Krause: Coaching, not numbers, makes difference in NEC
By Steve Krause, The Daily Item of Lynn, Wednesday, November 9, 2005

The cliché for years has been that anything can happen in the Northeastern Conference.
But this year, that's been an empty promise more than anything else. All year long, there's been a strange air of predictability in the league -- even as it welcomed a new member (Revere).
For example, it took until Week 5 for a team to win a game against an opponent with a better record -- and it would be a stretch to call Marblehead's victory over Saugus a shock.
The next time it happened -- a week later -- English beat Gloucester, and since both teams had winning records, that wasn't exactly the upset of the century either.
Do you want more predictability? It took until Week 9 -- this past weekend -- to see some bona fide upsets.
Once of them -- obviously -- was Swampscott's domination of Danvers. Even though the Big Blue manhandled Gloucester in the snow a week earlier, it's always an upset when a team knocks off an undefeated opponent.
But the bigger shock -- and an upset reminiscent of NEC seasons past -- occurred up at Hurd Stadium in Beverly, when the Panthers edged Classical.
It isn't that Beverly's a bad team. The Panthers are not. They might have the best player in the league in Pat Bailey.
It's a shock because it was the first time -- even going back to the beginning of the season, when everyone was either 0-1 or 1-0 -- that a team with a losing record defeated an opponent that was over .500.
This obviously speaks to the growing dichotomy between the haves and have-nots in this league. And it goes beyond simple school size, too, because Winthrop (the smallest school in the league) is playing Danvers (another of the smaller schools) for the league title Friday night.  In fact, if you look at the standings in the NEC today, you'll find three so-called "small" schools -- Danvers, Winthrop and Swampscott -- at the top and Beverly, Salem and Revere farther down.
It's always been a given -- or, at least, a perceived given -- that you needed "numbers" -- a big school with a large talent pool -- to compete. And while that certainly can't hurt, it's not the sole determining factor.
If it were simply a question of enrollment, schools such as Beverly, Salem and Revere would just roll out there on Fridays and Saturdays and dominate the Swampscotts and Winthrops. But that's not happening.
Coaching and consistency come into play here. Swampscott has had only five coaches since the 1950s; and Tony Fucillo has been at Winthrop since 1987. Conversely, Marblehead and Saugus have had three coaches each since the year 2000.
If you're a promising athlete in Marblehead, and you see a revolving door in the coach's office, wouldn't you be inclined to choose a private school like Pingree, or St. John's Prep, where the program would appear to be more stable? You'd have to consider it.
And if you're from Saugus (which has seven private schools plus Northeast Regional within commuting distance), and you see the endless coaching changes, what would you do if you had a choice?
Beverly ... Salem ... Saugus ... Marblehead ... What do those schools have in common? They've all undergone multiple coaching changes over the last decade. That type of upheaval can be tough on a teenager. If you don't think you can trust your school to keep its program together for the four years you're there -- and you have options -- you're going to explore them.
This is the real reason for the dichotomy between the haves and have-nots in this league. The have-nots are always starting over, with new coaches, and new systems; and the players have to keep adapting instead of simply learning how to play football.
This type of predictability has been lying in ambush for many years. It didn't become this noticeable overnight.

Momentum surge thwarts Classical
By Jonathan Weiner / For The Daily Item of Lynn, Monday, November 7, 2005

