LYNN– A lot has to go right in order for a team to end its season with a championship. Without teamwork, however, banner years rarely take place.
Such is the case with the Lynn Tech football team’s 2017 season, which was capped off on Thursday night with a 50-22 win over Nashoba Valley in the Massachusetts Vocational Athletic Directors Association small championship game.
What most know by now is that the team’s dangerous running back combination of Steffan Gravely, who’s fourth on the Massachusetts all-time yardage list with 5,903 yards, and Keoni Gaskin, who scored three touchdowns Thursday night, carried the team for the majority of the season.
Beyond Tech’s running game, the Tigers mastered the arts of teamwork and camaraderie. Those two aspects, coach James Runner said, were as crucial as any to the team’s success this fall.
“Chemistry was the No. 1 one thing about our football team,” Runner, who took the helm of the program in 2010, said. “The seniors really came together with the underclassmen. We have a lot of younger kids who came from successful Pop Warner teams. I have about five or six players now who’s older siblings have played in our program. It’s good to see the kids have the pedigree already installed in them. It’s great that they know how we work. It’s not just about blowing a whistle, you have to build these kids up.”
The key to mastering the art of camaraderie was team bonding. Tech hosted a handful of clinics for Lynn Pop Warner players throughout the season, during which Runner took a step back and allowed his players to do the coaching.
“We did four weeks of training for the Pop Warner teams and that helped our kids bond together,” Runner said. “We tried to give back to the community. We had roughly 400 kids at the youth clinics we had at Tech. The kids ran the drills and that was a good way to come into the season. It was really important for me to have these kids gel and see them have fun. There were plenty of ways for our kids to blend.”
Teamwork was also a key element to the Tigers’ coaching staff. Runner noted that being on the same page with his coaches for halftime adjustments was something Tech relied on all season. Tech’s coaching staff includes assistants Jason McCuish, Alan Bercy, Michael Stellato, Bryan McCaskill, Maurice Cordy, Rob Smith, Sean Brady and Kennedy Gomes along with Runner at the helm.
“My coaching staff’s loaded with a bunch of great people,” Runner said. “Coach Brady’s a Tech alum and he was a member of every vocational championship we’ve won. Coach McCuish’s my defensive coordinator and he’s a teacher and a leader at Tech. Coach Bercy, my offensive coordinator, and Coach McCuish are my left and my right hand. I wouldn’t be where I’m at without my coaches.”
Runner also developed a close relationship with assistant Stellato. A Lynnfield resident, Stellato coached St. Mary’s to a Super Bowl championship in 2005 before stints at Danvers and Chelsea. While with the Red Devils, Runner and Stellato coached against each other.
“Coach Stellato will most likely be a hall of famer,” Runner said. “I ran into him at the Liberty Tree Mall when I was 19 years old. I told him I wanted to coach football and he brought me in as a defensive line coach at St. Mary’s. Four years later we won a Super Bowl. He’s always been a mentor to me.”
Runner didn’t leave out the loyal Tigers fans as part of the team. Many of them made the trip to Nashoba Valley in Westford on Thursday night to support Tech and cheer on the team from the bleachers.
“Some of the kids didn’t think people would make the trip,” Runner said. “I told them I didn’t think there’d be a problem. Once the game started and they saw their fans, they couldn’t believe it. It was great to see people believe in what we were doing. Win or lose, I knew we’d make Lynn proud.”