After nearly a year and a half of waiting, football players across the North Shore and across Massachusetts were finally allowed to return to the field Monday to begin preparations for a season in 2021.
From handing out equipment to shoveling off field turf, football teams around the area were all excited to be back in action.
“It’s been a long time coming and the guys couldn’t have been more excited to get back on the field,” said KIPP Academy coach Jim Rabbitt, who is returning 22 starters from a team that went 8-3 and took a trip to the Div. 8 state semifinal in 2019. “Our guys were so excited; they were out here (Monday) shoveling at High Rock (Tower Park) because Manning Field wasn’t ready yet. They just can’t wait to get going.”
“I woke up this morning knowing that we wouldn’t be outside (Monday) because of the rain, but I still had goosebumps,” said Swampscott coach Bobby Serino, whose team won the Div. 5 Super Bowl last season. “Our guys are so jacked up and ready to go, they were out here with the DPW on Saturday shoveling the field. We’re all so appreciative that we’re able to get out here, and we’re going to take advantage of each day, stay safe and try to get in a full season.”
“It’s just great to have the helmets on again,” added Bishop Fenwick coach Dave Woods, whose Crusaders were the Division 6 runner-up in 2019. “Our guys have been waiting a long time to be able to get back out on the field, and they’re ready to make the most of their opportunity this year.”
Football will run during the “Fall Sports II” season, which will take place from Feb. 22 to April 25. Per MIAA rules, teams must practice for at least 14 days before playing their first game — putting opening night on Friday, March 12.
The first three days of practices will be for conditioning only, with players only allowed to wear helmets. No direct contact with other players or machines will be allowed, but the use of blocking pads is permitted under the supervision of a coach.
Limited contact practices will be allowed to begin on the fourth day of practices — with players permitted to wear helmets and shoulder pads only — and then full contact practices will be permitted to start on the sixth day of practices. Walk-throughs are also not permitted until the sixth day of practices.
Beginning on the eighth day of practices, teams will be allowed to hold scrimmages. From the ninth to the 14th day of practices, coaches will only be allowed to hold full contact drills for up to 90 minutes.
For a full preseason calendar and other useful information about football this year, visit http://www.miaa.net/contentm/easy_pages/view.php?page_id=6&sid=38&menu_id=157.
As far as getting back into the swing of things, teams will all have to figure out how to deal with that issue differently.
“At KIPP we’ve been totally virtual this entire school year, so (Monday) was literally our first time seeing these guys in person since Thanksgiving 2019,” said Rabbitt. “It’s a bit of a double-edged sword because you want to get moving as fast you can, but you can only move so fast this early on. There was plenty of rust on the first day, but that was to be expected and our guys are ready to keep working through it.”
“I’m sure there will be some growing pains after being away for so long, but we have an extremely motivated and competitive group of guys,” said Lynnfield coach Pat Lamusta. “Most of our guys are multi-sport athletes and a bunch of them are coming right off of competitive seasons in basketball or hockey. I don’t think they’ll have any trouble in a competitive sense, so it’ll just be up to us as coaches to bring them up to speed with actual football drills.”
“We have plenty of younger guys who are multi-sport athletes, but a lot of our seniors are only football guys and they’ve been chomping at the bit to get back out there,” said Woods. “They’ve spent the past year-plus lifting weights and waiting to be given the go-ahead, so to say they’re excited is an understatement.”
Unlike other fall sports such as soccer and field hockey, football won’t be seeing drastic changes to its on-field rules. Many of the modifications involve sideline and bench procedures. Some of the modifications that will be put in place for this season are:
— Masks must be worn at all times. Neck gaiter masks will not be allowed for football.
— There will be no locker room use for any teams.
— The “team box” on the sideline will be extended to the 10-yard line to allow sufficient space for social distancing.
— The maximum number of players on a gameday roster will be 45, and there will be six coaches allowed per team.
— Timeouts will be held at the 25-yard line.
— Indoor practices will not be allowed under any circumstances, including inside field houses, bubbles or gyms.
Many teams plan to play as full a schedule as they can in the time they’ll be given this year. With no state tournament, teams will have the ability to play a maximum of seven games by April 25, provided they don’t have to deal with any delays or shutdowns.
Mike Alongi can be reached at [email protected].
