Local football fans received much-needed relief from the end-of-summer blues yesterday when Massachusetts high school football teams were cleared for their first official preseason workouts.
The first three days — yesterday, today and tomorrow — will be a mental grind for incoming freshmen and first-year players. The players participate in practices without pads and helmets, by rule of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association. The die-hard football fans looking for heavy hitting and demonstrations of toughness will have to wait until Thursday. Those more interested in offensive and defensive formations and playbook installation can visit a local football field nearby as early as this morning.
As much as high school athletes may despise the two weeks of preseason that cut summers short in exchange for two weeks of double-days in intense heat, the excitement surrounding the upcoming season may very well draw fans to the various local high school teams' respectable practice sites. Last fall played out like a dramatic sports book with neighboring city rivals Newburyport and Amesbury playing for a Cape Ann League Small title on Thanksgiving — the last day of the regular season. Amesbury pulled off the massive upset en route to its first CAL title since 1988.
But Amesbury's Thanksgiving morning upset did not sit well with a Newburyport squad, which established itself as one of the top — if not the top — passing offense on the North Shore during the first 10 games. But passing was the problem for Newburyport on Thanksgiving due to quarterback Joe Clancy's one-game suspension that stemmed from a shoving incident the previous week in the Lynnfield game.
Bring up the suspension in Newburyport to this day, and you'll discover it is one subject on which everyone has an opinion. Regardless, it's safe to assume Clancy and Co. have been counting the days until they could begin preparations for settling the score this holiday season.
"I would definitely say we've put it behind us, and we've moved on," said Newburyport junior Derek Freeman. "I'm sure we'll bring it up as motivation when we see them again. But for now, we're working on preparing for the other teams we have to play first."
The feeling in Amesbury is not one of revenge, but instead one of unfulfilled potential. The Indians expect to return to the post-season, but this time they'd like to advance past the opening round, where last fall they fell to Greater Lawrence.
"It feels a lot better now that we've made it that far," Amesbury quarterback Jared Flanagan said. "But it only made us hungrier to make it to the Super Bowl."
Over in Byfield, the Triton football team is coming off a 1-10 season and an offseason coaching change. Former Salem High great Jim O'Leary replaced Triton alumnus Shawn McElligott as head coach, and the former Northeastern University quarterback brought with him an intense offseason conditioning program that he supervised this summer. The cupboard is far from empty for O'Leary, as is evidenced by last season's young Triton squad, which pushed many teams into close games late in the fourth quarter.
Pentucket, on the other hand, graduated many of its top players from a team that went 8-3, including a victory over CAL Large champion Masconomet. Quarterback Jordan Silva returns, as does halfback Chris Modlish, who will attempt to replace 2007 Daily News Football player of the year Nate Bunnell.
"I think we could definitely repeat what we did last year," Silva said. "We need to go into every game like we did Masco last year, and I think we'll show what we can do."
Meanwhile, Georgetown returns to the Cape Ann League for the first time in more than 20 years. After switching to the Commonwealth Conference Small years ago in an effort to play more competitive games in-conference, the program has grown to the point where athletic director Guy Prescott and football coach Matt Bouchard felt the Royals would be better-suited playing in the CAL. But one constant in Georgetown's schedule is the Thanksgiving matchup with Manchester Essex — a game which typically decided the CCS champion in years past. This year's Royals will be out for revenge. Manchester Essex thumped last year's Royals in a game host Georgetown appeared to enter as favorites.
Last year's football season brought plenty of drama for local football fans. It's easy to envision that this year will bring a Super Bowl title to one of our local teams.
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Dan Guttenplan is the sports editor of The Daily News. E-mail him at dguttenplan@newburyportnews.com.
