Phelps, Rams get ready for Wakefield

The Lynn Classical football team outgained Catholic Conference power Catholic Memorial by a nearly 2-to-1 margin in its season opener last week. But a penalty here and a big play there by the Knights were enough to offset the discrepancy in yardage and give CM a 17-0 win at Manning Field.The Rams and coach Tim Phelps will hope to carry that stellar play into Thursday night, when they hit the road and travel to Landrigan Field in Wakefield to take on the Warriors in a non-conference meeting (6).Classical (0-1) had the advantage in nearly every statistical category against the Knights, but seven penalties and a costly interception proved to be a combination that the Rams couldn’t overcome.”I thought that we moved the ball relatively well,” Phelps said. “And I thought the defense played real well. We just made little mistakes, and when we did, they capitalized on them.”The Ram defense was brilliant as it faced one of the top backs in Eastern Mass. in CM senior Antonio Warren. Warren gained just 43 yards on 11 carries, but he scored twice from two yards out to help the Knights transform their big plays into points.Senior Jaquan Huston helped lead a Classical offense that racked up 296 yards in total offense. Huston rushed for 103 of Classical’s 156 rushing yards in the game.Quarterback Nick Grassa also had a solid game in his first career start, completing 6-of-17 passes for 140 yards, but he had a critical interception that thwarted a scoring chance.”We had it in the red zone a bunch of times and then made little mistakes that killed us,” Phelps said. “We need to tighten everything up ? We definitely had a shot to win that game without the mistakes.”The Rams will be facing a Wakefield team that will be playing its season opener. The Warriors come out of the Middlesex League and finished second to Reading in that league last year with a 7-1 league mark, 8-1 overall.Wakefield, though, will have to replace several critical players off that team, including running back Martin Hyppolite, who is the owner of almost every single season and career rushing mark for a Warrior running back and now hangs his hat at Connecticut.But Phelps knows that the Warriors will still give his team a huge challenge.”Wakefield is a good program. They have been for years,” Phelps said. “We can’t come out and lay an egg. We have to be ready to play football.”Winchester at SwampscottAt Donaldson Field in Peabody (7), the Big Blue (0-1) will look to rebound from Sunday’s 27-0 loss to Gloucester that saw it gain just 153 yards in total offense.Swampscott will go against a Sachem team that has given it fits the last two years and won its season opener, 20-7, against Stoughton last Friday. The Big Blue will have to stop running back Richard Mparge, who ran for two touchdowns, and quarterback Jay Sprague, who threw for the other.Marblehead at IpswichAt Ipswich High (7), the Magicians (1-0) got off to a stellar start in their opener last Friday, holding Pentucket to 90 total yards in a 27-2 win over the Sachems. Quarterback Hayes Richardson was the ringleader in the win, throwing for 167 yards and three touchdowns and running for a fourth.Marblehead will face an Ipswich team under coach Ted Flaherty that will be looking to bounce back from a 26-0 loss to North Reading in its opener. The Tigers trailed just 6-0 at the half, but the Hornets ripped off 20 third-quarter points to pull away.St. John’s at Central CatholicAt Lawrence (7), the Eagles (1-0) will look to make it two in a row on Thursday against the Raiders, who will be trying to bounce back from a 14-0 loss to Marlborough that saw them gain just 87 yards in total offense.The Prep got a challenge from Peabody in its opener, but running back George Sessoms ran for 129 yards and two touchdowns and quarterback Chris Coady added 117 yards and two scores of his own to help the Eagles pull away to a 32-7 win.Melrose at BeverlyAt Hurd Stadium (7), the Panthers will make a little bit of history in their season opene