WINTHROP — In Sean Driscoll’s 11 years as head coach of the Winthrop High football team, this is about as young as he can remember one of his teams being.
“It’ll be an interesting year,” said Driscoll. “I have a big group of freshmen, one of my biggest classes ever. I have 18. We’re the youngest we’ve been in my time here.”
Conversely, the Vikings will send only seven seniors onto the field at Dr. Deering Stadium in Friday night’s opener against Danvers.
“But,” he said, “they’re really good kids and they try hard. They’re working hard, and they want to do well.”
However, Driscoll acknowledges, “we’re thin on our numbers. Everybody’s going to have to go two ways, and in some cases, four ways, when you consider special teams.”
The Vikings have the possibility of three freshmen starting Friday night, Driscoll said.
Driscoll, though, is an optimist by nature. And he sees the silver lining in all of this.
“I’m happy with camp,” he said. “There’s been a lot of teaching, and a lot of learning. A lot of it is stuff you take for granted in other years, but in this case, it’s been a slow process for us.”
Driscoll has a bit of a bad taste in his mouth after last year’s season, which started out decently enough and ended up being a disaster. The Vikings finished the 7-game regular season at 3-4, and made the MIAA playoffs as an eighth seed in their division. Unfortunately for them, St. Mary’s was the top seed.
“They crushed us,” said Driscoll. “They were so good, especially up front. And we never came close to winning a game after that.”
The Vikings, affected in some part by some injuries, ended up with a 3-8 record, including a loss to Revere on Thanksgiving.
“We were deflated,” he said. “That’s a part of this system that I don’t really like. You lose a game at the beginning of the playoffs and you’re eliminated, and you have to play three more games after that and it’s hard to get yourself up for those games.
“But,” he said, “that’s up to us, as coaches, to make sure that doesn’t happen. And I guess we didn’t do a good enough job of that last year.”
If you see the Vikings play this year, you’ll be seeing a lot of Jaidon Brown, a senior running back.
“He’s the best athlete on our team,” said Driscoll. “He’ll see a load of work on the carries. He played sparingly last year due to injuries, so we’re looking forward to getting a full season out of him this season.”
Like Vince Lombardi’s Packers of the 1950s and 60s, it will be no secret where the Vikings will go with the ball either. It’ll be behind Calvin Tufa, an offensive guard (and defensive tackle).
“He’s our bi guy,” said Driscoll. “He’s probably the best all-around player on our team. We’ll be focusing all our game-planning around him.
“We never want to see him leave the field,” Driscoll said. “Not only is he an offensive and defensive lineman, but he’s our place kicker and extra-point kicker too. He’s one player who wants to go on and play at the next level. He has incredible leadership skills.”
Jake Adamson will be calling signals as well as playing defensive back.
“He’ll be stepping into a leadership role,” Driscoll said.
Feedle Small also saw some playing time last year. The fullback/linebacker “came into camp in great shape and he’s doing very well,” said Driscoll. Another 4-year player is Christian Lyons, “who will also never leave the field.
“We have some great seniors,” said Driscoll. “The problem is we don’t have enough of them.”
This year, Winthrop will be in the third tier of the 3-level league that resulted from the merger of the Northeastern Conference and Greater Boston League. The Vikings will be in a division with Saugus, Salem, English and Swampscott.
“No bargain,” he said. “But then again, it never is. It’s going to be tough. We’re looking to hopefully improve and compete with these teams.
“English has a great quarterback (Matt Severance) and Swampscott has some talent coming back too.
“Saugus has a new coach (Anthony Nalen) and it looks like he has some things going on over there,” Driscoll said. “We’re just going to have to take baby steps and get better each week.”
