Chelmsford flexes in 4-0 start
The lumps that Chelmsford took in Fall 2 are paying dividends.
Friday’s come-from-behind 29-23 win over Lowell gave the Lions a 4-0 start for the first time in 11 years. Head coach George Peterson isn’t surprised at the quick getaway, feeling his team was bound to improve due to experience.
“We knew coming into the season that we had a bunch of young kids who got a ton of opportunities to get into games in the spring season,” Peterson said. “We were playing 7-8 sophomores back then, so we’re still a young team with one senior on offense and three seniors on defense.
“That experience and the hard work they put in over the summer is paying dividends. They worked extremely hard which is why I felt good about our team at the start of the season.”
Peterson is a big believer in developing a culture, one which consists largely of hard work, time, effort and the players’ willingness to buy into what the coaches are selling. It worked well in Lexington where Peterson turned the Minutemen into one of the top teams in the Middlesex Liberty in his eight years at the helm before arriving in Chelmsford in 2019.
“It does take time to change a culture and making sure the kids are buying in,” Peterson said. “What we wanted to do here in Chelmsford was develop a frame of mind in that they believe they can have success. I think we’re seeing that they are developing the confidence in themselves and what we are teaching.
“They’ve been in a hole in two of the games and climbed out of it. They’re going to fight tooth and nail and kudos to them.”
Winning football games is something Chelmsford has been more than accustomed to the past dating back to the Tom Caito and Bruce Rich days. Many of the current players may not have been around then, but there are plenty of reminders around the school.
“We talk about it all the time,” Peterson said. “We go in the gym and you see all the football championship banners. We talk about how it would be nice for these kids to be succesful, get a banner of their own so that when they come back 10-15 years from now, they will know that they were part of their own legacy.”