GT Press
Brao's boot sends Generals to playoffs for first time in history
By Dan Harrison, Salem Evening News
HAMILTON — There has always been a bit of a stigma surrounding Hamilton-Wenham football.
A small school playing in a small league and zero trips to the MIAA postseason have the Generals facing a yearly up-hill fight for respect from football fans around the North Shore. And when you look at this year's team, big wins over Pentucket and Newburyport countered with a smaller win over Georgetown and a loss to Bishop Fenwick had many thinking the Blue and White were merely a team of opportunity, rather than destiny.
But after Saturday's 16-15 win over Lynnfield (8-2), coach Andrew Morency doesn't really care what people are saying about his boys, just as long as they call them Cape Ann League Small champions.
That's right, for the first time in its 50-year history the Hamilton-Wenham football team, now 7-2 overall and 5-0 in the league, will represent the CAL in the postseason.
Trailing 15-13 with 3:13 to play, senior quarterback Dylan Keith brought his Generals up to their own 19-yard line with time left for one final drive. Up to that point the Pioneers had held the signal caller to 41 yards on just 3 of 11 passing and, other than the inside counter game, the Generals were really struggling to get a push. But the senior elevated his game, connecting on 5 of 7 passes for 42 yards and rushing for 11 more to bring the Generals all the way down to the 7-yard line with a chance to win it with a field goal as just under 30 seconds remained on the clock. Senior captain James Brao, an offensive and defensive lineman, then calmly booted a 25-yarder to send the Generals into the playoffs.
"Dylan has been running the two-minute offense for three years now, so it (the final drive) was no accident, we had it in our hip pocket," said Morency, who also highlighted the play of seniors Jimmy Love and Jake Prince on the drive. Prince caught a team-high four balls and was fearless over the middle while recording a sack on defense.
"This is a senior laden group, a veteran bunch and it took a whole team effort. And James Brao, talk about a cool cucumber," added Morency.
Brao, who took over the kicking duties after Tucker White went down early in the season, showed nerves of steel on a kick from just inside the left hash mark.
"It's pretty awesome, not many words can describe how it feels to win the Cape Anne League (small) championship," said Brao. "I had confidence up to 40 (yards), so I felt pretty sure I could kick it."
Brao also talked about the mood in the huddle heading into the final drive.
"I don't think coach needed to say anything to us," said Brao. "We have a lot of people who are committed and have been committed. The seniors, we were determined."
That determination was evident from the opening kickoff as the Generals were playing with a definite chip on their shoulder pads and despite a failed, clock control game plan, the H-W defense held the potent Pioneer offense and signal caller Gino Cohee in check. Lynnfield only managed a 28-yard field goal from Steve Ullian in the first half.
Hamilton-Wenham followed with a very promising drive in which Morency utilized the counter-trap game and the speedy Trevor Lyons to slice through the Lynnfield defense. The drive culminated on a third and goal from the eight (following a Generals false start) when Keith faked a handoff, started rolling to his right, then turned to throw back to his left to an open Jake Prince who used a few solid blocks and his brute strength to power into the end zone. The Generals led at the half, 7-3.
"It was a slugfest, we knew we'd have our hands full and we just wanted to contain their offense," explained Morency. "And maybe our offense would have a chance."
When the second half began it appeared Hamilton-Wenham may have burnt itself out intensity wise, as the very first Lynnfield play from scrimmage, a jet sweep to Rick Berardino, went 69 yards for a touchdown. Just like that H-W was playing from behind. However a holding call on the extra point (which was made) forced Ullian to have to kick from 10 yards back, and the result was a kick that sailed wide left. Ullian would miss his second PAT of the game later, and those two points proved to be the difference.
"It was a good, hard fought game. They did a good job on the two minute drill," explained Lynnfield coach Neil Weidman. "Not converting those extra points killed us."
Lynnfield took an eight point lead on a 15-yard pass from Cohee to Barardino and was driving at the end of the third quarter when Hamilton-Wenham's Kevin Anthony ripped the ball out of Pioneer running back Jeff Gannon's hands and the Generals recovered. Seven plays (all rushing) later Trevor Lyons, who finished with a team-high 79 yards rushing on 10 carries, scampered into the end zone from four yards out. The two-point conversion failed however, and they still trailed 15-13.
"We hung tough at key moments," said Morency. "Going to the playoffs for the first time in school history, I couldn't be happier or more proud. A lot of guys have come and gone in this program (without making the playoffs), so it's pretty special."
DiBiaso throws five TD passes in 42-14 victory
November 9, 2010, By Independent Staff
Quarterback Jonathan DiBiaso threw five touchdown passes to power the Everett High football team to a 42-14 victory over Somerville Friday night at Everett Memorial Stadium.
