LYNN — English football coach Chris Carroll knew he had a special team over the summer when the Bulldogs did well in 7v7 competition and then looked uber-focused in training camp.
“You can’t predict,” he said, “but I sense this was a special group of guys. The leadership the kids showed, their willingness to work to the extent that they did, I had high expectations coming into the season.”
His expectations have been met thus far. The 9-0 Bulldogs will be playing next week for the Division 3 North championship against either Tewksbury or Danvers (a game that’s being played today), and they’ll be home. No.1 English earned that right with a 34-15 thrashing over Merrimack Valley League school Billerica Friday night at Manning Field.
“This may be the toughest competition we’ve had thus far,” said Carroll. “That is a very good team over there. But we followed the gameplan on offense and defense and I couldn’t be prouder of our guys.”
The Bulldogs were on the board three plays into the game, and never looked back. Ishmile Bangura ran 27 yards on the first play from scrimmage, quarterback Matt Severance hooked up with Tyshawn Anderson for 39 more yards, and then Severance ran the final 10 for the score and it was 6-0 before the fans could get settled in their seats.
Billerica then went on a sustained 13-play drive starting from its own 40 that turned up nothing in the way of points, with Severance dropping the Indians’ Clifford Lewis for a 4-yard loss from the English 3.
“He is such a valuable player,” said Carroll of Severance. “He doesn’t even think about passing. As a free safety, he’s just as valuable on defense as he is on offense.”
With the Indians turned back from the doorstep, English finished the first quarter and began the second with a long drive that resulted in a 3-yard run by Severance that, with Bangura’s rush, made it 14-0.
Once again, English turned back the Indians, this time from midfield, and when Billerica punted, the Bulldogs were pinned back on their own 1-yard line.
No problem. Severance stepped back and calmly hit Anderson in mid stride at about the 30. Anderson did the rest, outrunning the Indians to the house and it was 20-0 at the break.
The two liked that so much they did a miniature version of the same play to open the second half (after English converted an onside kick to put the Bulldogs at midfield). This time, the Severance-Anderson combo clicked for 49 yards, and it was 26-0.
With the game out of reach, Billerica sandwiched two touchdowns (one on a run by Pat Quinn and the other on a pass from quarterback Tom Landry to Morgan Mulkerin) around a 13-yard run by Bangura (who caught the conversion pass from Severance) to account for the final score.
