Lynn English coach Chris Carroll still has vivid memories of the way last year’s Thanksgiving game with Classical ended.
He’s not going to dwell on the fact that Classical’s Marcus Rivera ran untouched to the end zone on a freak last-second play to snatch a win away from the Bulldogs. And he hopes that the players who were on last year’s team don’t either.
“There are a lot of kids on our team who played in that game,” said Carroll. “The memories are still there. But this is a new year, and a new team on both sides. There may be motivation, but we’d be excited to be playing on Thanksgiving regardless.”
By anyone’s definition, the 2017 football season has been a smashing success. Coming into Thursday’s game, the Bulldogs are 9-1, with their only loss coming in the Division 3 North final. English rolled through the Northeastern Conference and won the Division 3 title there. The only times the Bulldogs came close to being tripped up were in Week 1, when they rolled out to an early lead over Beverly before being forced to hang on for dear life before winning, 26-20; and against Salem, a 13-12 win in which the Witches had a potential game-winning 2-point conversion called back on a holding penalty.
Stars have emerged. Quarterback Matt Severance became a bonafide leader as a junior.
“I expected him to be,” Carroll said. “It’s easy to sit here and say that now. But his work ethic, and how hard he worked on the offseason, paid off. He stepped his game up to another level, particularly on defense.
“He’s a tremendous kid. He works his tail off and he’s a leader we’re very fortunate to have.”
Although Severance didn’t have to depend totally on the pass this season, when he had to throw, he had three excellent receivers: Prince Brown, Tyshawn Anderson and freshman Mathias Fowler.
“I think Prince is the best receiver in Division 3,” said Carroll, “and Tyshawn has come a long way. Watch out for Mathias. He made some big plays for us as a freshman.”
No story on English can be complete without mentioning guard/linebacker Jacob Miller, and two-way lineman Emil Rossi.
“Jacob is a tremendous, tremendous player and person,” Carroll said. “A tremendous student-athlete. His presence on the offensive line allowed us to run the ball.”
And, of course, when the Bulldogs did run, they had the horses there, too. Ishmile Bangura is the more shifty of the two, and Ski Gaston would be the more straight-ahead power runner.
“They complemented each other well,” said Carroll. “And it’s good that neither of them had to run 25 times a game.”
If Carroll is happy about anything, it’s the fact that the Bulldogs were able to finish games this year, which is something they had trouble with last year.
“It’s something we stressed from the day after the season ended, through the off-season, through came, and right on up to when the season started.”
When the Bulldogs take the field Thursday, they’ll be staring in the mirror. Classical, which was 3-8 last season, had a huge turnaround under new coach Brian Vaughan and goes into the game at 8-2.
“I think it’s a testament to both programs and how much work has gone into it,” said Carroll. “To bounce back the way we both did is tremendous. It was a great year for the city. It shows how talented we are with football.”
