GBL champs bring back holiday game after another brief hiatus

Crimson Tide football gets ready to host St. Mary’s of Lynn tonight on Thanksgiving Eve

By Joe McConnell

For decades, Chelsea was the Everett High School football team’s traditional Thanksgiving rival. But when that game ceased its competitiveness, the Crimson Tide has been scrambling to find an opponent ever since. They were able to pick up Cambridge to fill the void on the holiday for a while, and that relationship lasted 16 years until it ended in 2011. Everett then went four years without playing on Thanksgiving until beginning a series with Masconomet, which came to an end in 2019, and one of those games was actually played at Fenway Park.

The pandemic hit in 2020, and as a result there was no fall football season. When football resumed the sport’s traditional fall schedule in 2021, the Tide found a new willing Thanksgiving partner after St. John’s of Shrewsbury had just lost its longtime Thanksgiving rival, St. Peter-Marian. The search then began for the St. John’s hierarchy to replace St. Peter’s on the schedule. They made calls to Everett High’s athletic director Tammy Turner and former football coach Rob DiLoreto to let both of them know they would love to play the EMass powerhouse. Both parties soon came to an agreement to play the Thanksgiving game that year at Everett Stadium, where the home team went on to defeat St. John’s, 44-14.

Last year, Everett played its last football game on Nov. 11 in a Division 1 Elite 8 game against Central Catholic. The Lawrence parochial school was able to shut them out, 21-0. Once again, there was no Thanksgiving game. But it’s back this year, with St. Mary’s of Lynn providing the opposition after Austin Prep, its longtime Thanksgiving rival, decided to go the prep school route and play in the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) last year. The Spartans did play them one last time to end that campaign, and they ended up defeating the Cougars, 34-21.

In July, St. Mary’s athletic director Jeff Newhall announced that Everett will be the school’s Thanksgiving opponent this year. The game, however, will be played tonight (Nov. 22, Thanksgiving Eve) at Everett Stadium, beginning at 6 p.m.

First-year Everett football coach Justin Flores is now getting his team ready to play the game after it won another Greater Boston League (GBL) title with a 6-0 record. They are presently 8-2 overall.

The Tide’s lone losses were against Xaverian in the opener, 32-21, and Central Catholic in a Division 1 non-playoff game on Nov. 10, 38-21.

The Everett boys have had a lot to play for since being snubbed of a playoff berth under the MIAA’s (Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association) new experimental power rankings format, despite a 7-1 record at the time. To make their case, they had a better record than 11 of the 16 teams that made the postseason in Division 1. The Tide ended up being the 18^th seed.

Needless to say, Flores and his players were not happy with the MIAA power rankings committee’s decision. “I don’t agree with the final rankings as I and many others know we are one of the Top 16 teams in Division 1,” Flores said at the time, “and the players are taking it very hard. There’s a mixed bag of emotions, especially for the seniors who will never get a shot at the playoffs again.”

The Tide was still reeling from the playoff snub, when it took on Lowell in its first non-playoff game, but they eventually overcame the sluggish start to beat the visitors from Merrimack Valley, 16-9, which extended the team’s winning streak to eight.

After that close loss against Xaverian in the opener, the Tide then shutdown Somerville (59-0) and Lynn English (35-0) to begin the GBL schedule. They then edged Catholic Conference non-league foe BC High, 35-34, a team that made the playoffs as the eighth seed with a 5-3 record.

Flores’ team then smothered Revere (48-6), Medford (41-6), Malden (56-0) and Lynn Classical (43-12) to close out the GBL slate.

St. Mary’s is entering tonight’s game with a 6-4 overall record, and 4-2 in the Catholic Central League. The Spartans won their first two games of the season against KIPP Academy (22-20) and Winthrop (15-14). They were then shutout by Bishop Feehan, 30-0. Bishop Fenwick, another school that has issues with the MIAA this year, defeated them, 48-16 the following week. But they won their next four games in October against Bishop Stang (16-14), Arlington Catholic (45-8), Cardinal Spellman (12-0) and Archbishop Williams (40-28).

The Spartans made the postseason as the 11^th seed in Division 6, only to lose to Cardinal Spellman in a Sweet 16 game, 41-30. Spellman had the same 6-2 regular season record as the Lynn parochial school, but they were the sixth seed, despite getting pummeled by the Spartans in that aforementioned game.

St. Mary’s understands Everett’s frustrations with the state’s governing high school sports body. They made the postseason, albeit as a lower seed to a team that they shutout just two weeks prior to the playoff opener. They went on to lose their non-playoff game against Swampscott on Nov. 10, 35-14.

But controversies aside, both Everett and St. Mary’s know the Thanksgiving game is different than any other contest on the schedule. Flores is happy that his team is getting ready to play another game, but there’s no guarantee that St. Mary’s will be the opponent in future years.

“We are not looking for any long-term plan with St. Mary’s, as we are still exploring other (Thanksgiving) options with other teams,” said the Everett first-year coach, who officially took over the program in July, not giving him much time to get to know his team.

Flores respects the St. Mary’s football program, and is thrilled to have them as an opponent this year. “They are a great program that has proven they can win big games,” he said. “On offense, they like to run the ball, but will take their shots downfield when needed. On defense, they will employ three-down linemen and one-high look. They like to fill the box with defenders, and blitz their linebackers in order to stop the run.”

As far as his team is concerned, he likes their resiliency. “It has been an up and down season of emotions, but we have been a resilient team all year long,” explained Flores. “I expect no less from this group coming off a loss (to Central Catholic). Things could have gone better this year in some of our bigger games, but I’m still happy with the (positive) direction the program is taking during the last three months.”

Everett captain Aidan Duclos will be missing his third straight game with an injury, but everybody else is healthy and ready to beat St. Mary’s of Lynn tonight, Nov. 22.

Flores has had a steady stream of standouts this year, including Damien Lackland, who has played at a high level as the team’s star go-to running back, according to the Everett coach. “The offensive line has also been great this fall, picking up both the run and pass schemes very well in every game. And Dom Papa, Christian Zamor and Jayden Prophete have been tremendous two-way players for us all year long, making plays on both sides of the ball in critical situations,” added Flores. “Shane MacKenzie has been a standout on the defensive line, as he has been dominant in the run game, as well as leading the team in sacks.”

The Everett offensive starting lineup for tonight’s game against St. Mary’s of Lynn is as follows: quarterback Carlos Rodrigues, running back Damien Lackland, tight end Dominic Papa, wide receivers Jayden Prophete, Christian Zamor and Jaysaun Coggins and linemen Seajae Gaskill, Fabrice Michaud, Carlos Cornejo, Chris Ruiz and Marvin Desruisseaux.

On defense, there’s Shane MacKenzie, Jason Stark and Matt LaMonica up front as linemen. Pedro Rodrigues, Kevin Diaz, Papa and Zamor are the linebackers. Jeremiah Jeanlouis and Donald Michel will start at cornerback, with Joao Barreiros and Prophete rounding out the defensive backfield at the safety positions.

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