ISL-6 full of heavy hitters
Talent rules league’s upper division
When the Independent School League decided to split football into two divisions, little did it realize the monster it would create in the upper division.
The ISL-6, ISL Large, or whatever you want to call it, has emerged into a true bracket of death. Lawrence Academy, Governor’s Academy, Belmont Hill, Milton Academy, Buckingham, Browne & Nichols and St. Sebastian’s have turned each league contest into a true Armageddon — 48 minutes of gridiron combat in which the results are not usually final until the waning moments.
“It’s nuts, you really have to be ready to play every single week,” said Belmont Hill coach Chris Butler. “There’s never a dull moment in league play. It’s become a weekly battle of attrition.”
The league is four weeks in and every team has a league loss. Nowhere was the parity more evident than Saturday when BB&N took a 1-2 league record on the road and proceeded to snap Lawrence Academy’s 11-game winning streak. Jeff Costello’s 80-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter gave the Knights a stunning 20-17 victory.
“It was a huge win, the biggest in my three years as head coach,” BB&N coach Mike Willey said. “I told the kids after the game how proud I was of the effort they put out there. We lost a couple of tough games, but the kids never quit and it’s a credit to them.”
Coming into the season, Belmont Hill was widely assumed to be one of the teams that would struggle. The Hillies have proven the critics wrong, knocking off St. Sebastian’s (29-19) and Milton Academy (31-28), while playing BB&N to a narrow 27-25 loss.
“We have a group of seniors who went through a tough year last season (1-7),” Butler said. “They had a lot of adversity, they grew from it and have used it as a learning experience going into this season. They’ve gone out and played tough every single week and focused just on the game at hand.”
As a result, Belmont Hill is one of three ISL-6 teams with just one league loss, along with Lawrence and Governor’s. BB&N and Milton have two losses, while St. Seb’s could make the argument for being the best 0-3 team (2-3 overall) in the state.
“I was talking to (St. Seb’s coach) Bob Souza before our game with him and we discussed how good the league is right now,” said Governor’s coach Jim O’Leary. “There’s just so many good players out there, sometimes people don’t realize the talent we have here. Look at St. Sebastian’s — Blake Gallagher is one of the best players in the state, his brother Bryce is very good and Tommy Seidl is definitely one of the better kids in our league.”
The top four teams in the ISL6 get a semi-break this weekend as they all play crossover games against member schools in the ISL-12. Milton Academy looks to keep its flickering bowl hopes alive against St. Seb’s, which will be in full spoiler mode.
Sweet 16
1. DUXBURY (7-0): Completed another dominant run through the Patriot Keenan with a lopsided win over Hingham.
2. XAVERIAN (6-1): First-string defense has allowed just one touchdown in the recent five-game winning streak.
3. EVERETT (5-2): Made sure early on that there would be no repeat of last year’s loss to Malden.
4. HAVERHILL (6-1): The reward for winning the MVC Large is a first-round game at home against Everett. Yikes.
5. KING PHILIP (7-0): Depth has certainly come in handy for the Hockomock Kelley-Rex champions. 6. DARTMOUTH (7-0): OCL champs for the first time since 2008.
7. CENTRAL CATHOLIC (5-1): Raiders put the running game to good use in the second half against Andover.
8. TEWKSBURY (7-0): Comes up big against Billerica to earn top spot in Division 2 North.
9. ST. JOHN’S PREP (5-2): Good luck finding a team entering the tournament with more momentum than these Eagles.
10. BILLERICA (6-1): High-flying offense was grounded to a halt Saturday afternoon at Tewksbury.
11. FALMOUTH (7-0): Nick Couhig and company put a nice bow on an undefeated regular season.
12. LEXINGTON (7-0): Hope athletic director Naomi Martin is paying the scoreboard operator extra this week as high-scoring game expected vs. Andover.
13. HOLLISTON (6-1): Quick and easy win over Medway to prepare for a potential three-peat.
14. HANOVER (6-0): Well-deserved Week 7 bye entering the postseason.
15. BC HIGH (4-2): Needs to rebound quickly from a seasonending, two-game losing streak.
16 (tie). WELLESLEY (7-0): Raiders showed they can win games with their offense just as easily as their defense.
16 (tie). MARSHFIELD (6-1): Closed out season with an offensive flourish and hopes of carrying it over into November.