PEABODY — The No. 3 Bishop Fenwick football team hasn’t just been winning in the Division 6 North state tournament- the Crusaders have been rolling over opponents.
Through two postseason games, the Crusaders have outscored opposing teams 82-6 on their way to the North final, where they will host No. 4 Stoneham Friday night for a chance to play in the Division 6 state championship game at Gillette Stadium.
The remarkable run has been a true team effort and right in the center of it, on both sides of the ball, has been quarterback/linebacker Chrys Wilson.
Wilson and the Crusaders’ offense have played like a well-oiled machine in their first two state tournament games. Wilson has thrown six touchdowns and rushed for two more scores so far this postseason. With things clicking smoothly, the junior signal caller can’t help but be confident.
“It’s extremely fun,” Wilson said. “I don’t want to sound too confident, but I don’t think there’s any team in the tournament that can cover all four of our receivers at the same time. So it’s really fun to go into every game throwing to whatever four guys we put out there. We have five or six weapons to put out there. I can throw to any one of them and they can all make plays out there on the field.”
Fenwick’s talented roster always seems to be on the same page and Wilson says it’s the result of years of reps together on the field.
“We’ve all been playing together since freshman year on varsity,” Wilson said. “So at this point it’s just all coming together. This is the final product we always wanted and have been working for.”
That final product has become a nightmare for opposing defenses to stop. Wilson and Crusaders head coach Dave Woods constantly bounce ideas off each other in attempting to move the chains.
“Chrys comes to me on the sidelines and tells me half the plays we should run,” Woods said. “He’s a true student of the game. He understands defensive coverages well, so it’s awesome to have him. Me and him being on the same page and looking and seeing the same things is great.”
And Wilson’s impact doesn’t stop on the offensive side of the football. The Wakefield native also starts at linebacker for a defense that has allowed just one scoring drive this postseason. Wilson forced one of Fenwick’s five turnovers in the 48-6 win at Greater Lowell last Friday with a first-half interception.
The Crusaders’ suffocating defense goes into every week with the same goal.
“We come together as a team,” Wilson said. “We all want the same goal. We’re all on the same page. We want to put up a goose egg every game. Before the game we all come together and set that goal and then we’ve just been executing that on the field.”
This week, Fenwick’s goal remains the same against a Stoneham team that ended the Crusaders’ postseason in the semifinal last year. Fenwick gained some revenge this season in its home opener, beating the Spartans 35-14 . But a chance to match up with Stoneham again in the postseason has Wilson and the Crusaders excited.
“We love facing Stoneham,” Wilson said. “It’s more of a new-age rivalry. Last year they knocked us out. This year we blew them out in the home opener. Now here it is in the playoffs again, in the North final to go to Gillette Stadium.”
Kickoff for Friday’s game at Steven E. Donaldson Stadium is scheduled for 7 p.m.
