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2010 North Shore Football Schedule

Click here for downloadable PDF of the 2010 North Shore High School Football Schedule

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September 10, 2010

Manchester Essex looks to rebuild with new players

By Nick Curcuru staff writer

It's hard to imagine a team in the state that was hit harder by graduation then Manchester Essex.

The Hornets return just two starters from last year's 9-2 team that finished as the Commonwealth Athletic Conference Large runners up.

"We have a lot of open spots," Hornets head coach Mike Athanas said. "We'll see who steps up and who wants to play."

The Hornets' two returning starters just happen to be their two senior captains in quarterback Alex Carr and center Matt Wescott. Carr was the Hornets' signal caller in 2009 and he thrived. Armed with a battery of weapons, Carr threw for 1,603 yards with 15 touchdowns and just five interceptions. He also ran for over 400 yards and seven more scores.

The Hornets will have to rely on Carr a lot more this season as they graduated three of their top four rushers, with Carr being the leading returning rusher. The returning running back with the most yards last season is Cooper Riehl, who had just 10 carries for 63 yards. Every player that caught a pass for Manchester Essex in 2009 has graduated.

Wescott will also be relied on to anchor the offensive line and the linebacking core. The center is a three-year starter for the Hornets on offense. He and Carr, however, will both be starting on defense for the first time.

The rest of the Hornets are a group of unknowns as there will be newcomers starting at 20 of the 22 positions.

Despite the uncertainty at almost every position, Athanas says the Hornets are still going to do what they do.

"We like to be balanced; we like to take what the defense gives us," he said. "That's how we try to run the offense every year."

HORNET STINGS

Last year's record: 9-2

Head coach: Mike Athanas (7th season, 41-29)

Team captains: Alex Carr, Sr., QB; Matt Wescott, Sr., OL/DL

Top returning rusher: Alex Carr (416 yards, 7 TDs)

Top returning passer: Alex Carr (1603 yards, 15 TDs)

Top returning receiver: None

Last league title: 2009

Did You Know?: The Hornets have rattled off four straight winning seasons.

2010 Schedule

DateOpponentTime

Sept. 10Lynnfield7 p.m.

Sept. 25at Gr. Law. Tech10:30 a.m.

Oct. 1Northeast Metro7 p.m.

Oct. 8Lynn Tech7 p.m.

Oct. 15Ipswich7 p.m.

Oct. 22NS Tech7 p.m.

Oct. 30at Gr. Lwl. Tech1:30 p.m.

Nov. 6at Whittier Tech2 p.m.

Nov. 12Shawsheen Tech7 p.m.

Nov. 25Georgetown10 a.m.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Football 2010
  • 4783816SN.jpg

    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 Super Conference: The Northeastern Conference and Cape Ann League have merged to form a four-tiered, 24-team league. So, what happens now?

    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.

    Sep 7, 2011 10:20 pm 1 Photo
  • 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

    Sep 7, 2011 10:21 pm
  • Strength in trenches should help Witches fly
    4783982SN.jpg

    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.

    Sep 7, 2011 10:21 pm 2 Photos
  • Beverly won't fly under the radar this season
    4784063SN.jpg

    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.

    Sep 7, 2011 10:20 pm 2 Photos
  • Tanner backfield hopes new look leads to more success
    4757803SN.jpg

    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.

    Sep 7, 2011 10:21 pm 3 Photos
  • Falcons are focused on improvement
    4780212SN.jpg

    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.

    Sep 7, 2011 10:20 pm 5 Photos
  • Quigley, defense could take Marblehead far
    4784205SN.jpg

    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.

    Sep 7, 2011 10:21 pm 2 Photos
  • Skillful Swampscott hopes to be Super in 2011
    4752715SN.jpg

    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.

    Sep 7, 2011 10:20 pm 7 Photos
  • St. John's Prep has big holes to fill on offense
    4783961SN.jpg

    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.

    Sep 7, 2011 10:21 pm 2 Photos
  • Masconomet ready to compete for a title
    4783726SN.jpg

    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;

    Sep 7, 2011 10:21 pm 2 Photos
  • Fenwick looks to youngsters to make impact
    4789112SN.jpg

    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.

    Sep 7, 2011 10:20 pm 1 Photo
  • Newcomers bolster Ipswich's program
    4792743SN.jpg

    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.

    Updated Sep 7, 2011 11:17 pm 2 Photos
  • New crop of seniors set to lead Generals
    4789082SN.jpg

    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.

    Sep 7, 2011 10:21 pm 2 Photos
  • N.S. Tech defense looking to carry Bulldogs
    4812240SN.jpg

    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.

    Sep 7, 2011 10:21 pm 1 Photo
  • 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.

    Sep 7, 2011 10:21 pm
  • Fishermen hit hard by graduation, retirement
    4789452SN.jpg

    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.

    Sep 7, 2011 10:21 pm 1 Photo
  • 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.

    Sep 7, 2011 10:21 pm
Sports
Local News
  • Peabody picks superintendent PEABODY — Joseph Mastrocola has been hired as the new superintendent of the Peabody School District after a unanimous vote by the Peabody School Committee Thursday night.
    Mastrocola worked as the assistant superintendent in Peabody from 2007 to 2010 before leaving to become superintendent at Groton-Dunstable Regional School District.

    February 11, 2012

  • Colossal campaign collection

    Many know Alan Hartnett as a guy who operates a popular, family-owned car wash and auto body shop on Water Street in Danvers. 

    Few realize he is really cleaning up when it comes to political memorabilia.
    However, in a year when Republicans are furiously vying to unseat President Barack Obama, the political item pickings are few and far between, despite the hundreds of millions that will be spent on campaigns.

    February 11, 2012

  • 4th man charged in Hilltop probe SALEM — A former resident of a Boston Street rooming house, where two men died last fall of apparent drug overdoses, has been charged in connection with one of the deaths.
    Salem police obtained an arrest warrant yesterday for Anthony Burney, 36, in connection with the Dec. 4 death of a 40-year-old Lynn man who resided at Hilltop Manor, a lodging house at 179 Boston St.

    February 11, 2012

  • 6 years and counting, restaurant still on hold After Mayor Bill Scanlon's State of the City address Monday night, City Council President Paul Guanci asked the question that residents have been asking since 2006.
    What's up with the Black Cow?
    Guanci was not talking about farm animals or the 1977 Steely Dan song. He was talking about the Black Cow restaurant that was first proposed six years ago this month but has yet to be built.

    February 11, 2012

  • No water woes for region — yet Water levels on the North Shore are still close to average but dropping fast due to a recent lack of precipitation.
    Up through last night, not a single drop of moisture had fallen in February, and January saw just 2.67 inches. That's almost three-quarters of an inch less than the 30-year average, according to The National Weather Service. In total, the North Shore has received about an inch-and-a-half less precipitation than normal in January and February.

    February 11, 2012