The Lynn Classical football team is less than two weeks away from the first game of the season. After two weeks of preseason practice and scrimmages, head coach Brian Vaughan likes what he’s seeing from his group.
“The kids are excited to be there. They’ve been working hard and I think they had a really good summer working in the weight room and with their speed training,” Vaughan said. “I think we’re headed in the right direction. We still have some ways to go to where we want to be, but the attitude is there. The fight to be better is there and for right now, that’s really all you can ask for.”
Recently, the Rams did a tri-scrimmage against Saugus and Newburyport where the Rams flashed some potential.
“I thought it went pretty well. We have Ryan Buth at quarterback and I think he did a really good job. He threw a touchdown and did a good job controlling the offense,” Vaughan said. “Tyren Hoeun is back and did a good job running the ball. Javon Clayborn did a really good job when he got opportunities to touch the ball. Jabin Pierre did really well. He had six or seven catches with a touchdown.”
The big question mark coming into this season was how Vaughan and the rest of the Rams coaching staff would replace the production of former quarterback Brian Vaughan Jr. and his standout wide receiver John Nasky. According to Vaughan, it’s about adjusting the system to make sure he’s putting guys in the best position to excel.
“It’s not easy. It’s challenging and that’s what you sign up to be a coach. High school football isn’t like college or NFL where you get to pick kids to fit your scheme. You have to adjust your scheme to fit the kids,” Vaughan said. “We’re trying to make it easy for the quarterback to have easy reads and throws. We want to make it easy for our running backs to get them into space. And we want to try and get the ball to our playmakers in space. That’s the challenge for being a coach and that’s what we signed up for, to put kids in position to be successful come Friday nights.”
Despite not having the arm of Vaughan Jr. or the explosiveness of Nasky, Vaughan said the team still has a few playmakers returning like the running back Tyren Hoeun.
“I think he’s going to be one of the top running backs on the North Shore. He had a breakout year his freshman year but in his sophomore year he got hurt in the first game and missed the rest of the year,” Vaughan said. “He’s been on a mission since January in the weight room and training. He went to a bunch of camps. He ran some 4.6s and 4.5s over the summer. He got faster, bigger, and stronger. We’re excited that he’s going to be playing for us.”
Under center for the Rams this fall will be junior Ryan Buth. According to Vaughan, Buth is a smart quarterback who understands how to read the field.
“He’s been starting for us on defense since his freshman year as a free safety. Last year he played a little bit of receiver for us. He’s making the transition to quarterback and he’s doing a really good job with that,” Vaughan said. “He’s a smart kid. He’s a high GPA kid, I believe he has over a 4.0. We can put a lot on him when it comes to reading coverages. We trust him with RPO stuff and running some simple, yet complex schemes. He picks it up easily because he’s a smart kid. He takes control of the huddle and we’re just trying to put him in a position to be successful.”
In addition to the likes of Buth and Hoeun, Vaughan highlighted other Rams who he believes have the potential for a big season.
“Jabin Pierre is going to be one of our top wide receiver targets. Javon Clayborn stepped up to play running back last year. He’s going to get the ball in numerous ways between running and receiving. We feel these two guys are going to do really well on offense,” Vaughan said. “Defensively, Thomas Nolan and Einstein Martinez, our inside linebackers, we expect big years from them. On our D-line and O-line, Manny Mendez and Wendell Rodriquez we expect them to have a really good year.”
The Rams open the season at home on Friday, September 6 against North Attleborough at 6:30 p.m.
