Two teams square off tomorrow night in Div. 2A North playoffs at DHS
SENIOR Carmen Sorrentino (#2) runs with the ball as teammates Joe Marinaccio (#8) and PJ Iannuzzi (#40) throw blocks for him. Also in the photo are Joe Connell (#79) and Alex McKenna (#7). The Warriors will be seeking a top effort when they take on Danvers in a Div. 2A North quarterfinal game tomorrow night. (Donna Larsson Photo)
Published in the October 27, 2016 edition.
By JIM SOUTHMAYD
DANVERS — There really isn’t a Wakefield-Danvers rivalry in football since the two teams typically don’t face each other. However there is a big football connection between the two communities.
The Warriors and Falcons meet tomorrow night at 7 p.m. in a Div. 2A North quarterfinal contest at Danvers High School.
Danvers (6-1) is ranked third in the eight team playoff while Wakefield (4-3) is seeded sixth.
The players might not have faced each other on the gridiron but there is familiarity among the two coaching staffs. Danvers head coach Shawn Theriault is a former Warrior and is a teacher at the Galvin Middle School. Theriault is also helped by his father, Al, who is member of the Falcons’ staff.
Warrior head coach Steve Cummings also knows offensive coordinator Bruce Rich, the former Chelmsford High head coach and Ryan Nolan, the associate head coach and defensive coordinator.
Two of Wakefield coaches, assistants Chris Tolios and Doug Gallant, have coached in the Danvers system before coming over to Wakefield.
“I know Shawn Theriault. He has done a great job with them,” said Cummings. “I know Bruce Rich who coached at Chelmsford and Coach Nolan on his coaching staff. Chris Tolios knows many of the Danvers seniors. They were freshmen when he was there. He came from Danvers and so did Coach Gallant. I know Shawn and his father, Al. It will be an interesting experience.”
Prior to taking over the Falcons program in 2014, Coach Shawn Theriault served as defensive coordinator for Andover High School for four seasons, boasting a 31-15 record and Merrimack Valley Large Conference titles in 2010 and 2012.
Theriault grew up in Wakefield and was a member of the WMHS Super Bowl team in 1997. Theriault went on to play running back for the UMass-Dartmouth Corsairs and in 2003 graduated as their all-time leading rusher.
Prior to his stint at Andover, Theriault coached at Endicott College, Framingham State and Westford Academy. Theriault lives in his hometown of Wakefield as well.
The Falcons’ lone loss was to Northeast Conference North champion Marblehead and that was by a 30-23 score. Danvers also defeated Winthrop (27-7), Lynnfield (30-14), Lynn Classical (26-0), Lynn English (26-0), Beverly (35-28) and Peabody (22-7).
Wakefield also faced Beverly and Marblehead and lost to those teams by 24-0 and 34-13 scores. That was at the beginning of the year and the Warriors have gone 4-1 since that time. That lone loss over the past five games was last week to Winchester by a 35-7 score which cost the Warriors a chance of being a higher seeded team and possibly even having a first round playoff game at Landrigan Field.
“They are one of the better teams and you’re going to have to face those teams eventually anyway,” said Cummings. “We were hoping to be a three or four seed and get a home playoff game. But we got only ourselves to blame for not taking advantage of the opportunity. Now we need to regroup and hope to have one of our better showings. It’s the playoffs, so it’s do or die.”
When looking at the common opponents, Danvers was right in the game against Marblehead.
“They lost to Marblehead in Week 3. They had a four minute spurt where they had a punt blocked and took a safety,” said Cummings. “That turned the game around.”
The Falcons are also no stranger in the postseason having played in the Div. 3 state semifinals and coming up short against Super Bowl finalist Melrose, 24-7, a year ago.
“We scrimmaged them when I was the freshman coach but they run a whole different system now,” said Cummings. “We haven’t seen them in person and until you face them, you don’t realize how big and fast they are. I think there will be feeling out process in the first quarter.”
Danvers is led by senior RB Matt Andreas, who is the North Shore’s leading rusher with 1,051 yards and nine TDs through seven games.
“Matt Andreas is a very good runner and it will be a big challenge to stop him,” said Cummings. “Like Melrose, what Danvers run is simplistic. But what they do, they do very well. They run a lot of double tight end, I-formation sets and do some motion. You may know what’s coming but stopping them is another thing.
“Andreas is an outstanding back. Their quarterback (Dean Borders) is a threat to run the ball. They also have an excellent receiver, number 89, (Kieran) Moriarty,” continued Cummings. “We are going to have to play four good quarters to win.”
The Warriors can look at how each team fared against common opponents. Cummings also said that many of the players took part in the 7-on-7 Under Armour tournament this past summer. Still the head coach feels that it is difficult to measure from common opponents since teams match up differently. Also the tourney over the summer isn’t quite the same, either.
Right now Cummings is focused on getting the Warriors ready to play after last week’s debacle in Winchester.
“We need to focus on playing four good quarters. We need to be physically and mentally ready to play,” said Cummings. “We learned that we can’t win games by just showing up. When we get off the bus on Friday, we need to be ready to play our best for two and half hours. We fell short of that last week. It was raining but we didn’t take care of the football and that happens when you are not dialed in mentally.
“What happened last week with the lightning and the suspended game was a unique situation and it happened to other teams around the state,” added Cummings. “We faced an uphill battle but I wanted to go back and see a better effort and be able to carry over that momentum into the playoffs. Now, we want to put to together a good week of practice to ready for Friday’s game.”
The winner of the Wakefield-Danvers game will take on the winner of the Bedford-North Reading contest next week in a Div. 2A North semifinal game at the field of the higher seeded team.
