LYNN — The two football programs of Lynn English and Lynn classical could not have had more opposite starts to their season. The Rams are now 2-1 on the season and are fresh off of a 50-6 thrashing over Somerville. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs are still looking for their first win of the season after losing a tough one to Everett 37-0. Despite the rough start to the season for English, the season is young and there are some positives that can be taken away from their first three games, and on the other hand, the Rams have plenty to be happy about with their strong start.
After giving up 31 points in the first half to Everett, English came within seconds of pitching a shutout in the second before Everett scored a touchdown on the last play of the game. There was no question that the bulldogs were outmatched in the first half, however, they’re spirit never withered despite being shutout in the game. The Bulldogs defense held Everett to just seven points in the second half. If there’s anything that they can take away from that game, is that the second half showing by their defense can be something that the team looks back on as motivation going forward. It’s never easy to start your season 0-3, but being able to almost hold a very good Everett team to no points after halftime means there is some upside on the defensive side.
English had only 54 yards of total offense Friday night, and while it’s nearly impossible to win a game with that amount of yardage, 51 of those yards came from rushing attempts by Jarvin Simon who had 30, and Edwin Castro who added 21 yards. It’s safe to say that both Castro and Simon will tell you that they wish they had more yards, as would the whole team, but maybe there is something to say about the rushing attack. Can that be what the team’s identity becomes going forward? 51 rushing yards didn’t mean that Castro and Simon were running all over Everett, but they managed to at least find some holes in the defense to net positive yardage on the ground. Maybe the English offense can morph into a rushing attack that can dominate time of possession and limit the other team’s opportunities to touch the ball. That strategy could also benefit the defense as well.
Either way, the season is far from over and English will have an amazing opportunity to climb back close to .500 in their next few games. Their next two games are against teams that have losing records on the season and there are currently two teams on their schedule who are also winless. Revere is 1-2 and has allowed 77 points in their last two games. Meanwhile, Chelsea and Somerville have not won a game yet, which gives the Bulldogs plenty of chances to get back into the thick of it. Something has to give here and we’ll see if the strong second half from English can help them get into the win column next week against Revere.
On the other side, the Rams of Lynn Classical are trending upward after putting up 50 points on the woeful highlanders. After losing 35-8 against Peabody, Classical bounced back in a big way to improve their record to 2-1. Matt Carrillo exploded for 148 yards and three touchdowns on 13 rushing attempts. Besides the 8 point showing against a solid Peabody squad, Classical’s offense has been great through three games. They scored 36 in week one as they shut out Lexington and they just scored 50 against Somerville. The two teams they have beaten have combined for only one win, but the offensive fireworks for the Rams looks to be something that can be expected to happen a lot the rest of the way. What makes this start to the season even more impressive for Classical is the fact that they are doing it without star running back Marquese Avery, who transferred to St. John’s Prep in Danvers this year. Avery was a huge part of Classical’s offense, yet the team has fared just fine without him so far. The Rams have a number of opportunities coming up to improve their record. They play a winless Malden team this Friday and will take on an average Malden team (2-2) on October 7th before they travel to Revere who has a 1-3 record currently. Classical will wrap up the regular season with two tough contests against Milton and Everett, but for the most part, the schedule is favorable for the Rams and should allow them to post a solid record that might have them in contention when playoffs begin.
