English coach stresses taking care of business at hand

For the first time in 21 years, the Lynn English football team will travel to the postseason, with a matchup against Everett coming up next week. Yet Bulldogs coach Peter Holey said that his team is hardly looking past its traditional Turkey Day tilt with crosstown rival Classical (at Manning Field, 10 a.m.).”They run a double wing, and traditionally we do not defend that (style) well,” Holey said. “They’re physical at the point of attack. They have some good players. They’re a young team, but they’re perfectly capable of beating us.”Indeed, Holey reminded, English is young, too, starting four sophomores.Yet it is, in part, senior leadership that has propelled the 7-2 Bulldogs to the top of the NEC/CAL Tier I this year. On offense, the list of standouts includes senior quarterback Jermaine Kelly and senior running back (and co-captain) P.J. Dorsey.”Jermaine did a fantastic job as our starting quarterback,” Holey said. “He didn’t start at quarterback at all prior to this year. He started to develop, and as he went on, his teammates started to believe ? and he started to believe in himself. He’s come a long way in terms of leading our team at this point.”Another asset to Kelly is his height; he stands 6-3.”His height helps him to see the field,” Holey said, adding that he is also an accomplished runner, having finished third in the state in hurdles last year.As for Dorsey, his coach calls him “the backbone of our football team, our best defensive and offensive player, all-around the best football player in the league.”He’s an important part. He has great vision and good speed. He’s a tough kid above all. He breaks a lot of tackles. In a spread offense, we need to be able to get our athletes in the lanes. He hits those lanes very well.”The team has gotten strong contributions from both upperclassmen and underclassmen on the line.This season opened with the Bulldogs having graduated standout lineman Cole Gentile, who received a scholarship to St. Anselm. Yet several seniors delivered impressive efforts this year, Holey said: co-captain Jermersson Flores (“outstanding job at tackle and guard”), co-captain Mike Dwyer at center; and Jimy Martinez at guard. They were joined by juniors Joel Pimential (“very well at guard”) and Jamel Rose; and 6-2, 270-lb. sophomore offensive tackle Chris Tinkham, whom his coach said “is going to be a great player.”The coach also liked what he saw from co-captains Brendan and Erik Holey in the league-clinching 24-13 win over North Andover on Nov. 11.”Defensively I thought Brendan was outstanding,” he said. “Unfortunately he broke his leg and will not be available (for Thanksgiving). Erik had some big catches.”All of these players, and their teammates, will be on the roster of the first Bulldogs team to play in the postseason in over two decades.”I was defensive coordinator on that 1990 Super Bowl team,” Holey said. “I know how all that feels.”He added, “The playoffs, to me as a coach, are an opportunity to showcase our program. It gives us another 4-5 days with the seniors, which is what makes it special to me ? an additional 4-5 days, and maybe beyond.”Yet even with the postseason schedule looming, the coach knows where his priorities lie.”No matter what we do the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, this is our most important game of the year,” he said.