Sports Special
- Football 2010
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The Super Conference: The Northeastern Conference and Cape Ann League have merged to form a four-tiered, 24-team league. So, what happens now?
The first Peabody High tailback in 14 years to return after rushing for more than 1,000 yards the previous season, Nat Gaye is a candidate to break away from defenses and race into the end zone every time he touches the football.
The mega-merger that will define at the least the next two years of North Shore high school football is upon us.
Time will tell if it turns out to be wildly successful — like the AFL-NFL merger of 1970 — or a total boondoggle. -
2011 North Shore High School Football Schedule
FRIDAY, SEPT 9
Beverly at Concord-Carlisle, 7
Salem at Peabody, 7
Danvers at Winthrop, 7
Pentucket at Marblehead, 7
Hamilton-Wenham at Triton, 7
Northeast Regional at Bishop Fenwick, 7
Masconomet at Lowell, 7 -
Strength in trenches should help Witches fly
If football games are truly won in the trenches, then Scott Connolly and the Salem Witches should feel pretty good about their chances this fall.
Although Connolly had to say goodbye to star players Brad Skeffington and Antonio Reyes, among others, at the conclusion of last season, he finds himself in an unusual position this time around. -
Beverly won't fly under the radar this season
The perception of the program will be different this season. Coach Dan Bauer knows it, his staff knows it and every single player on the Beverly High football team knows it.
When you're coming off a season in which you've won the Super Bowl for the first time in school history, as the Panthers did in 2010, everyone assumes you're going to remain in the elite category for a while. -
Tanner backfield hopes new look leads to more success
PEABODY — Brains. Brawn. Speed. Power. Elusiveness and vision.
At a glance, the Peabody High backfield has it all in 2011, spread over four seniors that have the Tanners hoping they can finally break the curse of six straight losing seasons. -
Falcons are focused on improvement
Sean Rogers may very well have been his own biggest critic last year in his first season as the head coach of the Danvers High football team.
Expectations weren't exactly through the roof when Rogers took over, but the 1-9 season the Falcons produced was well below what he had hoped for. -
Quigley, defense could take Marblehead far
At some point during the first week of practice last month, Marblehead High football coach Jim Rudloff lost his voice.
That tends to happen early in the season every year, but doesn't necessarily mean Rudloff is unhappy with his team. Quite the contrary; both he and his players have high hopes for this season after a disappointing 5-6 mark in 2010. -
Skillful Swampscott hopes to be Super in 2011
SWAMPSCOTT — The doubters say that 7-on-7 football isn't football at all — it's playground stuff.
For Swampscott, which won two 7-on-7 tourneys this summer, the ultimate goals for this season were born not on that sort of playground, but on the ones around town that the senior class used to toss around the football on. -
St. John's Prep has big holes to fill on offense
Veteran St. John's Prep football coach Jim O'Leary and his coaching staff took 115 players to the team's annual preseason camp in Wayne, Maine. Only 15 of those players were seniors, however.
There are plenty of jobs open, especially on offense, for the defending Catholic Conference champions. Trying to fill them will not be easy. -
Masconomet ready to compete for a title
If death and taxes are life's two certainties, then you can apply with conviction these two statements to the Masconomet Regional football this fall.
1.) Last year's two-win season will not be repeated; -
Fenwick looks to youngsters to make impact
Bishop Fenwick football coach Dave Woods would probably love to say he has great depth and balance across each class on his football team.
The hard reality is that Woods' Crusaders are a young club — but that might not be a bad thing. -
Newcomers bolster Ipswich's program
It's nothing he can control, but like most football coaches in small towns, Ipswich High's Ted Flaherty worries about families moving out during the offseason.
The best football blueprint in the country can be tossed into the fireplace if a couple of key kids get injured or their families relocate. That's the harsh reality of having small numbers. -
New crop of seniors set to lead Generals
Hamilton-Wenham head football coach Andrew Morency knows the key to his team making a return trip to the Division 3A playoffs isn't in any game film from last year's historic season.
If H-W wants to make a run at the revamped NEC/CAL Tier 4 league title, the Generals need to do more than simply pick up where last year's squad left off. -
N.S. Tech defense looking to carry Bulldogs
With so many questions surrounding the North Shore Tech/Essex Aggie offense heading into the 2011 season, veteran head coach Paul Worth is going to be looking to his defense — early and often — for stability.
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Returning linemen could give Pingree promise
The Northeastern Prep School Athletic Football Conference breathed a collective sigh of relief this spring when the senior members of the Pingree football team received their respective diplomas. The class seemed to hog all the glory the NEPSAC had to offer, winning the Clark/Francis and then the Norm Walker bowl games while amassing a 17-1 record over the past two seasons.
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Fishermen hit hard by graduation, retirement
Change is in the air for the Gloucester High football team entering the 2011 season.
The Fishermen were hit hard by both graduation and retirement during the offseason. They not only graduated 19 seniors and 20 starting positions from the 2010 Division 1A Super Bowl championship squad, but also lost wildly successful head coach Paul Ingram and long-time assistant Tom Walsh to retirement. -
Experience bodes well for Manchester Essex
It's a new beginning for the Manchester Essex football team in 2011. Coach Mike Athanas and the Hornets are looking to put last year's 3-7 record behind them as they'll field an experienced team in a new conference.
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