English hopes hard lessons will pay off

The 2007 season was expected to be a learning one for the Lynn English football team. And judging by the results, the Bulldogs have gone from puppies to adults this season.And when they take the field tomorrow (10) against Lynn Classical at Manning Field, the Bulldogs hope to put all those lessons learned on full display.”Thursday would be a good way to end,” English coach Gary Molea said. “When you start 1-4 and have a chance to get to five wins, that would be a good accomplishment.”This season already has been a historic one for Molea, who is completing his 17th season on the job, as he earned victory No. 100 with a 29-12 win over Peabody two weeks ago.Revenge would also be good medicine after the 26-0 whitewashing by Classical last season, the Rams first win in five tries.English’s record may not be impressive at 4-6 and 2-2 in NEC North play, but when you delve a little deeper, you see that the Bulldogs easily could have a 7-3 or 8-2 record instead.Twice (against Swampscott and Winthrop) English has taken a lead into the fourth quarter only to let the game get away. Against Salem in a driving rainstorm, it took a pair of missed extra points and a school record field goal to get the Witches by and in a season opening loss to Beverly, it was a superhuman effort from Greg Pierce that doomed English.”We knew coming in that it would be a lot of the same kids from last year and early on it was a little disappointing,” Molea said. “But in the second half, we’ve put some wins together and our best football is ahead with these guys. It’s been a learning experience for them.”Despite the sub-.500 record, the future is very bright for English as many of the starters at the skill positions are set to return next season.Junior quarterbacks Jesse Fowler and Justin Young have split the snaps all season and each has put up respectable numbers. Young has thrown for 656 yards and six touchdowns while Fowler has thrown for 459 yards and six touchdowns.If there was one problem for the Bulldog QBs this season it was turnovers, especially at inopportune times. Fowler and Young have combined to throw 12 interceptions.A wide receiver by trade, Byron Brown was shifted to halfback on Thanksgiving last season and became the starter this season. And despite his relative inexperience at the position, Brown still has carried 148 times for 734 yards and four touchdowns.One thing that hurt the English ground game for nearly half the season was injuries to fullback Jermaine Patterson. When healthy, Patterson gave English the muscle it needed in front of Brown. He also had a pair of touchdowns in a win over Revere.”Not having Jermaine hurt us early,” Molea said. “In the preseason, he was going to be our guy and when he went down against Beverly, I think it took a little bit of the heart out of the team. Because with him, it could have been different in the first five games.”Wide receiver Charlie Rucker has led the group on the perimeter. The 6-2, 205 pound junior has caught 27 balls for 522 yards and eight touchdowns. He also had one of the best performances by any conference wideout this season with his 211-yard, three-touchdown effort against Peabody.Jason Gervason has caught three touchdowns while Brian Castellanos and Derron Seaforth also have been a big part of the Bulldog passing attack.For the young English defense, it was a case of learning on the fly.After taking its lumps in the first five games of the season, the unit matured and has played well down the stretch, save for a 48-8 shellacking at the hands of Gloucester.They had a 21-0 shutout of Marblehead and held an explosive Swampscott team to 21 points and Salem to only 17 in losses.”They’ve really come on lately and have played well,” Molea said.English began the season with the loss to Beverly but rebounded with a 21-14 win at Danvers on Brown’s touchdown run with just under a minute remaining. The fourth quarter bugaboo then showed up in the next two weeks as the Big Blue and Vikings each ma