Holey hopeful he has his quarterback for Tuesday’s playoff game

LYNN – English defeated Classical 35-0 on Thanksgiving Day ? but the Bulldogs got a big scare in the second quarter.On the first play of the quarter, English signal-caller Jermaine Kelly ran for a 2-yard gain from his own 36. Hard-hitting Rams player Steve Sam tackled him and by the time the dust had settled, Kelly walked off the field with a knee injury, lay down and underwent some stretching sessions on the sideline. Yet Bulldogs head coach Peter Holey said, “It had nothing to do with the hit.”Asked whether Kelly will be able to play in the Bulldogs’ postseason matchup with Everett next Tuesday, Holey said, “We hope so ? but we’ve got Malcolm.”That would be Malcolm Brown Simpson ? who had previously caught a pair of Kelly’s passes as the Bulldogs closed the first quarter up 8-0, and now took over behind center.Holey said that the Bulldogs would be “confident” if Brown Simpson had to play Tuesday.”I have not played (quarterback) since the summer,” Brown Simpson said, “in 7-on-7 tournaments. I had past experience at quarterback at Pope John (High School). I did good over there. This is my first year back at Lynn English.”Rams coach Tim Phelps had a feeling the Bulldogs were facing a challenge.”I knew they would run the ball more,” he said. “He is a quarterback who gained 3,000 yards at Pope John.”When Brown Simpson took over for Kelly, he guided the Bulldogs to another scoring drive ? a drive that was prolonged when teammate P.J. Dorsey converted a fourth-and-inches on the Dogs’ 45. The next play, it was Brown Simpson going up the middle for a 12-yard keeper.While the drive seemingly stalled after a holding call on English set up first-and-19 on the Rams’ 33, Brown Simpson would ultimately get another first down after he passed to Josh Batista and the Rams were flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. That put the ball on the Classical 10, and two plays later Dorsey took it in for a 5-yard TD.Meanwhile, after Chris Lessard converted the PAT, Kelly and Brown Simpson were throwing practice tosses on the sideline. The Bulldog defense forced a punt on the ensuing drive and Kelly was back under center when the offense took the field.The gutsy Kelly converted a 13-yard pass to teammate Kyle O’Connor that got the Dogs a first down on their 31. Yet on the next play, Kelly’s right knee gave way on an incomplete pass and the starting QB returned to the sidelines.It looked like the Rams might pounce as first Jordan Brown and then Jalen Brown made nice defensive plays to force back-to-back incompletions from Brown Simpson, forcing a punt. Yet the Bulldog defense made a stand, with Jevon Brown Simpson hauling down Rams signal-caller John Finnigan for an 8-yard loss and Michael Dwyer, Jamel Rose and Chris Tinkham teaming up to sack Finnigan on the next play. The drive ended with a punt.With less than half a minute remaining in the first half, English could not score again before intermission, but Malcolm Brown Simpson gave his team a hint of a strong second half, contributing a 17-yard run before getting sacked by Jalen Brown to end the half.Malcolm Brown Simpson recalled that “growing up as a Pop Warner player, you always want to beat your rival. And 21 years ago was the last year we had the NEC championship.”On Turkey Day, the unlikely signal-caller helped his team beat its rival and stay strong in the conference with his big-time replacement performance.