Dorchester Bears Dominate Rematch with Madison Park Cardinals, 22-0

Written and Photographed by Nate Weitzer

The last time the Madison Park Cardinals faced the Dorchester Bears on a football field, Dorchester squeaked out a 16-14 victory in an instant classic at White Stadium. The unofficial City Championship pitted the winners of the North and South divisions against each other, two equally matched rivals who both ended up losing in their respective Super Bowl match ups (Cathedral defeated Madison Park in the 4a Super Bowl while Dorchester lost to Upper Cape in the Divison 5 Super Bowl).

However when the Cardinals hosted Dorchester on Friday, September 13th, there was nothing equal about the contest. The Bears dominated from the opening kickoff as they scored touchdowns on their first two drives and held the Cardinals to minus-11 yards in the entire first half. 

Madison Park seems to be a team in rebuilding mode. The Cardinals only returned three starters this year, and they have a total of nine upperclassmen on the 2013 roster. Conversely, Dorchester has 20 upperclassmen on the roster, including last year's Defensive Player of the Year in Leon Sealy. Head Coach Rich Moran implemented a game-plan that was designed to stop the run, and Sealy spearheaded the execution of that plan.

Leon Sealy (#9) disrupts a running play in the backfield for a loss of five yards

“We have a lot of seniors coming back,’’ Moran told the Boston Globe. “Last year, believe it or not, we were young so we played a lot of juniors, and they are all back [this year]. So when we went into camp, the kids were ready to go. They knew we could input a lot of information and things like that, so things just clicked right away.”

Johnny Mims walks in for a two-point conversion on the Bears' first drive

Junior running back Johnny Mims, a transfer from Cambridge Rindge & Latin, made a splash in his debut for the Bears. The newcomer ran for 107 yards and a touchdown on eight carries in the first half alone. He also tacked on a two-point conversion on the Bears first drive. Seniors Demetrius Leary and Trevaughn McCoy (7 rushes for 52 yards) ran for scores as well.

Travaughn McCoy (#22) runs left on a toss play in the second quarter

 At 22-0, the game was essentially over by halftime, and then in the second half, the skies opened up.

The beautiful view of Boston's skyline was obscured as Madison Park's field was enveloped in heavy rain, but the game went on. The Cardinals seemed to benefit from the adverse conditions, as they managed to earn two first downs for the first time all afternoon. Senior running back Orryan Brown ran for 26 yards in the second half, and Madison Park managed to keep the Bears out of the end zone by managing the game through field positioning.

After numerous turnovers, penalties, and some minor injuries the game, and the rain, desisted nearly simultaneously. Both teams clearly have a lot of things to work on early in the season, but the Bears seem to be the only squad of the two that is capable of repeating last year's results.

 

Patriots Barely Squeak by the Buffalo Bills: Some Takeaways

Written by: Joe Difazio

The Patriots barely made it past the Bills 23-21 thanks to a late 4th quarter field goal by Stephen Gostowski. Buffalo’s rookie quarterback E.J. Manuel - who was 18 for 27 with 2 touchdowns - looked fantastic in his NFL debut. The Patriots, despite winning, were much shakier in the season opener. Here are some things to think about before the Patriots take on the Jets Thursday night:

1. The Patriots miss Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski
While the Patriots certainly don’t miss the antics of Gronkowski or the criminal record of Hernandez, there is a lack of skill at the tight end position. Tight ends Michael Hoomanawanui and Zach Sudfeld were targeted only 3 times. Hoomanawanui finished with only 1 catch for 5 yards. Rookie Sudfeld also caused an interception by slipping on a route and only getting a hand on the ball, tipping it to Bills’ cornerback Justin Rogers. The Patriots also occasionally used an offensive lineman for blocking on the edge, perhaps signaling that the TEs can’t hold their own at the line.

2. The receivers were up and down
Danny Amendola hung tough despite aggravating a groin injury, logging an impressive 10 catches for 104 yards. We’ll want to keep an eye on that injury this week. Julian Edelman was also fantastic with 7 catches for 79 yards and 2 TDs. The rookies looked… not so good. Kenbrell Thompkins had 4 grabs but generally looked lost and Josh Boyce was a non-factor.

3. Who is going to step up at running back?
Shane Vereen ran for a career-high 101 yards and had 7 catches for 58 yards, but unfortunately he will miss a few weeks as he needs surgery to repair a broken bone in his wrist. Vereen shouldered the majority of carries because starter Stevan Ridley was riding the pine after a fumble in the 2nd quarter and a near fumble in the 1st. LeGarrette Blount didn’t make much of a splash averaging 2.1 yards on 7 attempts.

4. Not all bad, the beat goes on for New England
While there was a lot of ugly to look at, in Bill and Brady we trust. Tom Brady looked good in the season opener going 29 for 52 with 2 TDs and an interception. The defense wasn’t too shabby allowing only 14 point and 286 yards. And finally, the offensive line was phenomenal especially giving Brady lots of time down around the goal line.

New Statewide Playoff Format for High School Football

Article by: Robert Zeitz, Photo by: Nathaniel Weitzer
School has started again, and high school football resumes this weekend. East Boston will face Latin Academy Friday evening, and Brighton will be in action against Minuteman. Next week the rest of the City League as well as teams across Massachusetts will start their seasons.

The start of the season remains familiar, however the season will end very differently.

Last year the winners of City League North and City League South (Madison Park and Dorchester) each went to the playoffs. MP lost in triple OT in the Division 4A title game. Dorchester lost to Upper Cape in the D5 Super Bowl.

This year there's a new playoff format. More teams will qualify (160 total across the state), and there will be fewer State Championship games (only 6, compared to 19 last year). The playoff format is more like tournaments for other sports. And instead of regional state champions, the champions from different regions will meet in the final rounds of the playoff. All State Championship games will be played at Gillette Stadium.

Because of this larger playoff format, the regular season will end by October 27th. That's right, just 7 weeks from now.

Teams that don't qualify for the playoffs or get eliminated will still play games. There just won't be anything on the line.

This has me somewhat concerned as I think about City League football. Participation (or lack of it), especially in football, has been an issue for City League teams. With this new system, I can imagine City League teams losing players once the regular season is over. Teams once playing for playoff success will have to adjust to playing for wins to add to their total. With such a drop in motivation, how could there not also be a drop in participation?

I also worry that some kids will sign up to play, figuring that October 27th will be the end of their season. So instead of making the commitment to play out the full fall season, they'll only play slightly more than half of it.

Maybe the City League could do something to give teams something to play for after the regular season. Last year MP and Dorchester happened to play each other in what became an unofficial City Championship between North and South winners. Maybe the week after Thanksgiving the City League could stage a similar game. That would give an extra incentive for teams to play hard for their full schedule, and it would be a fun game to look forward to every season. And at least one City League team would end the season in celebration, every year.

There are City Champions in all the other sports. Maybe with this new scheduling system the City League can now have a football championship.

As far as the new state playoff format goes, time will tell. I do like the possibility of more City League teams being able to qualify for playoff football. And the expanded playoff format as a whole seems like a good idea. I'm still concerned about what has to be done in order to make it happen. And I'm worried that there will be a significant drop in players after Halloween.

We'll see.