Manny Asprilla had three receptions for 77 yards and two touchdowns. Matt Costello caught six passes for 104 yards and a touchdown. Vondell Langston and Rob DeLuca also had touchdown receptions. Jakarrie Washington scored on a nine-yard run.
Everett placekicker Gilly DeSouza continues to excel, converting all six of his PATs.
Somerville led 7-0 before the Crimson Tide tallied 35 unanswered points on five DiBiaso TD passes.
DiBiaso, who was named Boston Globe Star of the Week for Division, was 15-of-23 for 249 yards in the game. DiBiaso leads the state with 29 touchdown passes this season. He has thrown for 1,823 yards and could break the 2,000-yard mark for the season against Malden on Saturday.
Costello (42 receptions for 763 yards, 12 TDs) and Asprilla (28 receptions for 605 yards, 11 TD) have been the chief targets in Everett's prolific passing game.
Langston is Everett's leading rusher with 60 carries for 465 yards, averaging almost eight yards a carry.
Everett will put its No. 1-ranking on the line against Malden (2-0, GBL 4-4) Saturday. Everett is ranked No. 6 in the East in this week's USA Today poll.
GRIDIRON TRAINING STAR COLLEGE RUNNING BACK LEADS FRAMINGHAM STATE WITH 253 YARDS RUSHING AND A TOUCHDOWN
Van Alstyne Leads Football to 42-28 Win Over Fitchburg State
Fitchburg, Mass. – Freshman running back Melikke Van Alstyne (Salem,
Mass.) rushed for 253 yards on 27 carries to lead the Framingham State
University football team to a 42-28 win over Fitchburg State on the road
today in New England Football Conference Bogan Division action.
Senior Darren Wilson (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) rushed for 121 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Fitchburg State offense, while junior quarterback Jeremy Kimber (Fitchburg, Mass.) finished 12-of-18 with 78 yards and touchdown. Senior Kyle Callahan (Stoneham, Mass. led all Falcon receivers with a team-best seven catches, 62 yards and one touchdown on the day.
Framingham State possessed an explosive style offense this afternoon, racking up 531 total yards with 245 yards rushing and 286 yards passing. Van Alstyne sparked the Rams, rushing 27 times for a massive 253 yards and one touchdown. Behind center, quarterback Kurt Leone (Marshfield, Mass.) was strong, finishing 17-of-25 for 286 yards and a game-best, five touchdowns, while junior James McCarthy (Newton, Mass.) aided Leone, grabbing a game-high nine catches for 159 yards and four TD's.
In an explosive first quarter which witness a combined 35 points, the Rams grabbed an early seven point advantage, scoring once on the ground and twice in the air. Framingham opened the contest with a pair of touchdown receptions from McCarthy and Shawn Miller (Tyngsboro, Mass.), but the Falcons matched the Rams score for score with a pair of TD runs from Wilson. The Rams broke the 14-14 deadlock with 0:41 remaining the period however as Van Alstyne broke free for a 79 yard run to cap a 131 yard, first-half performance.
Play slowed down in the second frame with only one team finding the end zone. The Rams notched the lone score of the quarter as Leone found McCarthy on a five-yard slant for a 28-14 lead at the break. The pair teamed up for the second score of the contest, capping a six play, 52 yard drive at the 8:38 mark.
After the break, Framingham State came out slinging, building a 28 point lead midway through the third period with back-to-back touchdowns from the McCarthy/Leone combo. The Rams opened its second half surge when Leone connected with McCarthy on a 16yd TD pass at the 9:21 mark. The duo then struck again just four minutes later, capping a five play, 96 yard scoring drive with a 54 yard touchdown pass.
In the fourth, Fitchburg State inched closer as Kimber found Callahan on an eight yard comeback route for the Falcons first score of the half. On the ensuing kickoff, senior Christian Guzman (Lawrence, Mass.) recovered the Falcons onside kick, leading to a Fitchburg State possession on their own 46 yard line.
With momentum swinging the Falcons way, Fitchburg State responded, driving 54 yards in 2:48 to cut the Rams lead to only 14 (42-28) on a Kimber one-yard touchdown plunge. The Falcons attempted another onside after 30 yards of penalties were accessed, but Framingham State's Roderick Jackson (Cambridge, Mass.) recovered the ball for the Rams and set up the eventual game-ending drive.
Framingham State was sparked by its defense, which limited Fitchburg State to only 236 yards of total offense. Senior Brent Loveless (Billerica, Mass.) led the Rams with a team-best seven tackles and one interception, while sophomore James Murhead (Middleboro, Mass.) added seven stops and one sack. Guzman paved the way for the Falcons defense with a game-high 11 tackles, 0.5 sacks and the onside kick recovery, while senior Anthony Bizzotto (Leominster, Mass.) notched four solo stops and five assists.