BEVERLY - The Beverly defense stopped Classical's Jeff Watson on a two-point conversion attempt, and that proved to be just the tonic the Panthers needed Saturday as they upset the Rams, 27-20, at Hurd Stadium and eliminated them from any possibility (slim though it may have been) of winning the Northeastern Conference title.
 Having just scored, on an 11-yard run by Watson, to get to within 21-20 with 1:49 left in the game, Classical went to Watson again on the conversion try in an attempt to take the lead.
It worked once before ... three weeks ago in Revere. But this time, Watson got only a yard, and was then stopped in his tracks.
 The defensive stand spurred Beverly (3-5) toward an insurance touchdown with less than a minute left seal the deal.
The loss was Classical's second in a row and dropped the Rams to 6-3, with games remaining against Salem and English.
Classical's late touchdown was set up by a 65-yard strike from quarterback Michael Quintana to James Green (the first time the Rams went to the air all day). Green was brought down at Beverly's 15, and Watson (20-106) scored two plays later.
After Beverly stuffed Watson, Classical tried an onside kick, but Beverly recovered. Moments later, Pat Bailey (29-152) raced into the end zone from 41 yards away.
"We knew Beverly was a good football team, and had a lot of respect for them coming in," Classical coach Matt Durgin said. "Now we have more respect for them."
"That was a huge play, with a lot of bodies in there," Beverly coach Dan Bauer said. "This was just a great game played by both clubs, and we played all four quarters hard."
The Panthers snapped a 14-14 tie in the early minutes of the final quarter, taking over after Green went in from the 1 for the Rams. Beverly fullback J. Michael Nardella's 36-yard run -- followed by a Classical offside call -- set the Panthers up with a first down at the Rams 8. Bailey ran the ball in for the score to put Beverly up 21-14.
The Rams took an 8-7 lead into the third quarter, but Bailey and the Panthers took care of that. First quarterback Nick Tanzella hit Pat Abate for a 16-yarder to give Bevelry a first down at the Classical 21. And then Bailey, who already had runs of 15 and five yards, dove in from the one two plays later to make it 14-8.
Classical took an early 8-0 lead when Green took it in from the one-yard line on the last play or the first quarter. Watson's conversion made it 8-0. However, Bailey -- after muffing the kickoff -- gathered it in and raced 75 yards down the near sideline for the score.
"Bailey's an excellent player," said Durgin."But Beverly is not a one-man team. Tanzella through the ball well, and their fullback (Nardella) came up with some big plays as well."

Classical football defeats Saugus

By Steve Krause / The Daily Item of Lynn, Monday, October 24, 2005

The Lynn Classical football tuned up for Friday night's matchup with Winthrop with a 38-6 win over Saugus Saturday at Stackpole Field in which the Rams scored early, often, and seemingly at will.
"We took care of business," said Classical coach Matt Durgin. "We've been in a lot of close games this year, and we talked about going in and putting a team away when we get up."
The win was Classical's sixth in seven games, but at least two of those wins have been nail-biters. Perhaps Durgin was thinking specifically of last Monday's 26-25 overtime victory over Revere, when the Rams just couldn't put the Patriots away and it almost came back to haunt it.
 There was no problem in that area Saturday. Durgin unleashed his two-pronged running attack on the 1-6 Sachems, with devastating results. Jeff Watson raced for 190 yards (and would have easily had his second 200-yard game of the season had Durgin kept the first team in beyond the first series of the second half). James Green complimented Watson with 93 years, and each scored two touchdowns.
"They have a couple of real good running backs," said Saugus assistant Don Trainor, who, along with Jason Merrill, coached the team in the absence of Mike Broderick, who - the coaches said - had to miss the game for personal reasons.
"They really run hard."
The Rams wasted no time on their first drive, going 63 yards in 11 plays, with Watson taking it the last 10 for the score. He also added a two-point conversion to make it 8-0.
The hits just kept on coming. With only 40 seconds left in the quarter, Watson burst up the middle and rambled 48 yards for Classical's second score, and a 14-0 lead.
 It was Green's turn in the second quarter, as he rushed for 38 yards and another Classical touchdown to make it 20-0. Quarterback Mike Quintana, who didn't have to do much throwing, connected with Watson on Classical's next series to give the Rams a first down at the Saugus two-yard line, and Chad Quintana took it in from there for a 26-0 advantage.
Classical was back for more in the third quarter, with Green scoring his second touchdown of the afternoon on a nice 37-yard run when he shifted, spun around, and ran untouched to the end zone.
At that point, the Rams put in their backups, but still got another touchdown when Rory Calnan spoiled a nice Saugus drive by picking off Saugus quarterback Mike Dichiara (180 yards through the air) and ran it back 62 yards for the final touchdown.
Saugus finally got on the board on the first play of the fourth quarter, and it came courtesy of a 69-yard bomb from Dichiara to Rodney Lavoie. It was noteworthy first because it avoided a shutout, but, more importantly, because on the series before the touchdown, Lavoie was absolutely hammered by Classical's Richard Dellazoppa (very legal, but very hard) after catching pass coming across the middle. He came off the field after that hit, but was back in time to score the touchdown.
Classical is back in action Friday (7) at Miller Field in Winthrop for another key Northeastern Conference game. Saugus travels to Beverly Saturday (2).