FILE PHOTO
Matt Lauria (left) and the Rams will look to end their season with a win over rival English.
By HAROLD RIVERA
The road to Thanksgiving has been a tough one for the Lynn Classical football team.
The Rams sit at 2-9, but the record doesn’t tell the story. Classical lost its season opener to Gloucester by two points (21-19) in the game’s last minute, and lost to Division 2 North champ Beverly by six points (28-22). Both of those opponents made it to the state tournament.
Although the Rams failed to reach the playoffs, coach Tim Phelps said his team is still hungry for a win against English Thursday (10 a.m.).
“Our players have been pretty good (in practice),” Phelps said. “They’ve been motivated all year. Our varsity guys are motivated and we have younger guys looking to make strides.
“We’re excited,” he said. “For some of them, this will be their first varsity Thanksgiving game. They’ll always remember playing on Thanksgiving. They’re excited to and ready to play in front of the city.”
Offensively, the Rams are led by a pair of talented seniors in quarterback Matt Lauria and running back Marcus Rivera. Lauria’s athleticism has allowed the Rams to expand their playbook.
“He’s (Lauria) a three-year starter so he really knows the ins and outs of the offense,” Phelps said. “We’ve been able to design some plays for him because of his ability. He’s come up big for us as at times.”
Rivera suffered an injury on Classical’s third play of the season, but has given the Rams a boost now that he’s healthy.
“He’s kind of like an instant spark plug for us,” Phelps said. “Marcus, being a senior captain, the ability he has allows us to cover some of the mistakes we make. He can make a guy miss in a hole and cover up a missed block.”
On defense, Classical is led by a pair of sophomores in linebacker David Barnard — who was a stalwart for the Lynn Babe Ruth World Series team — and safety Chase Buono.
“We had high expectations for them this year and they’ve lived up to those expectations,” Phelps said of his defensive leaders. “We hope to have them lead us for the next two years.”
The unsung hero for the Rams this season is tight end Dennis Pierce. A sophomore, Pierce transferred to Classical from Mystic Valley and was moved to the tight end position midway through the season.
“He (Pierce) has stepped up,” Phelps said. “We moved him to tight end we’ve played better football since we moved him there.”
Although Classical hopes to end its season on a high note, English has other plans. When the two teams meet at Manning Field, Phelps said his group will need to look out for an athletic opponent that can move the chains on offense.
“They’ve struggled but they have some tremendous athletes,” Phelps said. “They’ve gone to a more running scheme but they run a little play action and shotgun spread. They have great athletes just like us. They can kill the clock and move the ball so we’ll have to look out for that.”
Phelps added, “If we can play mistake-free football and play our game, if we can run the ball and sustain mistake-free drives, that can be very beneficial for us. Defensively if we can play for four quarters and get to the ball, and make tackles it could be a good game for us.”
Phelps mentioned that the underclassmen on the team are using the seniors as a source of motivation. The goal is for the younger players to send the seniors off with a win against their rival.
“It’s always about the seniors on Thanksgiving,” Phelps said. “It’s our last game with them and it’s special for those kids. Hopefully we can pull out that win for them.”
Harold Rivera can be reached at [email protected].