PEABODY — Perhaps there weren’t many who saw the Lynn English football team finishing its season with a 10-1 record and going all the way to the Division 3 North state tournament final after the Bulldogs won just two games in 2016. But coach Chris Carroll and his Bulldogs knew they had something special when they came together in August, and believed in themselves until the end. That turned out to be a key to English’s success this past fall.
Thursday night at Spinelli’s, the Bulldogs celebrated their turnaround season at their annual team banquet.
“Each year you have a lot to celebrate,” Carroll, who was named the Northeastern Conference Coach of the Year, said. “Last year, the wins didn’t accumulate the way we wanted them to, but we celebrated a great group of seniors that helped us get to where we are. This year, we’re celebrating a lot of hard work that helped us achieve what we achieved. We’re very happy to be celebrating the great season we had tonight.”
English began its regular season with a 26-20 win over Beverly and ran off to six straight wins after that. The Bulldogs came into the tournament at 7-0, and trounced Winchester (36-0) and Billerica (34-15) in the quarterfinals and semifinals respectively. The English tournament ride came to an end when the Bulldogs fell short in the Division 3 North final with a 22-18 loss to Tewksbury.
English bounced back with a 38-0 win over crosstown rival Classical in the annual Thanksgiving clash.
“To bounce back after the tough loss in the North final and control the Thanksgiving game from start to finish was a great ending to a great season,” Carroll said. “I was so proud of our team for the way we bounced back and put all our effort and hard work for one last game together.”
English will graduate 18 seniors from its roster this spring, 15 of whom started this past season. That includes co-captain Jacob Miller, an Item All-Star who was named the William F. Connell Student-Athlete of the Year at The Item’s football banquet last month.
“My coaching staff and I truly appreciate the effort this senior class brought,” Carroll said. “They worked hard in practice every day. I’m very proud of what they were able to accomplish. To go out with a strong 10-1 season is a major accomplishment and one they should all be very proud of.”
Carroll’s confident that his Bulldogs have a strong nucleus of returning players that’ll keep the team moving in the right direction.
“We have a very talented senior class graduating but we also have great juniors stepping up to key roles,” Carroll said. “They played together as juniors and have performed very well in their varsity careers. We also have a very good group of underclassmen. We have a few freshmen and sophomores who contributed to the varsity team. We’re looking to continue the momentum we started this season.”
Award winners for English at Thursday’s banquet were Brandy Rodriguez, Steve Hill Boosters Award; Josue Matul, Bill Hall Coaches Award; Juan Avelino, Andy Fila Dedication Award; Mathias Fowler, Rookie of the Year; Ishmile Bangura, Most Improved Offense; Isaac Ramirez, Most Improved Defense; Devin Curley, Special Teams Player of the Year; Ski Gaston, Impact Player Award; Tyshawn Anderson, Iron Man Award; Emil Rossi, Lineman of the Year; Miller, Defensive Player of the Year, Jay Olsen Memorial Scholarship and Jeff Blydell Memorial Award; Matt Severance, Offensive Player of the Year and Thomas Strangie Scholar Athlete; Prince Brown, Offensive Player of the Year; and Alex Rodriguez, Paul Cavanagh Scholar Athlete.
The sub-varsity award winners were DJ Brathwaite, Player of the Year; and Ryan Dewan, Coaches Award.
Brown and Severance, both juniors, were named team captains for next season.
