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.
Given the nature of high school football and the inevitable changes that happen every year, it's completely unfair to burden a team with high expectations.
But it comes with the territory when you've won it all.
"We'd rather go into the season flying under the radar, but that's not going to happen," said Bauer, whose team's 28-20 comeback victory over Somerset in the Division 3 Super Bowl at Gillette Stadium capped a 7-6 season.
"We're not going to surprise anybody," added Bauer, who is in his ninth season as head coach. "We have high expectations within our team and don't put any credence into what outsiders have to say. It's what we believe that counts."
The Panthers, who lost their first five games last year before running the table (5-0) in their Northeastern Conference divisional games, believe they have the talent to be in the playoff hunt again this season.
They have most of their top skill position players back, including junior running back Brendan Flaherty (1,274 rushing yards, 16 touchdowns, NEC all-star), senior running back Nick Theriault (997 yards, 8 TDs, NEC all-star) and junior running back Kenny Pierce (343 yards, 2 TDs).
Junior Dave Rollins, who accounted for a huge play in the Super Bowl with a 42-yard completion to Blake Sullivan, will take over at quarterback for the graduated Joe Wioncek.
Overall, Beverly has seven returning starters on offense. From an opposing team's standpoint, Flaherty is ultra-dangerous, so he may draw extra attention. Bauer's response is 'OK, bring it on.'
"I think one of the great things about our offense (Wing-T) is that if a team chooses to shut down one thing, there are other things we can go to," said Bauer. "I don't think Brendan will surprise anybody, either, but teams will have to contend with our other backs. That's going to make Brendan better — it'll make our whole team better."
Defensively, Beverly looks especially good at linebacker and in the secondary with quality returnees like senior Mark Giles (the NEC Small Defensive Player of the Year as a junior), Sullivan, Theriault, Flaherty, Nick Quartarone (returning from injury), Dom Abate, Marc Babcock, Pierce and Rollins.
"It'll be interesting to see what happens on defense because we revamped it last year and the kids played so well," said Bauer. "We have a lot of experience with the linebackers and kids in the secondary, but the linemen are newbies. We have just one returning starter in the line, so that's a big concern."
The other major worry is avoiding another poor start in non-league play; not many teams can recover from 0-5. The Panthers did it last year because of the chemistry and leadership of a dozen seniors who kept the team from falling apart. The captains this season are Theriault, Sullivan and Giles and, for sure, there are carryover benefits from winning a Super Bowl.
"Absolutely," said Bauer. "There's a lot of excitement among the kids right now. I think we picked up a couple of more kids this season because we won last year. This group doesn't want to disappoint. The program has been on an upswing — and it just builds from there."
PANTHER PATTER
Last year's record: 7-6 (Division 3 Super Bowl champions)
Head coach: Dan Bauer (9th season, 49-38)
Team captains: Nick Theriault, Sr. RB/DB; Mark Giles, Sr. TE/LB; Blake Sullivan (Sr. WR/LB)
Top returning rusher: Brendan Flaherty (1,274 yds, 16 TDs)
Top returning passer: Dave Rollins (1-for-1, 42 yds, 0 TDs)
Top returning receiver: Mark Giles (12 rec., 183 yds, 3 TDs
Last league title: 2010 (NEC Small)
Did You Know?: For the purists who think the Panthers didn't deserve to be in the playoffs a year ago with a 5-6 record, Beverly whipped two postseason opponents, Scituate and Somerset, who had a combined record of 21-2.
2011 Schedule
DateOpponentTime
Sept. 9at Concord-Carlisle7 p.m.
Sept. 16at Lynn Classical7 p.m.
Sept. 23at Lynn English7 p.m.
Oct. 1Winthrop1 p.m.
Oct. 6at Peabody3 p.m.
Oct. 15Masconomet1:30 p.m.
Oct. 21at Danvers7 p.m.
Oct. 29Gloucester1 p.m.
Nov. 5Swampscott1 p.m.
Nov. 11at Marblehead7 p.m.
Nov. 24at Salem10 a.m.
