RallyNorth.net

Understanding Eastie: Power personified

Friday, November, 30 By Hector Longo
Staff writer

You get the feeling that if the Reggies don't know much about East Boston's Tyrone Figueroa, they will learn soon enough.

Greater Lawrence Tech, champion of the Commonwealth Large, faces Eastie, the unbeaten Boston North champ at 11-0, the Eastern Mass. Division 3A Super Bowl tomorrow morning at 9:30 p.m. here at Gillette Stadium.

The showdown is the first of five Super Bowls which will run through the day and night on the New England Patriots' home turf.

By now, the region's fans know about the Reggies, who flat out love to line 2,415-yard back Nate Adames up behind Victor Sosa in the I-formation and pound you.

But what about the Jets, who last ventured into the EMass playoffs in 2004, defeating North Shore Tech in the Division 3A title game and have played in five Super Bowls overall? "What I do know about them is they are very fast," said Tony Sarkis, the Reggies' coach.

The MIAA, which is attempting to direct six games at Gillette on one day, will laud both teams come tomorrow morning.

"We like to run the football. They like to run the football. We run out of a base power-I," said East Boston coach John Sousa. "And they run out of a pro-set I. This one should be a quick one."

Eastie is experienced and very good, with 19 senior starters in the 22 positions.

"We have some good coaches, and a lot of tradition at Eastie," said Sousa, who grew up in East Boston and captained the 1968 Jets team.

It all starts with the nifty Figueroa, who has garnered over 1,500 yards rushing and 24 touchdowns from the tailback spot in Eastie's attack. By the way, the senior is also an award-winning artist as well.

I-back Frank Brown has run for over 1,000 yards and has scored 11 TDs.

Both backs are captains, along with two-way lineman and leading tackler Jarred Stephens, who the Reggies will need to tend to in the trenches.

Eastie averages 27 points a game and only gives up nine, a fact of which Sousa is quite proud.

"I always say, it's defense that wins," the coach proclaimed. "This is a group that always plays with a lot of heart, something I really respect them for."

Sousa has done his homework as well.

"Their guy Nate (Adames) is a heck of a back," said Sousa. "That's a very good Greater Lawrence football team. Being here is a tribute to what (Tony Sarkis) has done, turning the program around."

Super Bowl snippets

All 12 teams competing at Gillette Stadium tomorrow got the grand tour of the building yesterday.

Coaches, captains and administrators toured the facility and went through the logistics of the day.

The Patriot owners, the Kraft Family, continue to go all out to make this day special for the athletes. The captains spent time introducing their team's lineups on tape, like the pros do, saving them up for tomorrow's games...

Expect the Reggies to be leaving town tomorrow morning at around 6 a.m.

Did you know?

The high schools will be sharing the Gillette facility with the Patriots, who will be putting in their final full day of preparation for the Monday nighter at Baltimore.

Coach Bill Belichick was asked if the presence of teams warming up in his bubble and practicing on his practice fields will hinder his team's preparation.

"We haven't ever had that before," said Belichick. "But as we look at it going forward, not really, no. We think it should be all right. We'll stay on our own schedule. But we've never really been through that, so maybe that's a good question for next week. We'll see how it goes."