Fitchburg State (1-5, 1-2 NEFC) will be in action again next Saturday as it travels to Mass-Maritime at 12 p.m. Framingham State (5-1, 3-0 NEFC) will host Maine Maritime next Saturday at 1 p.m.
Dibiaso, Costello propel Everett past BC High, 37-27, to raise record to 6-0
October 26, 2010, By Independent Staff
It was another successful takeoff and landing for the Jonathan DiBi-Air Show.
DiBiaso, the sizzling southpaw, tossed three touchdown passes, two to Matt Costello, as the Everett High School football team bested Boston College High School, 37-27, in its final non-league game Friday night.
DiBiaso tuned up for the upcoming Greater Boston League schedule (Friday at 7 p.m. at Medford) by throwing for 225 yards. Costello had eight catches for 112 yards.
Manny Asprilla, star of the Tide's big win over Xaverian a week ago, also caught a touchdown pass. Jakarrie Washington had two key catches in the game. Vondell Langston kept the BC defense honest with some potent runs.
Everett built a 30-8 lead before the Eagles stormed back to close the gap to 30-27. But DiBiaso scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
"We just let up but BC High is a good team," said head coach John DiBiaso. "They played well, too.
GRIDIRON TRAINING ATHLETE LEADS THE NATION IN RECEIVING
Bishop Fenwick's Lipka turns into one of the most prolific receivers in
the Nation
Mike Grenier, staff writer The Salem News Fri Oct 22, 2010
There are times when Bishop Fenwick's Ryan Lipka must feel like he's locked in a dream. It's as if he can't quite believe what he's experiencing this season.
Lipka plays on both sides of the ball and on special teams for the Crusaders (2-4), who begin head-to-head matchups in the Catholic Central League tonight at Archbishop Williams in Braintree.
Prior to this season, Lipka, a 6-foot, 185-pound senior, wasn't considered much of a pass receiving threat. He had just one catch in his previous two varsity seasons.
This year, however, Lipka is threatening to obliterate some pretty impressive records. Showing remarkable chemistry with quarterback Bret Kidik, Lipka has already hauled in 60 passes for 608 yards and five touchdowns. He had 17 catches against Saugus, easily breaking the school's single-game mark (8) co-held by Mike Cranney (1987 against Spellman) and Jason Berroa (2000 against Winthrop). He has also surpassed Cranney's school record of 51 catches for a season, established in 1988.
That's just the beginning. With five games remaining, it appears that Lipka will overtake Cranney for career receptions (71), and he'll do it in about half as many games as Cranney played in 1987-88.
The North Shore record for single-season catches is believed to be held by Tim Kiely of Swampscott, who had 68 receptions for 1,099 yards and 16 touchdowns in the Big Blue's Super Bowl season in 2002. So Lipka is knocking on that door, too.
Oh, yes, one other thing. As of last weekend, Lipka was ranked No. 9 in the nation in receptions, according to internet homework done by Bishop Fenwick assistant coach Matt Schena, a former receiver at Syracuse University.
"It's crazy," said Bishop Fenwick coach Dave Woods. "No. 9 in the country. Can you imagine that?"
It all seems like a Disney movie, but Lipka knows it's not make believe. His body is sore every weekend from never coming off the field. It's a good feeling, he says, knowing he's helping the team as much as possible.
"I didn't know about the (national ranking)," said Lipka, 17, who lives in Peabody. "That's unbelievable. I'm speechless."
Actually, Lipka isn't speechless. He's quite articulate about what's transpired this season, and he passes the credit around the way Kidik (four receivers with 16 or more catches) spreads the ball around.
"It's hard to take it all in right now," said Lipka, "but I'll take zero catches in a game as long as we win the game.
"Going into the season, I had no clue what to expect. We were experimenting with different offenses and the spread just sort of clicked with us. But even with that, it's my relationship with Bret that's been the key. We're workout partners and we started throwing and catching back in June. We were out there almost every day during the summer. I always knew that Bret could play the way he has. He has an accurate arm and he's been able to show it."
The game films that Fenwick's opponents receive have taken away any notion that Lipka is a secret weapon. Instead, he's a marked man and he welcomes that change in status because he believes it can create an advantage for the Crusaders.
"Teams are double teaming me and all that, but I accept every single challenge," said Lipka. "If teams want to respect me (with extra coverage), it opens things up for my teammates. I'm all for it."
Overall, Woods' team has struggled, especially in the running game, but he's not about to make any radical changes in midstream. The spread has been the most effective way for the Crusaders to move the ball, so it looks like it's going to be bombs away for the rest of the season.
