English, Winthrop ready for a battle

The Lynn English and Winthrop football teams each took the field last Friday with a plethora of questions that had to be answered. And over the first 44 minutes of the season, the Bulldogs and Vikings both got a lot of answers to those questions.English went on the road and put up 40 points and 377 yards of total offense in a 40-38 win over a talented Lawrence team, while the Vikings stuffed Salem on home soil in a 31-0 win. Now the two teams, who have a long and storied rivalry, will meet on Friday (7) at Manning Field in a non-league matchup.”Winthrop is obviously a very talented team,” English coach Peter Holey said. “We are very familiar with the offense they run, and it has given us fits over the years.”It took all 44 minutes on Friday for the Bulldogs to finally be able to breathe easily against Lawrence. Despite racking up the nearly 400 yards of offense, English had to sweat as the Lancers missed a pair of 2-point conversions in the final five minutes. Lawrence put 477 yards of offense on the board, and that’s something that Holey knows has to change against Winthrop.”We missed way too many tackles,” Holey said. “And that’s something that we’ve addressed in practice this week. And we also get our defensive coordinator (Greg Brotherton) back, so that will help.”Brotherton missed the Lawrence game because he was on his honeymoon. Holey filled in, calling the defensive signals in the opener. Another big thing for the Bulldogs will be the return of Jarred Dwyer and Taron Seaforth, who both missed the Lawrence game.”Its huge for us to have them back,” Holey said.The Bulldogs, though, will lose three other defensive starters who will sit out the game because of a violation of team rules.The defense will be tested by the Vikings’ Wing-T attack, which was firing on all cylinders against Salem. Nick McCarthy, getting his chance to shine with the graduation of Chris Beranger, rushed for 231 yards and three touchdowns in the win. And it’s that talent that has Holey’s attention.”McCarthy is another in a long line of great backs over there,” Holey said. “We have to tackle better. If we don’t, it could be a long game.”English won’t be without its own weapons as Dwyer returns to center and Seaforth and Ryan Woumn return at wide receiver to give quarterback Tyllor MacDOnald even more ammunition. Last week, the junior was outstanding in his first career start, throwing three touchdown passes and running for a fourth.”Tyllor really is a kid who has really settled down since the start of the preseason,” Holey said. “He is very poised.”The Bulldogs also controlled the time of possession with 218 rushing yards, led by MacDonald and Jermaine Patterson. And that running game will be needed to help keep the ball away from the explosive Vikings on Friday.”We got a lot of kids a baptism by fire last week,” Holey said. “Hopefully, they won’t be as nervous in this game. And having Greg back is huge. It gives us a little bit of continuity on the defensive side. He’s been coaching these kids for two years and they know him.”