Coming off of back-to-back losing seasons — a rarity for one of the state's top gridiron programs — St. John's Prep will need its young team to gain experience quickly this fall.
One of the biggest challenges the Eagles face this year is finding a quarterback to replace Chris Coady, who transferred to BB&N to repeat his junior year. Coady is a Division 1 lacrosse prospect who has attracted the attention of Duke and Syracuse.
Junior Tommy Gaudet will step in to call the signals for St. John's Prep, with sophomore Jack Sharrio backing up. Both are untested at the varsity level.
"Tommy has been working very hard," said coach Jim O'Leary, now in his 27th season. "He had shoulder surgery (on his non-throwing side) midway through last season. We're not going to be a dropback passing team; more of a play action style like we used when Johnny McCarthy was the quarterback (in the early 2000s). I feel good about our ability to run the ball; passing is something we'll have to see how effective we can be.
"Some of our young kids are very fast and very talented. This is a very different kind of team than we usually have with 23 seniors — that's not bad but three years ago we had 50 seniors — only 15 juniors, and 65 freshmen and sophomores at camp. We have our veteran senior leaders and a lot of very young backups."
The Eagles went away for their annual five-day trip to Wayne, Maine for preseason camp, where O'Leary said the squad bonded and got a lot of work done. The Eagles also had five scrimmages (vs. Gloucester, Haverhill, Melrose, Lynn English and Lynn Classical) prior to tomorrow's season opener against Peabody High, the main objective being giving the younger kids some experience and build depth by getting a good look at a lot of different players.
"We are inexperienced at quarterback, linebacker and defensive back," said O'Leary. "The strength this year will be size and experience on the offensive line and special teams. We are strong where every coach wants to be; on the offensive line which is a big plus."
Tri-captain Tyler Coppola, a 5-foot-9, 169 pound senior with good hands, will be counted on to produce on offense. He is joined by returning starting fullback senior Chris Ryan (5-9, 205), and senior Dillon Gonzalez at flanker. The wide receivers are seniors Luis Soto and Mark Macdonald.
Tri-captain Ryan Delisle has outstanding size at 6-4, 230 pounds. He returns at both tight end and defensive end. The other captain is Nate Cyr, a 6-foot left guard and linebacker.
Three of the five starters are back on the offensive line: Cyr along with senior tackles Dan Culkeen (5-11, 285) and James Ferguson (6-2, 263). Senior Jon Mindnich is at right guard while junior Kyle Kaneb and senior Ryan Richard are vying for the starting center position.
Defensively Culkeen and Mindnich are the tackles. Cyr is at linebacker along with Ryan and hard hitting sophomore Austin Woolman (5-10, 160). Lucas Bavaro, Alex Moore and Austin Pierce round out the secondary.
"I was very impressed with the leadership qualities of our senior class," said O'Leary. "They helped bring the young kids along when we were at camp."
EAGLES SOAR
Last year's record: 4-6
Head coach: Jim O'Leary (27th year, 178-89-2)
Team captains: Tyler Coppola, Sr., RB/WR/CB; Nate Cyr, Sr., G/LB; Ryan Delisle, Sr., TE/DE
Top returning rusher: Tyler Coppola (268 yards, 4 TDs)
Top returning passer: None
Top returning receiver: Coppola (352 yards, TD)
Last league title: 2006 (Catholic Conference co-champs)
Did You Know?: Lucas Bavaro, a sophomore returning starter at defensive back, is the son of former New York Giants All-Pro tight end Mark Bavaro
2010 Schedule
DateOpponentTime
Sept. 11Peabody1:30 p.m.
Sept. 18Central Catholic1:30 p.m.
Sept. 25at Everett2 p.m.
Oct. 1at Brockton7 p.m.
Oct. 9 Mount St. Joseph1 p.m.
Oct. 16St. John's Shrew.1:30 p.m.
Oct. 22at Somerville7 p.m.
Oct. 30Catholic Mem.1:30 p.m.
Nov. 5 at Malden Cath.7 p.m.
Nov. 12at BC High 7 p.m.
Nov. 25at Xaverian10:15 a.m.
