LYNN — The St. Mary’s Spartans are looking to get over the proverbial title hump and bounce back from its Division 6 playoff semifinal loss last season.
The Spartans finished a great 2021 campaign (10-2) but fell just short of a Division 6 finals appearance when they lost to Abington in the semifinals 26-21.
Although the loss to Abington was painful, Head Coach Sean Driscoll says it only has motivated his team to get back to that point and beyond.
“I think the minute we got off the bus when we got back from that tough loss to Abington in the semifinal last year, our kids were already talking about what they had to do to get over the top here in a big game,” said Driscoll.
“When the kids got off the bus — some of them were sophomores and juniors that played last year — right away said we are going to get after it right after the first of the year and get ready to go, and we had a great off-season as far as strength and conditioning and stuff like that,” he continued.
As training camp is underway, the Spartans will look to continue one of the things that propelled them to a great season last year — sound defense.
“I think last year we ended up (10-2), and I think a big thing in high school football is we made a lot of plays defensively — the one-on-one plays in space, things like that, we did not give up big, big plays and I think that is key to a good team at any level — you do not give up the big play and you are going to be in the game down the stretch,” said Driscoll.
While the Spartans had an excellent showing last year, there are always ways to improve. Driscoll emphasized one area his team will look to improve that flies under the radar, especially in high school — special teams.
“Things that we would like to improve on that hurt us a little bit last year was special teams. I think in high school football, it sometimes gets overlooked early in the year, but I think we have to fix some things there, where we gave up some big plays — big touchdowns here and there,” said Driscoll.
“That is the thing we are looking at — the little things that we did not do well that probably cost us a chance to go a little further,” he added.
St. Mary’s is in an excellent position to fight its way back deep into the playoffs, considering the continuity it will have this season. The Spartans have 14 seniors returning and have had a great turnout, with 55 players on the roster heading into the year.
Some big names on defense will be back to terrorize the opposition’s offense, including Jack Marks, Tommy Falasca, and Nick Sacco. “They play a key part on both sides of the ball for us … they will be a huge part of our team on defense,” said Driscoll.
Offensively David Brown Jr. and Derick Coulanges are returning for the Spartan’s 2022 season. Both will look to contribute a lot of points for their team this year.
Despite a ton of kids coming back for St. Mary’s, there is one hole it will try to fill with former quarterback Ali Barry graduating.
“The quarterback position is key on any team obviously — losing that experience that we had in Ali Barry last year, that is a huge void for us,” said Driscoll.
However, the good news is Driscoll is excited about some players at quarterback that have been working hard all summer to earn the starting job. Alef Potter and Tyler Guy, both of whom had limited snaps at the position last year, are battling it out for starting quarterback duties.
“It has been a good battle back and forth — it is great sometimes interior battles during camp is a great thing. You want competition, and with 55 coming out this year for football, we have some younger competitions going on as well as older competitions,” said Driscoll.
“But I think what you will see is that it will only make us better as this week and a half goes on,” he said.
With title aspirations on the mind, the Spartans will continue to work in camp and during upcoming scrimmages, before they open the regular season at the Manning Bowl against KIPP Academy Friday, Sept. 9 at 6:30 p.m.
