The seeds for success in Winchester were sown a year ago.
It was there where football members of the Class of 2019 set the tone for future classes with their work ethic. A 27-21 victory over Woburn on Thanksgiving capped off a 6-5 season and sent the Sachems into the offseason eager push the envelope.
They’ve succeeded.
A hard-fought 19-7 win over Belmont Friday night gave Winchester a 4-0 record, the best start to a season in nearly two decades. In typical coach speak, head coach Wally Dembowski is thrilled with the start but cautioned his troops that there is more to be done.
“The kids are playing hard and we’re happy about that,” Dembowski said. “But, as we told them during film session, we need to work on the mistakes we’re still making. We’re going to be facing pretty good teams and our techniques and things like that have to be better.”
The hard work portion is something that does not surprise Dembowski in the least bit. He points with pride to the blueprint established by last year’s group of seniors.
“They are responsible for setting the attitude that we have now,” Dembowski said. “They worked hard to get ready for the season and we had some success. Add in the fact that many of these kids have success playing lacrosse and hockey and it creates a lot of competition.”
One area of concern entering the season was the fact the offensive line was going to be untested. The foursome of Graham Ryer, Adam Bischoff, Jake Errico and Grigory Dushkin have meshed with incumbent Brendan Gill and provided quality play.
They made life easier for quarterback Tommy Degnan, who runs the show once again. As effective as Degnan is on offense, Dembowski is adamant that he’s even more of a force on defense.
“Tommy is as good a middle linebacker as there is in the state,” he said. “He’s a quiet kid by nature, but he’s such a physical presence out there. He runs from sideline to sideline making plays.”
Something many of the undefeated Sachems are doing often these days.
Brotherly love
It isn’t often when you get two brothers on the scoring sheet. Mystic Valley managed to put three of them on there last week in a 37-0 win over Holbrook/Avon. Junior Brian St. Vil, sophomore Shanley St. Vil and eighth grader Jonathan St. Vil also scored touchdowns in the victory.
“Our old school single wing offense gives these brothers an opportunity to play some hard nose football and this week it gave them all a chance to find a the end zone,” said Mystic Valley head coach Danny Kelly. “All three of them are such hard workers it was great to see it finally pay off.”
Rockland coach Nick Liquori wanted to nominate his entire defense for Star of the Week and with good reason. His unit limited Middleboro’s Isaiah Cobbs (who had rushed for 654 yards and nine touchdowns in the last two weeks) to just 39 yards on 12 carries in a 42-13 victory to extend their winning streak to a state-best 11 games.
As for the Rockland offense, Dante Vasquez was immense once again. The All-Scholastic rushed for 158 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries.
Two teams put an end to long losing streaks. Gardner snapped a 24-game losing streak with a 42-0 win over David Prouty, while St. George’s ended a 13-game drought by doubling up on Rivers, 28-14.
Sweet 16
1. Catholic Memorial (5-0) – Knights shook off a slow start to overpower Xaverian at the Hawk Bowl.
2. St. John’s Prep (5-0) – Now the fun begins as No. 1 Catholic Memorial is next on the docket.
3. Mansfield (3-1) – Hornets step up to defeat their biggest Hockomock Kelley-Rex adversary King Philip.
4. Natick (5-0) – Redhawks hang on by a thread to beat BSC Carey foe Wellesley in a battle of unbeatens.
5. Central Catholic (3-1) – Quality depth paying dividends here as banged-up Raiders turned in a terrific all-around effort to dismantle rival Andover.
6. Everett (4-1) – After a tough non-conference slate, the Crimson Tide return to the GBL and had little trouble with Medford.
7. Holliston (4-0) – Panthers running through the TVL Large with relative ease so far.
8. King Philip (3-1) – Losing the game was bad enough. Losing star running back Ryan Halliday to a thumb injury might have been even worse.
9. Melrose (4-0) – Red Raiders survive a spirited challenge from Stoneham to stay atop the Middlesex Freedom.
10. Marblehead (4-0) – When you start compiling a list of the premier workhorse backs in the area, you had better add Tim Cronin to it.
11. Methuen (4-0) – Backup quarterback Joe Gangi came to the rescue to keep the Rangers undefeated.
12. Tewksbury (3-1) – Back-to-back solid efforts stamp the Redmen as a contender in the MVC Small as well as Div. 3 North once again.
13. Revere (4-0) – Patriots are making their last sojourn around the Northeastern Conference a most memorable one.
14. Canton (4-0) – Owen Lehane took care of business with his feet and his hands to keep the Bulldogs perfect.
15. Danvers (4-0) – Falcons have mastered the art of winning 14-13 games.
16. New Bedford (4-0) – Locals have been insisting the Whalers belong here. Beating Barnstable made a believer out of me.