Springfield Central Homepage
LOWELL – Two years after a pandemic quashed the Andover
girls’ chance to win it all on the court, they finally took their state-title opportunity
to the floor Sunday afternoon.
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Girls Basketball, 03/20/22 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
FOXBOROUGH – This time a calculator to keep score wasn’t necessary.
After scores of 67-52 in September and 52-42 in September of 2019, in their previous two games both won by Central Catholic, we got a real, honest-to-goodness football game in the Division 1 state championship at Gillette Stadium.
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Football, 12/02/21 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
SPRINGFIELD — Springfield Central’s 42-8 win over Lawrence High in the state Division 1 playoff opener Friday night was a tale of two halves.
The one that mattered, the first, was all Springfield Central, owning both sides the line of scrimmage en route to five of their six touchdowns while holding the Lancers scoreless.
The one that told us about Lawrence High’s program, according to Coach Rhandy Audate, the second half, was even-Steven with each team scoring eight points.
In the end, missing three two-way players – lineman Brandon Lavasta, running back Janiel Herrera and maybe its most explosive player Jayzius Perez to injuries – it was too many key bodies.
“We knew it was David versus Goliath. We knew this was going to be tough for us, as good and as complete of a team that Springfield Central is,” said Audate. “But if we took care of business during the regular season, maybe we get a better seed and don’t play a team as good as this.
“The key for me was competing for the entire game. I know the score doesn’t look great, but we competed until the end. That’s Lawrence High football.”
Offensively Lawrence tried to run the ball in the first half. It couldn’t (10 rushes, 21 yards).
Defensively wasn’t much better as the one of the state’s high-powered offenses, led by all-state junior quarterback William Watson (13-for-21, 189 yards, 2 TDs, one 55-yard rushing TD) and Boston College-bound wideout Joseph Griffin (3 catches, 42 yards) were too tough to cover.
In fact, Springfield Central had four other receivers with at least two catches and 20 yards. And, oh yeah, they ran the ball pretty well, too, with 192 yards on only 18 carries.
But Lawrence aided the victors' cause. The Lancers committed 16 penalties, 11 in the first half.
Lawrence, though, earned some big-time kudos to open the second half after not showing anything in the first 24 minutes.
The Lancers went 12 plays and ate up 8:36 of clock on their first drive, which was keyed by three, crunching runs by senior Estarling Morales (27, 10 and 8 yards).
The drive ended with receiver Joenel Figueroa basically stealing the ball from the cornerback in the end zone for a 16-yard hookup.
“I was not happy after the first half and said I was going to give it my all in the second half,” said Morales, who also had some of the biggest hits at linebacker, too.
“We don’t give up,” said Morales. “That’s big with Coach, playing the entire game. We did.”
Lawrence’s record drops under .500 for the first time this year, now 4-5. They will await word from the MIAA on their next opponent in the consolation round while the Golden Eagles will play Xaverian in the quarterfinals.
“We hope to have another game or two before Thanksgiving against Central Catholic,” said Audate. “If they give us a game, we will be ready. We will treat it like a playoff game. We can’t and don’t take games off. We have to get some guys back healthy and we can still do some damage.”
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Football, 11/06/21 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
With several starters ill or injured, Windham went 1-2-1 at the Springfield Duals. Freshman Aiden Williams continued his fine season, going 4-0 at both 106 and 113. Classmate Ky Cole was 3-1 at 138 and Joel Nyonga had a good day at 195, going 3-1.
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Wrestling, 01/18/20 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Central Catholic rallied from a 10-point deficit at halftime to edge Springfield Central, 38-36, in the Hoopball Classic. Nadeshka Bridgewater was named most outstanding player with 15 points and 8 steals while Emily Downer player stellar defensive against McDonald’s AA nominee, Alecia Maxwell, holding her to a very hard earned 14 points.
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Girls Basketball, 01/17/20 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
LAWRENCE — No one would have blamed Ayden Pereira if his stomach was filling with butterflies.
The Central Catholic sophomore quarterback was not only making his first career varsity start, but was doing so against defending Division 3 state champion Springfield Central, which had just blown out legendary power Everett by four touchdowns a week ago.
