione 4-1;

 Masconomet — Jack Fabiano 3-105, Alex Cantalupo 5-23, Drew Gustafson 1-11, Tripp Weidman 1-8, Jack Engel 1-6, Jax Parker 3-6, Tyler Durgan 1-3, Max Gaudin 1-2. 

PASSING:

Peabody — Maglione 16-22-134-1-2; Masconomet — Gustafson 10-12-170-2-0.

RECEIVING: 

Peabody — Mark Mendonca 3-34, Max Silvia 3-30, Cory Dooley 5-29, Chaves 2-23, Brian Collins Dixon 2-9, Jack Smith 1-0; 

Masconomet —Liam Ginley 4-57, Cal Weidman 1-49, T. Weidman 3-43, Fabiano 1-16, Durgan 1-5.