LYNN– Classical football coach Brian Vaughan says his team’s goal is to improve every day.
It’s fair to say the Rams understand Vaughan’s message.
Classical closed the regular season with its fourth consecutive win, a 30-0 shutout over Saugus Saturday at Manning Field.
“We just want to get better every day,” Vaughan said. “That’s all we talk about. We try to fix the mistakes that we make each game. We try to fix the mistakes that we make each day in practice. The kids have bought into it. We’re just trying to be successful on game day.”
This one belonged to junior receiver Jeffrey Hill, who reeled in all four touchdowns and finished with six receptions for 144 yards.
“He’s a kid that’s getting better every week,” Vaughan said. “We’re excited. We’re happy that he’s on our team. He’s a kid that works hard all week long. He takes pride in getting better, understanding the game, learning the game, understanding coverages, getting better at running routes. He’s taking pride in that.”
Classical’s defense, pitching its first shutout of the season, set the tone from the early goings. The Rams’ defensive front made things difficult on Saugus’ offense.
“Manny Guerrero had a couple sacks,” Vaughan said. “Aidan Dow and Nico Galeazzi, the two guys in the middle, called our defense. Andy De Leon makes our secondary calls. He did an outstanding job. Orlando Concepcion and Kevin Paniaqua did a good job holding down the middle. On defense, it was a collective effort.”
After holding Saugus to a quick drive on the game’s opening possession, the Rams punched one in midway through the first quarter. Quarterback Daniel Gisonno (10-of-16, 226 passing yards) hit Hill for a 25-yard touchdown pass and Kalvin So tacked on the 2-point conversion via rush.
Touchdown tosses of 45 yards (So rush) and 39 yards (Kyle Durant PAT) in the second quarter put Classical ahead 23-0 at halftime.
“Classical goes with these four-receiver sets and you have to kind of pick and choose,” Saugus coach Steve Cummings said. “They have speed across the board, so you really can’t focus on one guy. It’s almost like whichever one’s getting single coverage, that’s who they go to. They have a very experienced core of receivers.”
Hill’s fourth touchdown catch of the night, this time with 9:06 remaining in the third quarter, closed Classical’s scoring (Durant PAT).
The Sachems recovered a fumble on a bad snap in the fourth quarter and hoped to avoid the shutout with the ball near midfield. But Maurice Sequeira’s interception in the final minute of the game sealed Classical’s 30-0 win.
Aside from a 50-yard pass from quarterback Christian Correia to receiver Javier Martinez, Saugus couldn’t pick up much rhythm offensively.
“Classical’s really big and fast up front,” Cummings said. “When they have four guys that can control the line of scrimmage like that, especially veteran guys, it makes things tough up front. Their front four really gave us fits. Their linebackers feel real clean. We weren’t able to set any kind of an edge.”
Despite the loss, Cummings highlighted a few positives.
“We have a lot of young guys on the field,” Cummings said. “Guys being in games like this against teams that skilled, it’s going to pay off down the road. Hopefully it’s driving our guys to commit to the postseason and want to get to that level. The NEC’s a gauntlet this year and we have to be able to match it.”
Classical, 5-2, drew the No. 5 seed in the Division 3 North state tournament. The Rams will travel to No. 4 Winchester Friday night (7).
“We’ll dissect what they do, try to put together a game plan and do our best to execute it,” Vaughan said. “We’re going to be playing some really good football teams the rest of the way. We’re going to try and get better.”
Saugus, 1-6, hosts Wilmington (TBA) in the non-playoff bracket.