The lights may have been bright, but Pereira wasn’t sweating the pressure.
“I didn’t doubt myself,” said the QB. “I had put in the work, my teammates had put in the work. I knew we were good for a big day.”
Pereira proved he was more than ready for primetime, throwing for three touchdowns and rushing for three more scores as Central Catholic earned a thrilling 52-42 win in its season-opener on Saturday night.
“It was a great win,” said co-captain Mark Kassis. “It was huge to score fast, and that gave us a momentum boost. And Ayden played great. He did amazing.”
Pereira finished his debut 12-of-16 throwing for 223 yards and added 73 rushing yards, leading a Raiders offense that scored on eight of their 10 possessions of the game.
After not appearing in a varsity game last fall, Pereira was faces with the challenge of replacing 2018 starting QB Jared Silverio, who transferred to BB&N in the offseason.
Was he nervous?
“I was a little nervous,” said Pereira. “But I was more excited. We had prepared so well, and I knew I was ready for it. Confidence was high. Once I got the first touchdown, we were off to a good start.”
The 6-foot, 158-pound Pereira set the tone early.
On Central’s first play of the season, Pereira hit Kassis for a 32-yard gain. On its second, the QB powered in for a 6-yard touchdown.
Kassis added a touchdown a possession later, then Pereira went back to work.
First, he connected with JJ Mercuri for a 15-yard touchdown, then closed out the half with a 2-yard TD run, set up by a 42-yard Nick Donatio scamper.
Pereira and the Raiders kept rolling in the second half. He opened the scoring with a 3-yard run, then in back-to-back possessions found Mark Cicarelli for a 41-yard touchdown and Jermaine Wiggins for a 25-yard score.
“Everybody did their jobs,” said Pereira. “I feel like I pass a little better than I run, but I think I am a dual-threat quarterback. That’s a good team, but I knew we could do it.”
Kassis ran for a team-high 78 yard on 13 attempts. Wiggins led the Raiders with four catches for 63 yards,
“We had to keep digging,” said Kassis. “We knew it was going to be a dogfight. We had to keep pushing, because they were going to keep going back. (Pereira) was amazing. He had a lot of confidence. He did a great job stepping up and being a leader. I’ve seen him in practice. I knew what he could do.”
Central needed all of that offense, as Springfield Central scored on all three of its second-half possessions, and five of its final six drives.
“It was an awesome game,” said Central coach Chuck Adamopoulos. “I’m not thrilled with some of our stuff on defense. But we’ll work on that, and this was a very good win.”
The Raiders now face another daunting task, when they welcome rival and defending Division 1 state champ St. John’s Prep to Lawrence Veterans Memorial Stadium on Saturday (2 p.m.)
“This is a confidence boost,” said Kassis. “We have the momentum going right now. We want to keep it going into next week.”
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Football, 09/14/19 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Pinkerton certainly isn't avoiding any of the toughest teams around. The Astros went 1-3 at the Springfield Duals, losing to the No. 1 (Springfield Central) and No. 2 (Shawsheen) teams in Mass. and Vermont power Mount Anthony, the latter by only three points. Sterling McLaughlin was 4-0 at 182 for the Astros, who were without standout Robbie Fahey, and Walker Stinson was 3-0 at 126.
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Wrestling, 01/19/19 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
Pinkerton sophomore 182-pounder Sterling McLaughlin remained red-hot winning all four times he wrestled at the rugged Springfield Duals. Walker Stinson (113) and David Hammond (120) were also 4-0 for the Astros, who won one of four meets.
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Wrestling, 01/20/18 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
METHUEN – There are state titles, and then there are state titles that leave no doubt.
Billy Wehring delivered the latter here on his home mat. The Methuen High junior swept through the Division 1 120-pound field.
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Wrestling, 02/22/15 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
A second-quarter blitz led by Nick Cambio and Joel Berroa led Central Catholic to a comfortable 70-45 victory in the consolation round of the IAABO Board 130 Tourney. Berroa (16 points) and Cambio (game-high 25 points) each had 12 first-half points as the Raiders turned a three-point deficit to a 12-point halftime lead.
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Boys Basketball, 02/18/13 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
