Mansfield’s tough slate continues vs. Everett

Mansfield coach Mike Redding joked in the preseason about whether he lost his mind scheduling BC High and Everett coming out of the gate.

After defeating the Eagles on the road in the opener, Redding and the seventhranked Hornets now turn their attention to a home game tonight against the No. 1-ranked team in the Sweet 16.

“I’ve been here 31 years and we’ve never had the opportunity to play Everett,” Redding said. “It’s a great opportunity to play against an Everett team that has been the class of the state for a long time. We’re very excited to have a chance to compete against them.” Mansfield relied on a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns from Cincere Gill and big plays from Vinnie Holmes, Nick Marciano and Aidan Sacco to defeat BC High, 21-7. But the Crimson Tide bring a totally different challenge to the table.

“The big things that jump out are their size and the speed,” Redding said. “A lot of teams might have one kid who runs a 4.5, 4.6, but they have a bunch of kids who already have collegelevel speed. They are legit.”

Everett put those skills to good use in a 34-21 win over Xaverian. Mike Sainristil caught eight passes for 103 yards and two touchdowns, while Isaac Seide ran for 165 yards and three scores. Sainristil put his legs to good use on special teams, picking up a pair of first downs on fake punts.

“You have to be ready on every play because they can hurt you,” Redding said. “In the Xaverian game, they were able to come up with big plays and that’s something we have to limit.”

Elsewhere tonight, Natick looks to bounce back from a seasonopening loss to Needham

when it tangles with No. 8 Brockton. No. 12 Central Catholic hits the road for a tough challenge at No. 5 St. John’s Prep, while Melrose

puts its 17-game winning streak on the line against No. 2 Lincoln-Sudbury.

No. 4 Xaverian travels to Bridgewater-Raynham, while No. 3 Duxbury hosts Scituate in an interesting Patriot League crossover tilt.

In the early-bird special tomorrow (11 a.m.), No. 11 Braintree hosts Barnstable. Wellesley will be looking to go 2-0 when it visits Walpole, which also won its opener.