Xaverian coach Al Fornaro has seen sufficient of King Philip on movie to know his second-ranked Hawks could have a battle on their palms tonight.
“They don’t make any mental mistakes, they are always well-coached and they’re tough,” Fornaro stated. “They are a hard-nosed team, they are a downhill running team. They have a couple of big linemen and the others aren’t exactly small. They are very active defensively in all their schemes.”
King Philip’s protection has definitely been spectacular within the early going, shutting out each BC High (35-0) and Needham (42-0). King Philip head coach Brian Lee says there’s actually no deep secret for his or her early success.
“We’ve been able to get out fast — we jumped out ahead of Needham 14-0 right away — and that makes other teams tend to go away from what they like to do,” Lee stated. “Our coaches have done a great job of getting the kids prepared and they’ve done a great job of following the game plan.”
Xaverian opened the season by defeating Everett 49-19 on the highway, then dealt with Bridgewater-Raynham final week 35-0. While Fornaro knew he had some good linemen at his disposal, their play as a unit happy him together with the operating of Michael Oates.
“We did have some early concerns with the offensive line, but they’ve gotten better,” Fornaro stated. “Michael Oates has really come on for us, he’s playing with a chip on his shoulder. He’s running with rage, but it’s under control.”
Lee is aware of his group goes to be challenged, however King Philip is a program that has yearly prided itself on going in opposition to the iron and greater than holding its personal. Even in final 12 months’s Super Bowl loss to an impressive Catholic Memorial group, the Warriors hung robust for the higher a part of three quarters.
“Playing Xaverian gives you a chance to see where you are as a team, they’re awfully tough,” Lee stated. “For us to have a chance, we’re going to have to be able to stand up to them physically.”
In different key contests, Marblehead places its state-best 22-game successful streak on the road when it travels to North Andover. A pair of Sweet 16 groups meet up when Duxbury heads to Franklin, whereas Holliston is at Milton. An early Catholic Central League battle pits Bishop Feehan at St. Mary’s.
The Independent School League opens on Saturday they usually wasted little time in having a marquee matchup. BB&N travels to defending champion Milton Academy in a battle of two of the premier packages within the league. Another good ISL matchup pits Governor’s Academy at St. Sebastian’s. On the MIAA entrance, Central Catholic travels to St. John’s (Shrewsbury) and Weymouth visits Hingham.
Source: www.bostonherald.com