Al Costabile and Bob Almeida first met greater than 1 / 4 century in the past as they took a few of their gamers to John Papas’ annual soccer camp.
Friday night time, these shut associates may obtain a big teaching milestone.
Costabile takes his undefeated Shawsheen into Andover to face Greater Lawrence in hopes of changing into the fifty fifth coach in state historical past to win 200 video games. Almeida shall be searching for his 2 hundredth profession victory as his Stoneham Spartans hit the street to face Wakefield.
“Thank God we are not playing each other,” Costabile stated together with his trademark chortle. “It really is pretty ironic when you really look at it. Bob is a very dear friend and I am very proud to say that. We have known each other a long time and had a lot of good times together. I have the utmost respect for Bob as a coach and as a person.”
While the 2 have hardly ever met on the sector, they have been rivals of types away from the gridiron. Almeida coached at Wilmington from 1996 to 2007 and lots of the youngsters in the neighborhood went to the native highschool or opted for Shawsheen. Despite shedding some youngsters to Costabile over the course of 20 years, it by no means as soon as prompted a rift between the 2.
“Everyone loves Al, he’s one of those guys who always makes you feel good when you’re around him,” Almeida stated. “When the 2 of us have been drawing youngsters from the identical space, I might all the time inform him when he bought a Wilmington child that it should have been his Mediterranean attraction.
“I can truly say that Al is a dear friend, a loyal guy and one heck of a football coach. He’s just such a selfless person, it’s never about him. When they win, it’s always about the players and his assistant coaches and when they lose, he always seems to find a bright light.”
The two coaches met in a memorable playoff recreation in 2017. The groups went forwards and backwards earlier than Stoneham prevailed within the ultimate minute, 44-39. Almeida laughed when he reminisced in regards to the contest.
“Shawsheen had a good team and it was a hard-fought game,” Almeida stated. “The game was a little chippy and I felt like the officials were picking on us. After one call, I yelled at one of them, ‘just because Al is a nice guy, that doesn’t mean they aren’t committing penalties.’ ”
While each coaches will finally get to 200 wins, whether or not it’s Friday or within the not-too-distant future, you’ll be able to guess that the milestone gained’t be the very first thing they’re interested by heading into their respective video games in opposition to league opponents.
“It’s not going to be easy for us, our schedule the next few weeks isn’t easy,” Almeida stated. “Wakefield is a good team, Melrose is always tough and Watertown is 3-0 as well.”
Costabile is concentrated on a Greater Lawrence group that performed its best recreation of the 12 months in shedding to Salem final week.
“The big number for me to get to this week is four,” Costabile stated. “As I tell everyone, I might have a lot of wins, but I’ve never made a tackle or scored a touchdown in those games. I get the credit for it, but it’s really about the kids I’ve coached through the years.”
Quick hits
League play begins up in earnest this night and one thing goes to have to present in Marblehead, the place the Magicians put their state-best 23-game successful streak on the road in opposition to a Peabody squad undefeated in its final 9.
Andover is off to a quick begin, however will face its hardest opponent so far in Central Catholic. Over within the Bay State Conference, unbeatens Walpole and Milton sq. off.
Other massive league encounters embody Franklin at North Attleboro, Taunton at King Philip, Plymouth South at Hanover, Scituate at Pembroke and Bishop Fenwick at St. Mary’s. On the nonleague docket, Catholic Memorial seeks to increase its successful streak to twenty in opposition to Bishop Hendricken, whereas Brighton visits West Bridgewater.
The ISL takes heart stage on Saturday with a quartet of fine matchups, the most important one being Lawrence Academy at Milton Academy. Brooks travels to Governor’s Academy, Noble & Greenough hosts close by rival St. Sebastian’s, whereas BB&N seems to be to get again on the successful observe in opposition to Thayer Academy. In the Commonwealth Athletic Conference, undefeated Lowell Catholic heads to Manning Field to face KIPP.
Source: www.bostonherald.com