LYNN — The stakes for Thursday night’s Massachusetts Vocational Athletic Directors Association championship between the Tech football team and Nashoba Valley in Westford are clear.
The winners gets to end its season with state vocational school championship. Whoever falls in defeat looks back on a season that fell one game short of bringing home a title.
Tigers coach James Runner and his players know they’ll have their hands full in battling a Vikings team that boasts an 8-4 record coming into Thursday night’s contest. The Vikings won the Division 8 Central sectional championship before falling to Hoosac Valley in the state semifinals.
“Nashoba’s a great team,” Runner said. “They have some size on the offensive line. They have a great quarterback. He’s a good decision maker and he takes care of the ball. They have a strong defense. These are some of the tendencies you look for as a coach.”
Runner has studied the Vikings through film and has come away with impressed with their athleticism on offense. Nashoba Valley likes to spread the football by running plays from shotgun formations.
“They’re a spread, three by one, shotgun team,” Runner said. “They have two good running backs with size who like to run the ball. The challenge is up to our linebackers. We’ll have them in position to make plays. Our front seven will need to do their job and make plays on first and second down.”
In order to slow down the Vikings’ offense, Tech, 11-1, will look to keep it off the field. That means the Tigers’ offense will need to develop sustained, time consuming drives throughout the game.
“I think the key to this game is sustained blocks and sustained drives,” Runner said. “If we can keep ourselves on the field and keep them off the field, that’ll be the key for us. If they load the box and try to shut down our run, we’ll open up quarterback David Barrios. There’s nothing to hold back in this game. If they key in on one kid, we’ll show them somebody else.”
Offensively, the Tigers are led by quarterback Barrios as well as the dual-threat running back combination of Keoni Gaskin and Steffan Gravely. Anchoring the team’s offensive line is left tackle Kevin Aguilar.
On defense, Tech will rely on defensive linemen Ali Bdaiwi and Josh Pena to win the battle in the trenches. Emerson Ramirez will look to make big plays at middle linebacker, as he’s done all season, and cornerback Elvin Gonzalez will aim to limit the Vikings’ passing game.
The key on defense, Runner said, will be denying Nashoba Valley’s attempts for long yardage gains through the air.
“We have to keep the long ball in front of us,” Runner said. “We won’t load the box but we’ll expect our front four to do their jobs. If we keep the long ball in front of us and force them to run the ball against us, I think that’ll work in our favor.”
The Tigers also hope to use halftime to their advantage, which they’ve been able to do throughout the season. Aside from the Division 7 North sectional final loss to Cathedral, Tech has made a habit of winning the third quarter.
Runner and his coaching staff have been together long enough to build a sense of chemistry that allows them to make necessary adjustments to their game plans when needed.
“We’ve been good at making adjustments at halftime,” Runner said. “We come out and make those adjustments to have a big third quarter. Other than the Cathedral game our adjustments have helped us win games. That’s big for our coaching staff because we’ve been together for so many years.”
Leading up to Thursday’s game, Runner and the Tigers have stuck to their normal practice routine. The intensity in practice has risen a few notches but Tech has kept its focus throughout the week in planning for the Vikings.
“We’ve been consistent about what we do at practice and that’s geared towards getting ready for Nashoba,” Runner said. “Our defense has been pretty intense and we’ve turned up our running too. We like to be in better shape than the team we’re playing against.”
Win or lose, Runner believes his team has plenty to be proud about.
“I’m very proud of this football team,” Runner said. “It would solidify our season if we’re able to get this win. This didn’t happen overnight. We’re talking about weeks of early morning weight lifting and workouts. I’m very proud of our kids.”
Kickoff for Thursday night’s game at Nashoba Valley in Westford is scheduled for 6 p.m.
