ME Hornet quarterback Brennan Twombly steps back to pass against the opposing Shawsheen defense during Friday night’s joust at Shawsheen.
After hitting some turbulence, the last couple of weeks, the Manchester Essex football team has the opportunity this weekend to get back on track with an eye on the postseason.
Manchester Essex started the season with a very promising four wins in a row, but have dropped its last two since that time, falling to KIPP Academy Lynn Charter School two weeks ago and Shawsheen Valley Technical High School by a score of 44-14 on October 14.
That being said, the Hornets have a good chance at staying in the hunt for a postseason berth with a win this weekend over Lowell Catholic on the road (Saturday, October 22 at 7 p.m. at Tyngsboro High School). A win should help the team stay in the top 16 of the MIAA state power rankings for Division 8, a crucial element for qualifying for postseason play and higher seeding.
“This is a good Division 8 matchup,” explains Manchester Essex football coach Josiah Grimes. “You can end up on either side of the bracket depending on who wins this one, there are definite playoff implications here.”
Winning this game will be no easy task: Lowell Catholic is 6-0 and firing on all cylinders to this point of the season, but they offer more of a peer-like challenge than the Hornets having to face larger schools as they have the last two games.
“We know enough about them being in our league,” says Grimes. “They’re a high-quality football team, a smaller school than Shawsheen. It’s much more an our-size school – we both will be taking one bus for this game. They’re playing well, we’re a bit on the downswing, so it will be a real battle with them.”
Why have the Hornets struggled in the last couple of games? Some of the blame can be given to the myriad injuries and the relative lack of depth a school like Manchester Essex possesses against a larger school like Shawsheen, and some of it was simply making mistakes that the opposition was able to take advantage of.
“We have been battling injuries throughout the year for sure,” explains Grimes. “But we don’t like to make excuses about it. With a small school like us, we’re always playing that puzzle game with the roster because of our depth. It was more that we made mistakes against good teams, and they were able to capitalize on them.”
The good news? The team is getting healthier by the week with only a couple of key players currently out due to injury, while for those who are playing those mistakes can be corrected for the future.
“It’s all fixable, that’s the beauty of coaching,” says Grimes.
It also doesn’t hurt that there isn’t all that much to fix in the first place – Manchester Essex began the season with wins over Ipswich, Whittier, Greater Lowell and Essex Tech. The closest score of any of those four wins was a 34-7 win over Greater Lowell on Sept. 23, while the 41-7 Essex Tech win was an example of the type of damage this team can do when at full health and firing on all cylinders.
“We had a high level of execution in that game, which was really great,” says Grimes. “It showed us what we are capable of when we have everyone.”
The Hornets have leaned on their offense to find success in 2022, starting with star quarterback Brennan Twombly.
“He’s our fearless leader on the offensive side of the ball,” explains Grimes. “He’s been playing well and playing tough. Some of those guys who were out were at running back and he had to pick up the load. He’s a great runner and thrower – we try to limit the running to keep him healthy – but that really set the tone.”
Also of note on an offense that boasts a lot of senior experience is Ben Hurd, the Hornets’ leader on the offensive line.
“He’s having a phenomenal season,” says Grimes. “He sets the tone for the big dudes up front, just one of those guys who never quits. He’s the kind of player who must be a problem for other coaches to plan around.”
On defense, junior Preston Potter has stepped into a key role in the backfield.
“He’s been a big help on the defensive side of the ball after playing mostly jayvee last year,” says Grimes. “He’s one of those guys who bubbled up to a starting role around midseason.”
After this weekend’s tilt with Lowell Catholic, the Hornets (4-2) will host Lynn Tech on October 28 to close out the regular season.
