Classical football set to take on Lincoln-Sudbury

The Classical High football team will face a somewhat familiar foe when it travels to Lincoln-Sudbury High School Friday night (7) for a North Division 2 playoff game.The two teams met in the first round of the playoffs last year with Lincoln-Sudbury coming away with a 33-22 win. The Warriors went on to defeat Haverhill in the semifinals before bowing out to Waltham in the North final.?They’re a big, physical team,” Classical High coach Tim Phelps said. “We played them last year, so we have some familiarity with them. They’ve had some personnel changes, but they’re still big and physical up front and they like to run the ball. The defense is also sound.”The Rams (3-4) come into the game with a 30-6 momentum-booster of a win over Revere last week. They were without running back Micah Dublin (he has 970 yards rushing) due to injury, but Devin Crayton stepped up and scored four touchdowns to help ease the pain. Phelps said Dublin is questionable for Friday.Phelps said his team has struggled making the plays when they need to this season. One week they’re throwing the ball well, the next week they’re not catching the ball well, he said.?Hopefully we can put it all together,” he said. “The defense has gotten better every game.”Lincoln-Sudbury won the Dual County League Large title with a 5-0 record (5-2 overall). The wins came against Newton South, Acton-Boxborough, Waltham, Westford and Cambridge. The non-league losses were to Somerset-Berkley and Wayland.Coach Tom Lopez, who has been at the Warrior helm for 37 years and has more than 260 wins under his belt, is expecting Classical to be tough.?Last year we had a great game against Classical, ” Lopez said. “It was close up to the end. (Classical) looks tough offensively. They do a lot of nice things. We had our hands full last year.”Lopez has a sophomore, Danny Ryan, at quarterback. He tends to thrown the ball 12-15 times a game and is improving every week, Lopez said. The Warriors also had a core of senior running backs in Eric Jones, Jack Hubley and Otto Zaccardo who do the bulk of the work on the ground. All three are captains.Phelps also has a group of guys he’ll be counting on including Trey Burris, a two year starter on the offensive line, and Crayton, who has been a rock on defense.?Defensively, Devin Crayton has been unbelievable,” Phelps said. “He’s a big guy and he’s physical. He’s played all the positions on the defensive line.”Junior Renzo Pappaterra has also been a force on defensive line and has been steadily improving.?I think were getting better,” Phelps said. “I think we’re progressing every week.”Classical has now qualified for the playoffs twice under the new format, which was instituted last year.