LYNN– The St. Mary’s football team will try Saturday to reach a state Super Bowl for the second straight season.
Last year, the Spartans, after beating Stoneham in the Division 3A North final, were able to avoid playing a semifinal game before going right to the Super Bowl against East Bridgewater. They do not have that luxury this season. Thus, the Spartans will lace them up Saturday afternoon at Braintree High (2 p.m.) against Mashpee. Both teams are in Division 7 under the new alignment put into effect this season. And Spartans coach Matt Durgin is fully aware of what his team is getting itself into.
“Mashpee is an excellent team,” he said. “They haven’t lost in two years. They’re very big up front on the offensive line, and have excellent skill people. They are very, very good.”
Last year, the Falcons won the Division Super Bowl with a 34-14 win over Wahconah. This year, they defeated Abington — a team with which St. Mary’s played in the 2013 Super bowl — in the South final, 40-20.
Mashpee is led by senior quarterback Jake Johnston, who threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more in the Falcons’ win over the Green Wave.
“He’s excellent,” said Durgin said of Johnston.
However, Dugin says his team is ready to go.
”We know what we’re playing against,” he said. “We need to be at our best. Mashpee runs the ball well and passes the ball well.”
But St. Mary’s has players too.
“(Quarterback) Calvin Johnson is one of the best players in the state, definitely,” said Durgin. “And he’s been a real leader for us too. We have guys like George Freeman and Bobby Reynolds, good, complimentary players. We also got Brendan McCarthy back. He was hurt last year.
“Our line has played well too,” he said, especially tackle Kyle Bernardini.
Even though St. Mary’s made the Super Bowl last season, Durgin was not at all sure about what he had this season.
“Going in,” he said, “we new we had good kids who worked hard. Does it translate to the field? Fortunately it has. We’re fortunate that we’ve had good talent.”
He also says his players understand the team mission.
“It’s their team,” he said. “They want to carry on the tradition. I don’t know if there’s pressure to do that, but it’s definitely a challenge. They’ve answered that challenge. It’s a good challenge.”
The Spartans will be taxed once again this Saturday.
“This team is bigger than East Bridgewater last year,” he said.
Durgin says he’s fortunate that his team seems to have hit stride. Halfback James Brumfield ran for more than 200 yards against Brighton in the North final last Friday night. And while Marlon Scott got dinged up and missed the second half, “we held him out of practice earlier this week and he finally practiced Thursday,” Durgin said. “Hopefully he’s ready to go.”
After last week’s 42-6 win over Brighton, the Spartans lead the state in point differential with a plus-362. St. Mary’s went two games and 3½ quarters without allowing a point during the playoffs. And when they finally did, they were already ahead 42-0 over Brighton.
