LYNN — Classical doesn’t need to be reminded of how things have transpired on Thanksgiving over the past two seasons.
Rival English has logged two shutout wins, including last year’s 12-0 victory at Manning Field. Classical’s hoping to stop that trend this time around.
“We’ve just been talking about trying to go out there and playing our best football,” Rams (6-4) coach Brian Vaughan said. “That’s just how we approach things. Obviously we want to win every game we play. This is our biggest game of the year, so we want to go out there and perform well.”
Vaughan, who played at English and continued his career at Northeastern, is very familiar with the Classical-English rivalry.
“I’m pretty sure no high school team in this area needs added motivation on Turkey Day,” Vaughan said. “I played in this rivalry at English. I’ve coached in this rivalry with Gary Molea at English and at Classical for the past two years. I completely understand what this game means for the city. It’s one of the best rivalries in the state.”
Classical’s defense faces a tough task in containing a high-powered English offense.
“They’re scary,” Vaughan said of the Bulldogs (6-4). “They have speed, they have athletes running all over the place, they have two quarterbacks that can really throw the ball and command the offense. It’s going to present a challenge for us to slow them down but that’s what it’s all about. English has one of the best offenses around.”
But Classical’s offense can score points in bunches too. It starts with quarterback Daniel Gisonno, who holds the program record for single-season passing yards at 2,150.
“I’m expecting him to go out there and be effective running our offense,” Vaughan said. “I’m not going to ask him to anything different or special. We’ll go out there and keep doing the things we’ve had success doing.”
Receivers Jeff Hill, Brandon Summers, Anthony De Leon, Kevin Durant, Maurice Sequeira and Eusebio Quintana give Gisonno plenty of options in the air attack.
The Rams’ ground game is carried by Gisonno (1,201 rushing yards) and Kalvin So (1,141 rushing yards).
“We take pride in being a 50-50 offense,” Vaughan said. “Sometimes people look at us and see our quarterbacks throw for a lot of yards over the years. They assume we throw the ball all over the place but we don’t. We want to establish the run. That’s the goal for us every weekend.”
Tackle Kevin Paniaqua anchors the offensive line.
“Kevin’s a big part of our run game,” Vaughan said. “We run a lot behind him. He’s also playing lights out on defense. He’s a big piece to our success.”
Defensively, the Rams are experienced. Up front, they’re led by Paniaqua, Manny Guerrero, (team-high nine sacks) and Orlando Concepcion. Linebackers Aidan Dow (team-high 80 tackles) and Nico Galeazzi (65 tackles) clean things up in the middle. Defensive back Sequeira guides the secondary.
“All season those guys have done outstanding jobs getting our defense ready, making plays,” Vaughan said. “They’ve been fun to coach.”
Kickoff is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday at Manning Field.
