GREAT EXPECTATIONS FOR LHS '17 FOOTBALL
Lexington, MA. 9/3/17. Lexington High School varsity football coach George Peterson has spent the off season not just preparing for, but itching to get the 2017 season started. While the upbeat coach looks forward to every year, this one looks to be quite special.
At his opening practice on August 18, he welcomed back over fifty veterans (he lost only ten seniors to graduation) from last year’s club, a junior laden team that finished 9-2, won the Middlesex Liberty title, earned a two seed in the tournament and the home play-off game that came with it.
And it is not just quantity coming back from last year’s success. It’s quality. Those returnees include several league all-stars and the key skill players in Peterson’s imaginative and explosive spread offense.
Of course, this group is led by one of the top quarterbacks in the state, all-scholastic co-captain Sal Frelick, who will be looking to exceed last year’s startling performance of 21 touchdowns running and 32 passing against only 4 interceptions while amassing over 3500 yards of total offense.
Frelick is joined by his dynamic backfield mate, running back and co-captain Ben Quint and two of his prime targets, junior Tony Bianchi, who led the team in receptions last year and senior Jimmy Lane whose circus catches were a staple in last year’s high scoring offense.
Unlike last year though, which was all about potential, this year is all about expectations. Peterson said, “Oh yes. There is a lot expected from this team. We tell the kids that people, including me, are expecting a lot from them. But”, he continued, “we’re not bothered by all the hype. We’re focused on working hard and trying to be as good as we can.”
It is still early, but so far the work seems to be paying off.
“This has been the smoothest start we’ve had in the seven years I’ve been here,” he said. “By day two of practice, if we really wanted to, we’d have been good to go,” which is impressive given the breadth and variation in this sophisticated offense.
“It’s great, and it’s because we have all these kids returning on the offense, who know all the sets and signs. They see what I’m showing them and there’s immediate comprehension,” he added.
Peterson’s assessment was borne out in the first game action of the season, a scrimmage with Andover High School on August 26. On Lexington’s first play Frelick hit Lane on a crossing pattern good for 20 yards. One play later the fleet quarterback faked a hand-off to his running back, rolled left and quickly cut back evading two Andover tacklers and sprinted 40 yards to the end zone. Two plays. 60 yards. Touchdown. Welcome to the ’17 season.
Frelick’s aerials were on target all afternoon, and Lane caught anything in his neighborhood, even when he was draped with defenders. The Minuteman first offense moved the ball at will even without Bianchi and Quint both of whom missed the scrimmage with minor injuries.
“Lane has done a great job getting ready for this season and he was fantastic in the scrimmage. Several times he had guys all over him and he still came down with the ball. I don’t think he’s dropped a pass this season,” Peterson observed.
And about Frelick, the coach just shakes his head. “He’s already doing a really good job. He worked with a passing coach all summer, and it shows. He is totally committed, totally ready,” Peterson said.
The hard work had better continue as the coach has scheduled the Brockton Boxers, perhaps the premier high school football “brand” in New England, for the home opener.
Peterson explained, “I needed to find a team that would give us legitimate division 1 experience. They’re a solid team that has the possibility of earning us a lot of points toward the play-offs. Last year we were less than one point off the one seed, and if Newton South (last year’s division 1 opening opponent) had won just one game, we would have had that one seed. Brockton has a great program. A great coach. You know they’re going to be good.”
So from the perspective of tournament qualifying, playing a tough opponent like Brockton in the opener makes sense. It also makes the first game of the year a critical one.
.Peterson commented, “Yeah, this first game will be huge for us. We’re really excited to be playing Brockton, and we’ll be ready. Brockton beat us in the 1985 Super Bowl. Our kids would really like to win this one for those guys.”
Let the games begin. Harold Crumb Field. 1:30pm. September 9.