Burlington’s opening night win over Bedford was memorable due in large part to Jake Doherty’s 425-yard rushing effort. The win over perennial Middlesex League contender Woburn a week later officially stamped the Red Devils as a team to keep an eye on.
Burlington (2-0) can take an even bigger step toward respectability tonight when it visits Stoneham in a Middlesex Freedom battle. Second-year Red Devils coach Dan MacKay, whose team has already doubled its win total of a year ago, can feel the excitement building in practices.
“Our kids are really excited, you can feel it growing,” MacKay said. “We need to make sure it doesn’t peak totally until game time.”
Stoneham coach Bob Almeida isn’t totally stunned by Burlington’s emergence.
“We had heard good things in the preseason about Burlington and how much improved they were,” Almeida said. “They had some good players coming back and they’re playing very well right now.”
After opening the season with a 40-13 victory over Archbishop Williams, the Spartans stepped up and handled Arlington, 34-21, in a Middlesex League crossover tilt last week behind terrific efforts from Christos Argyropoulos and Deshawn Chase.
“They are a tough team to defend because of the double-wing they run,” MacKay said. “Not many teams run it and it’s an offense that’s very tough to simulate in practice. We are going to have to be able to match them physically up front.”
While Doherty garnered much of the early headlines, Almeida is quick to caution that Burlington is far from a one-man team. Khyle Pena is a very capable quarterback, Ryan O’Halloran has emerged into a go-to receiver and the line returned virtually intact from a year ago.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to play another 2-0 team,” Almeida said. “One thing we can’t afford to do is turn (over) the ball. We turned it over three times last week and can’t do that against Burlington.”
Elsewhere on the 79-game slate for tonight, the Patriot League Keenan opens up league play with a pair of excellent tilts. Hingham hosts Whitman-Hanson, while highly regarded Duxbury travels to Plymouth North.
North Andover faces its biggest test of the young season when it hosts longtime Merrimack Valley Conference power Central Catholic in a crossover tilt. Another MVC team, Tewksbury, heads to Boston to face BC High, while Catholic Memorial will play St. Mary’s at Manning Field.
The ISL opens league play tomorrow and there are two huge games on the docket. Defending ISL-7 champion Lawrence Academy puts its nine-game winning streak on the line when it travels to BB&N, while Milton Academy hosts a dangerous St. Sebastian’s squad.
The marquee nonleague matchup pits No. 1 Everett against No. 5 St. John’s Prep. The game has been moved up to 1:30 as there is no Homecoming Day party in Everett.
No. 4 Xaverian takes on New York power Archbishop Stepinac, while Needham visits Newton North in a Bay State Conference battle of unbeatens.