"When the season started, I don't think we expected to be in the spread 100 percent of the time," said Woods. "But in our opener against Saugus, Bret threw 33 completions and Ryan had 17 catches. We looked better and better in the spread. We might just go five wide (in the remaining games) and use the short passing as our running game."
As for Lipka potentially blowing away various records, Woods said, "We're very happy for him. He's a basketball captain and a very humble kid. Just a great kid."
Players of the Week
Thursday, October 21, 2010 - D.J. Henrick of Peabody and Todd Collier of St. Mary's are this week's defensive and offensive players of the week. Continue article here.
Witches beat the heat, outslug Archbishop Williams
"Give credit to Pat Downey at Gridiron Training; most of us worked with him all summer and our conditioning paid off (Saturday)," said Feeley. "We stuck with it all four quarters."
Just For Kicks: Fenwick's Garabedian closing in on 100 points
There are only a handful of high school soccer players that score 100 points over the course of their careers. How many get to pass the century mark twice?
Bishop Fenwick's Doug Garabedian might be the first to ever do it. The senior co-captain had a hand in all three goals Fenwick scored in the first 15 minutes against Austin Prep on Monday to reach 100 points for his career, but lightning wiped away the game — and consequently, the milestone goal and two assists.
"It's not about the points; the points are going to come," said Garabedian. "The frustrating thing was everything was clicking for our team and we had a big lead over a league opponent. It was one of the bigger crowds we'd seen and we wanted to make a statement to the league that we were ready for a good season."
Garabedian, a four-year starter from Salem, will have a chance to officially pass the 100 point mark today, when the Crusaders take on Marblehead. There's only been one other Crusader, Jonathan Hayes, to hit the century mark in boys soccer and Garabedian has an excellent chance to set a school scoring record.
Continue reading here...Gridiron Training brings NFL instruction to high school linemen
July 28, 2010
PEABODY — Football linemen are never given anything.
Headlines, glory, dates with cheerleaders — those are things that often find their way to quarterbacks and running backs, and while those facts of football are unlikely to change anytime soon Gridiron Training founder and owner Pat Downey gave a pretty big something to North Shore high school linemen last night at Bishop Fenwick.
Downey and Gridiron Training hosted a free private workout dedicated strictly to linemen that tackled intricate techniques, competition and some life training mixed into the workout. But that wasn't the entire package. The workout — which was sponsored and funded by American Nutrition Center and owner Steve Cardillo — also included specific instruction from former NFL players Mike Flynn, Vernon Crawford and Joe Fleming.
GOLD BACKING: Peabody's Provencher headed for Merrimack, but Agganis Game is first
July 13, 2010
With one football launched off his foot 30 yards through the uprights, Justin Provencher's name was etched into Peabody High football history.
It was a Sunday night in Arlington in 2008, and the Tanners were desperately trying to shake off having lost 21 of their last 23 games. They fell behind the Spy Ponders, 21-20, in the fourth quarter and it appeared the heartache would continue. Provencher was there to save the day, though, booting the game-winning field goal to give Scott Wlasuk his first win as a head coach.
St. Anselm Football Star Marc Wilson
to Train at Gridiron on Monday, May 24, 2010
Wilson Named to 2009 ECAC All-Star Team
Cape Cod, Mass. (December 19) -- Saint Anselm sophomore wide receiver Marc
Wilson (Farmington, Conn.) has been named to the 2009 ECAC Division II
All-Star Team, as announced by the ECAC office. As a freshman, Wilson was
the 2008 ECAC Division II Rookie of the Year. Two weeks ago, Wilson was
also named to the 2009 New England Football Writers Division II/III
All-New England Team. In all, 31 players from 20 different institutions
are represented on the All-New England Team.
Wilson earned Northeast-10 First Team All-Conference honors at wide receiver after being named the league's Freshman of the Year as a quarterback in 2008. Wilson led the Northeast-10 in receptions per game and all-purpose yards as he set four Saint Anselm single-season records and three single-game records in 2009. He caught a record 82 passes for 860 yards and seven touchdowns while racking up 1817 all-purpose yards in 10 games. In a narrow loss at Stonehill, Wilson piled up a school-record 299 all-purpose yards while tying a school record with 16 catches in the game.
Earlier in the season in a five-overtime win vs. Plymouth State, Wilson finished with a school-record 187 receiving yards. In addition, he also owns the Saint Anselm career record for all-purpose yards with 2,951 after just two seasons. Nationally, Wilson is third in Division II in receptions per game and ninth in the nation in all-purpose yards per game.
Turning Athletes Into Freaks
Downey's Gridiron Training has local football players pumped up
Salem Evening News - October 13, 2009
Former pro football player, Swampscott resident Downey pushes athletes to limits every ‘Judgment Day’
WickedLocal Online- October 7, 2009
GRIDIRON TRAINING was featured in Patriots
Football Weekly
December 2009