Coach Peter Holey didn’t know what to expect back in August when he assembled his English Bulldogs at Keaney Park for their first practice.”I expected to have a winning season,” said Holey, in his second year at the helm. “With the athletes we have, we always have a shot. And I knew we had athletes. We just needed to find an offensive line, and an offensive coordinator.”The latter issue came about because Brian Vaughan, his offensive coordinator last year, was hired as the head coach at Pope John just before the season started. But, says Holey, Vaughan’s replacement, Steve Hill, “did a great job. And John Lafratta and Paul Holey did a good job with the offensive line.”English might have had athletes, but the Bulldogs weren’t too experienced. They’d graduated several seniors from the 2008 season, and there were some holes to fill.In that sense, the biggest surprise – and most fortuitous – was the development of Tyllor McDonald at quarterback.”We knew he was going to be good,” Holey said. “But not this good.”With his speed, and with his ability to run upfield, McDonald became a force to be reckoned with for opposing Northeastern Conference teams.Other players Holey came to rely on as the season progressed include Sam Hill (“another coach on the field”), Jermaine Patterson, Josh Baseman, Jared Dwyer, McManus, Anthony D’Onofrio and Cole Gentile.He was also blessed with two stellar athletes at wideout: basketball stars Ryan Woumn and Travonne Berry-Rogers.”Travonne is probably one of the best athletes in our conference,” Holey said.Another surprise was junior slot receiver Melvin Tavares, “who has really developed into a physical player,” Holey said.On defense, thanks to defensive coordinator Greg Brotherton, the Bulldogs have tightened up considerably, led by Taron Seaforth, Neil Woodridge, Derek Stevens, Nick Flawa and Keenan Benton.All of this translates into an 8-2 record heading into the annual Thanksgiving Day tussle with Lynn Classical. This will be the 96th edition of the game, with Classical still holding a decided edge, 52-34-9. However, English has won six of the last eight games, including last year’s.Holey knows what he’s in store for Thursday.”I see Classical as a big, physical team, which concerns us, because we have problems with big, physical teams,” Holey said. “But they’re also athletic. They show us some different looks. They run the option ? they spread you out a little bit.”We’ll certainly have our hands full. They have an awful lot of seniors.”Most telling, to Holey, is how tough a game Classical gave Gloucester (his team also lost to the Fishermen).”I pretty much anticipated they’d give Gloucester a game,” he said. “They run a similar style offense, and Classical is much bigger than we are up front. I thought they matched up better with them than we did.”Holey says that the victory over Danvers in September – which followed a heart-breaking loss to Beverly a week earlier – was easily the highlight of the season.”I just liked the way we came back after the really tough loss,” he said. “We turned a corner that night, and a lot of our young kids kind of grew up. They showed some maturity coming back and taking care of business.”Our win over Swampscott (37-35) was a big win too,” Holey said. “But for me, because for the devastating loss the week before, that win (over Danvers) launched us ? gave us a little bit of confidence.”Holey, whose Bulldog team lost to the second of two straight Super Bowl Classical teams (1980) has a special place in his heart for Thanksgiving, but says it’s a bittersweet days.”These are moments frozen in time for our seniors,” he said “We love our senior class. We consider them the heart and soul of our program. And after the game, you have to say goodbye. I’ve had these kids since Pop Warner. So in that way, it’s a bittersweet day.”