Two Friday thrillers arise in Tech-Greater Lawrence, Classical-Gloucester

Manning Field is sure to be filled to capacity on Friday as two marquee football games are on the docket.First up on the agenda will be the surprising Lynn Tech, which is off to its best start in years at 5-0, playing host to also-unbeaten Greater Lawrence in a battle for first place in the Commonwealth Conference.Following that will be two of the heavy hitters in the Northeastern Conference’s North division.Gloucester, unbeaten and ranked sixth in eastern Massachusetts, makes the first of back-to-back trips to Manning to take on Lynn Classical, which comes in at 5-1 and 1-0 in North play.”They are a very, very good team and we need to be at our best,” Classical coach Matt Durgin said. “They are one of the top teams in the state and their program is consistently good year after year.”For Lynn Tech, it’s the first time in quite a while that the Tigers will play a meaningful football game in late October.The Tigers, who beat Greater Lowell 28-21 last week, come into the game sporting a 5-0 record. It’s Tech’s best start since 1987, when the Tigers also had a 5-0 record entering a game against the Reggies before losing 19-14 and eventually finishing the year 8-2.”We’ve been playing pretty well,” Tech coach Gary Sverker said. “We have a lot of seniors, and for them, it’s their time. These kids paid their dues last year, and hopefully it will be a good game (Friday).”Last week, Tech had 374 yards of total offense, 327 on the ground thanks in large part to John Jones’ 36-carry, 204-yard, two-touchdown effort.Jones’ running mate, Otis Green, carried 16 times for 66 yards to help keep the Gryphons honest.”John had an awful lot of carries last week, but the offensive line and blocking backs worked hard,” Sverker said. “Our offensive line has really come along.”Quarterback Jose Rios has done a fine job in engineering the Tigers’ I-formation offense, and he also threw a touchdown pass last week in the win.”Jose is really doing a nice job, and Jake Canty and Stephan Carter are good targets for him to throw to,” Sverker said.But the Tigers’ opponent on Friday is just as talented and explosive.Running back Nate Adames leads all Division 3A teams in rushing yards while quarterback Jonathan Delassantos is a dual threat in the run and pass games.”We will have our hands full,” Sverker said. “We lost to them by a point last year (21-20), and they have all their guys back. It’s set up to be a pretty good game. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”The second game on tap at Manning on Friday is one that many people had circled when the high school football season kicked off in September.To put it nicely, the Fishermen have been a thorn in the Rams’ side for many a season. Three times since the year 2000, Classical had a chance to win the NEC title. But on all three occasions, the Rams’ postseason dreams were thwarted by the Fishermen, who took the conference title each time.This season, Gloucester (7-0, 2-0) has been put to the test only once (a 21-14 win over Swampscott) while the Rams have played only two close games, an 18-13 decision over Beverly and a 35-25 loss at Winthrop.The offensive talent on display for both teams could lead to the Manning Field scoreboard operator being quite busy.Gloucester possesses a dominant running game, led by the North Shore’s leading scorer, Andrew Fulford.Fulford has rushed for 773 yards and 18 touchdowns on just 84 carries. He also has returned an interception for a touchdown during a season in which he has already broken the school record for touchdowns (41) and could be on pace to break his own record for points in a season (206).But it’s not all Fulford all the time for the Fishermen. Seniors Brian Harnish and Anthony Enderle had rushed for a combined 637 (320 and 317) yards while sophomore Taylor Burbine has run for 292 yards and four touchdowns. He also returned a punt for a score last week against Revere.Quarterback Rick Gallant is the man in charge of orchestrating the Wing-T offense. And when he’s n