Hometeam 2010 Football Preview - Worcester Telegram & Gazette

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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.