PAGE CENTRAL MASS. HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS MAGAZINE WWW.TELEGRAM.COM/HOMETEAM 24 DIVISION 2B Quarterback Mike Grasis, left, and running back Zach Grasis are out to prove David Prouty’s 13-0 season last year was no fluke. Double trouble PAUL KAPTEYN With Mike Grasis the QB and twin brother Zach the running back, David Prouty is... By John Conceison SPENCER — Senior two-way lineman Dan Martin considers classmates Mike and Zach Grasis his best friends at David Prouty High. “They’re great guys to be around, aside from being stud athletes,” Martin said of quarterback Mike and running back Zach, the three serving as football captains this fall. “It is a pleasure to be able to block for two guys like them. They work their butts off.” Just don’t ask Mike and Zach to tell a funny story together. “If they tell a story together, it’s so hard to follow along because they just keep putting in new facts about the story,” Martin said. “Zach will start out by telling a story, then all of a sudden, they’ll argue about what really happened, then Mike will tell his side, and by the end of it, I won’t know what the story was about.” But last fall as juniors, the fleet-footed identical twins left no doubt about the story they helped pen for the Prouty annals. Zach Grasis rushed for more than 2,000 yards while gaining T&G Super Team and Division 2A Offensive Player of the Year honors. Mike, a T&G Division 2 All-Star, ran the double-wing offense to perfection in a 13-0 season, culminating in an 11-7 Division 2A Super Bowl victory over Northbridge and completing the rebound from 2-9 the year before. “You can talk about how fast they are, but they’re good football players, and a lot of that has to do with what they do in the offseason,” said Prouty coach Andrew Tuccio, himself the father of 8-year-old twin boys. “If you watch them, they lift (weights) from the time they get back from Christmas, right through the season.” The Grasis twins enjoy a friendly banter, whether it’s deciding Turn to Grasis brothers/Next Page
WWW.TELEGRAM.COM/HOMETEAM CENTRAL MASS. HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS MAGAZINE PAGE 25 DIVISION 2B David Prouty Panthers Home field: Hurley Field. Grass field, 302 Main St., Spencer. Brain trust: Coach: Andrew Tuccio (third season, 15-9 career). Assistants: Chuck Fahey, Bruce Pinto, Nate Orzech, Rob Berthaiume, Jason Monnette. Returning starters: 12 (6 offense, 6 defense). Captains: Sr. OL/DL Dan Martin, Sr. QB/DB Mike Grasis, Sr. RB/DB Zach Grasis. Top players: Sr. TE/DL John Mahaney, Sr. OL/DL Lucas Davis, Jr. FB/LB Brandon Comeau, Sr. RB/DB Clayton Fahey, Jr. TE/LB Pat Ricard, Jr. RB/LB Matt Pillsbury, Sr. OL/DL Mitchell Rogers, Jr. OL/DL Jake Nadreau, Sr. TE/DE Nick Tobin, Sr. OL/DL Alex Corbin. Out with the old: The Panthers lost just two of five Division 2A all-stars, CB Ben Romano and Defensive MVP S Christian Ricard. In with the new: Jr. OL/DL Frank Dipadua, Jr. OL/LB Matt Bernard, Jr. OL/LB Alex Noonan, Jr. RB/DB Tyler Huard, So. RB/DB Marc Lamoureux, So. QB/DB Ryan Fahey. When the Panthers have the ball: Doublewing offense. … Scored 460 points last year, most in Division 2. … Zach Grasis (2,002 rushing yards, 21 TDs) led Central Mass. in rushing last year as a junior and should pick up where he left off. … Mike Grasis showed in last year’s Super Bowl against Northbridge he can throw the deep ball if teams focus too much on stopping his brother. … Pillsbury (367 Grasis brothers brothers/From Previous Page 2009: 13-0 (7-0 Division 2B); Division 2A Super Bowl Champions who’s going to drive the car they share during the season or what happened to them on a defensive play in the secondary. “I drive because he’s lazy,” Mike cracked before a recent practice. “Actually, I had to drive today because he kept complaining about it,” Zach countered. “I drove here, but he has to drive home.” “Defensively, if one of them does something incorrectly, they’ll hop on each other,” said Tuccio, who employs both as defensive backs, “and I think it’s actually good because I think it makes both work twice as hard.” At 6-foot-1, 