Things couldn’t have gone much better for Winthrop football in the last two seasons.In 2005, the Vikings compiled a record of 10-2 and outscored opponents by more than three to one, and their sole conference loss came by a single point to Gloucester. Winthrop won the Northeastern Conference, but the run at a state title fell short when it was ousted by Natick 41-32 in the semis.Last fall, the Vikings had a season for the ages. They scored 500 points, almost 400 more than they allowed (an average margin of victory of 40 points per game), and demolished each and every opponent on their way to a 25-8 Super Bowl victory against Wareham.This year, events went a little differently for Winthrop. After spending ten years under Tony Fucillo as the team’s defensive coordinator, Sean Driscoll stepped in as head coach and his team enters the annual Thanksgiving battle against Revere with a record of 6-4.”It’s been an up and down year,” Driscoll said. “We have one goal at Winthrop High School and that’s to win the league. Midway through, we had to restructure, and now our number one goal is to go 7-4″Unlike years previous, Winthrop struggled out of the gate. The Vikings began the season against this year’s NEC champion, Gloucester, and were defeated soundly 34-14, a game which said more about the power of the Fishermen rather than the weakness of Winthrop.The next week, the team lost again when a late field goal was pushed wide right and the Vikings consequently fell to Auburn by a score of 14-13.Following the two losses, the Vikings made the necessary adjustments and rattled off three consecutive wins, the most impressive being a 35-25 upset over Classical at Manning Field. Winthrop defeated English the subsequent week by a score of 32-18 and raised their record over .500 with a 3-0 victory over Salem on a lastminute field goal.”We beat a very good Classical squad, and it took us everything we had to get that field goal against Salem,” Driscoll said. “We were a couple points against Auburn away from beginning the season 4-1. We got off to a tough start. We had some injuries that bothered us, we turned the ball over and made some key penalties.”The Vikings slipped up midseason and lost two in a row versus a resurgent Saugus squad (14-7) and NEC Small League champion Swampscott by the score of 14-12. The team rebounded and is currently riding a dominant three game winning streak into the Thanksgiving matchup with Revere. Winthrop won against Danvers, Marblehead and Beverly by a cumulative score of 103-35.”We played one of our best games against Beverly,” Driscoll said. “Things really came together as the year went on, and these seniors have a chance to finish their high school careers with a record of 30-6.”Leading the offense is the one-two punch of running backs Chris Beranger and Joe McDermott. Beranger stockpiled four touchdowns against the Panthers to raise his season total to 11, while McDermott scored eight TDs and should cross the 1,000 yard rushing mark against the Patriots. According to Driscoll, he needs about another 45 yards to reach the milestone.Sophomore quarterback Will Milano has had a strong first year behind center with 698 passing yards and seven touchdowns.”He’s come a long way since game one,” Driscoll said. “He made some sophomore mistakes, but experience comes with time, and we’re happy with his performance.”The defense is led by senior captain Robert Hamilton (C/DT), defensive end Kahlid Ekaidat and middle linebacker Chris Carew. Driscoll is pleased with the improvement and overall performance of his defense.”After ten games, we’re averaging about 15 points against per game. That’s pretty good, especially since we got off to that slow start against Gloucester,” he said.Winthrop has been playing well over the last month and the defense has the potential to slow down an already quiet Revere offense. But, Driscoll remains wary and fearful of the Patriot running attack as well as their senior captain, quarterback Steve