Midseason Eastern Massachusetts Football Thoughts
Billerica's Nick LaSpada is still putting up great numbers despite Billerica's struggles.
Posted on October 20th 2010
The football season is halfway through for most teams in Massachusetts and it is time to look at some of the highlights and thoughts from the year to date.
- The Merrimack Valley Conference and Dual County Leagues are up for grabs with Chelmsford and Methuen having the leads in the MVC Large and Small respectively and Acton-Boxboro and Weston leading the way in the DCL Large and Smalls. Key contests are on the horizon as Dracut travels to Chelmsford tonight in a big MVC tilt and Concord-Carlisle travels to Weston next Friday in a DCL small match up that could set the stage for the playoff representative out of the DCL small. New England Prep Stars will be covering both games. Make sure to check our twitter account @newenglandpreps for all your game day updates.
- Everett has a big game this Friday against BC High. After there victory over Xaverian to take over the top spot in Eastern Massachusetts could the Crimson be primed for a trap game? Junior running back Preston Cooper and the Eagles will be ready to go.
- After dropping their first game of the year 13-7 to Plymouth North the Methuen Rangers have run off four in a row and show no signs of stopping. Their impressive wins over Billerica and Chelmsford show why quarterback Cal Carroll could be the MVP of this league. In a league so loaded at quarterback with returning Massachusetts Gatorade player of the year Nick LaSpada (Billerica), Matt Silva (Dracut), and RJ Noel (Lowell), Carroll may be the best leader among them. There next four games look very manageable and it is shaping up for a classic Turkey Day game against Dracut to see who goes to the playoffs from the MVC Small.
- Billerica and Westford Academy have to be our picks for biggest surprises this season in terms of underachieving. Both teams were expected to compete for Super Bowls returning quarterbacks LaSpada and Pat Dugan respectively. That is the beauty of the new playoff alignment where the teams are not out of it yet but need to both start picking it up defensively to make a run at the playoffs this year.
- Injuries are an unfortunate reality with every football season. No team has been hurt more than Tewksbury as they lost senior quarterback Sean Connolly to a leg injury a few weeks back. While backup Kevin Saunders has played well the loss of Connolly hurts on both sides of the ball as he also was a team leader in the defensive backfield.
- Our mid-season Offensive MVP right now if the season were to end would go to Everett junior quarterback Jonathan Dibiaso (pictured below top left), who has led Everett to a perfect record and is shattering the Crimson record books through the air. The coaches son is the most improved player in the state and is hooking up with his favorite target in senior wide receiver Matt Costello on a regular basis.
- Our mid-season Defensive MVP is Chelmsford's junior middle linebacker Tim Joy (below bottom left). Joy is the rock of the Lions defense and is a junior captain for the MVC Large leaders. Joy, who is a legitimate high Division 1 talent, has been flying all over the field leading one of the state's best defenses.
- Our mid-season breakout player is Concord-Carlisle junior running back George Craan. Craan, who took over as the primary ball carrier when star running back Jaron Hargrove graduated, is having a monster year with three games over 200 yards rushing and an area leader in rushing yards and scoring. Craan possesses the quickness and vision that makes the great ones GREAT. Look for big things in the second half for Craan and the Concord-Carlisle's offense.