210 pounds, Zach Grasis already has revamped the Prouty rushing standards, with a chance to eclipse 5,000 career yards. “Zach’s power is his biggest asset,” Tuccio said. “He’s going to hit the hole hard, and he’s very hard to take down. He wants the ball when the game’s on the line, wants the ball in the pressure situations.” While Zach is undecided on a field of study, Tuccio sees the possibilities on the college gridiron. “He could start at a Division 3 school, play Division 2, and if he works hard in the offseason, and improves himself more like he did this year, I could see him at a 1-AA,” the coach said of Zach, By Jim Wilson rushing yards) is a tremendous complementary back to Grasis. … Comeau can carry the ball and throw a key block at fullback. When their opponents have the ball: 4-3 defense. … Allowed 141 points last year, lowest in Division 2A. … Martin and Mahaney will lead the defensive line. … Ricard should shore up a solid linebacking corps. In the trenches: Martin, a returning Division 2A all-star, will lead a young group. One to watch: Zach Grasis emerged last year as one of the premier running backs in Central Mass. and should just keep getting better as a senior. Despite a perfect season and a Super Bowl title, Grasis and the Panthers still feel like they have a lot to prove this year and look forward to showing that last year wasn’t a fluke. Behind enemy lines: “They’re the team to beat this year,” one rival coach said. “The only close game they had last year was in the Super Bowl, and I don’t see anyone being able to hang with them this year, either.” The quote: “This year’s team is dedicated and is working extremely hard to learn our offensive and defensive schemes,” Tuccio said. “The David Prouty football team is fortunate to have an abundance of hardworking student-athletes who are unselfish, willing to sacrifice and dedicate themselves to achieving team goals by being responsible and always furnishing a 100 percent effort for their teammates.” Schedule: Sept. 10.......................at Bartlett, 7 Sept. 17..........................Nipmuc, 7 Sept. 25......................Tantasqua, 7 Oct. 1............................Burncoat, 7 Oct. 8.............................Millbury, 7 Oct. 15 .........................at Oxford, 7 Oct. 22 .........................Quaboag, 7 Oct. 29 ...........................Grafton, 7 Nov. 6 ..................at Uxbridge, 2:30 Nov. 12 .................at Southbridge, 7 Nov. 25 ...............at Leicester, 10:15 Key game: Sept. 10 at Bartlett. If the Panthers want to make a statement, they can do it against a good Bartlett squad. 2009 results: David Prouty 43.................Bartett 7 David Prouty 34 ..............Nipmuc 18 David Prouty 43 ..........Tantasqua 12 David Prouty 35 ............Burncoat 13 David Prouty 28..............Millbury 13 David Prouty 43................Oxford 14 David Prouty 46 ............Quaboag 12 David Prouty 32 ................Grafton 0 David Prouty 35..............Uxbridge 7 David Prouty 36 ...........Southbrige 6 David Prouty 33..............Leicester 7 David Prouty 41...............Grafton 24 David Prouty 11...........Northbridge 7 Jim’s take: The Panthers lost a big key to last year’s perfect season in Ricard, but the Grasis brothers should be enough to lead Prouty to another league title and a shot at a second Super Bowl crown. 5 Follow the Panthers’ every game this fall at www.telegram.com/hometeam. who ran a 4.51 40-yard dash in his recent visit to Marist. “And at the 1-AA, he’d have to work hard from day one, in every aspect of the game,” Tuccio couldn’t be happier with his quarterback, a high honors student who at 6-1, 195 pounds and runs a 4.59 40. Mike Grasis is looking at WPI, RPI and UMass-Dartmouth among others, schools where he could play football while studying engineering. “Mike brings unbelievable leadership to the team, his football IQ is through the roof,” he said. “A lot of people don’t know that in the Super Bowl, in the last quarter, he called the offense. He could see things better than I could from the sideline … he called the plays from the line of scrimmage. “With Mike being a quarterback in our offense, he probably doesn’t get as much press as he should,” Tuccio said of his QB, who only completed two passes in the Super Bowl but for 121 valuable yards. “If we didn’t have Mike, Zach couldn’t get the yardage he got last year.” With six returning quality starters on each side of the ball, the Panthers will compete for a repeat of last year’s perfection. “We’re just trying really hard to do it again,” Zach Grasis said. “We now know what it feels like, so we’re doing everything we can to get back there.” PAUL KAPTEYN Grafton coach Mike Ross hopes his team can improve upon its 6-6 record of 2009. Grafton Indians 2009: 6-6 (4-3 Division 2B); Division 2 Playoffs Home field: Grafton High field. Grass field, 24 Providence Rd., Grafton. Brain trust: Coach: Mike Ross (third season, 11-12 at Grafton, 77-35 career). Assistants: Chris McMahon, Zack Webber, Kevin Moyaugh, Mike Salvagio. Captains: Jr. G/LB Austin Carangelo, Jr. RB/DB Obi Melifonwu, Sr. RB/LB Dylan Riggieri, Sr. G/DE Kenny Miranda, Sr. DE/LB Brian McCarthy. Top players: Sr. T/DL Andrew Kelly, Jr. LB Matt Bradley. Out with the old: The Indians graduated just one of three Division 2B all-stars, OL Charles Lewis. In with the new: So. FB/DL Corey Charpentier, So. LB Cody Munoz. When the Indians have the ball: Double-wing offense. … Scored 279 points last year, second in Division 2B. … Melifonwu makes the shift from under center to the backfield after a breakout sophomore campaign, getting named to the Division 2B all-star team after rushing for more than 1,000 yards. … Fellow Division 2B all-star Riggieri is also back, giving the Indians a pair of 1,000-yard rushers to use in their run-based attack. When their opponents have the ball: 4-4 defense. … Allowed 257 points last year. … Carangelo made 48 tackles last year at linebacker. In the trenches: Kelly returns at tackle. … Miranda is back at guard. One to watch: Melifonwu moves from quarterback to running back as Grafton tries to take advantage of one of the area’s more athletic players. Melifonwu showed last year he can make things happen, and when he’s paired with the equally dangerous Riggieri in the backfield, Grafton can put together quite a running attack. Behind enemy lines: “I like what they’re doing over there,” a rival coach said. By Jim Wilson “They’re no longer that easy win on your schedule they were a few years ago. They have a very dangerous running game, and that double-wing offense is a pain to stop.” Schedule: Sept. 11........................at Nipmuc, 1 Sept. 18 .......................at Auburn, 7 Sept. 24 ................at Southbridge, 7 Oct. 1.................................South, 7 Oct. 8 ...............................Oxford, 7 Oct. 16 ..................at Valley Tech, 7 Oct. 22......................at Leicester, 7 Oct. 29 ................at David Prouty, 7 Nov. 5 ...........................Quaboag, 7 Nov. 12..........................Uxbridge, 7 Nov. 25 .....................Millbury, 10:15 Key game: Sept. 24 at Southbridge. The Indians lost a close one to the Pioneers last year, and it will be interesting to see how Grafton responds coming off a tough game against Auburn the week before. 2009 results: Nipmuc 28 ......................Grafton 26 Auburn 40.........................Grafton 7 Southbridge 12...................Grafton 7 Grafton 34.........................South 14 Grafton 26..........................Oxford 7 Grafton 31.................Valley Tech 12 David Prouty 32.................Grafton 0 Grafton 48.....................Quaboag 18 Grafton 31.......................Uxbridge 6 Grafton 19.....................Leicester 13 Millbury 34......................Grafton 26 David Prouty 41...............Grafton 24 Jim’s take: Grafton could make “the leap” this year with two dynamic players in its backfield in Melifonwu and Riggieri. With another year under Ross — and if the Indians can find the right players to plug into a few holes — Grafton should be in the playoff hunt this year. 5 Follow the Indians’ every game this fall at www.telegram.com/hometeam.
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