ST. B’S LOOKING FORWARD TO UNIQUE SEASON
Two-time defending state champions eager just to play
FITCHBURG » Normally, preseason football practices come with typical storylines.
Who’s back? Who will make an impact? What’s the schedule look like? Will a team be able to repeat its successes from the season prior?
For two-time defending Division 8 champion St. Bernard’s, the talk would typically be of the prospects of a three-peat as the Bernardians hit the practice fields on a fall afternoon.
Needless to say, these times are far from normal. Unique would be putting it nicely. Unprecedented would work, as well.
This year, the questions have more to do with logistics – how will teams and fields hold up in winter weather? — and safety in frigid temperatures amid an ongoing pandemic.
The Bernardians took to a practice field still framed by snow and a chill in the air this week not with Super Bowl aspirations, but spirits lifted simply by the fact that a football season is on the horizon. With the “Fall 2” season just underway, St. Bernard’s — like most programs throughout the state – is thrilled just to be able to play an abreviated season after the fall campaign was put on hold by the coronavirus pandemic.
While the chance at a threepeat will have to wait, just getting out and playing a game will feel like a monumental victory when the time comes, according to St. B’s head coach Tom Bingham.
“I think it’s big for these kids to be out here practicing and looking forward to a season,” Bingham said Friday afternoon.
“We’re all very competitive guys and the kids want to play. I think from a mental standpoint, it’s very healthy to get the kids out here and they’ve noticed a difference at the school and in the building. There’s a little bit of energy and it’s nice to have a little bit, even an ounce, of normalcy there.”
The last time St. Bernard’s took the field, it was far from its home turf of the Bernardian Bowl. On Dec. 6, 2019, the Bernardians dismantled a previously unbeaten West Bridgewater team at Gillette Stadium,
claiming the Division 8 championship for a second consecutive season. A year prior, it was a 46-35 victory over Pope John for the same title.
This spring will feature most teams playing a half dozen or so games and no sectional or state playoffs. But Bingham says he’s been excited by the energy and positivity brought to practices by the team’s players in the first week of activities. And the players have come out in droves, especially by the measurements used at small school like St. B’s, where the team’s current roster of 46 players seems massive compared to the numbers of the past few years.
“Having the numbers up at the school, in general, has been really positive. It’s been good for energy in the building and morale,” the coach said. “And having 46 kids playing football right now is pretty exciting.”
With a natural grass field, Bingham is
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hopeful that the team will be able to get in home contests this season, though Mother Nature will surely have something to say about that at some point during the coming weeks. During Friday’s practice on an adjacent field, the Bernardian Bowl remained covered by a thin layer of snow, though it had come a long way from earlier in the week.
“The field’s actually in really great shape. ( The snow level) has dropped a lot over the last few days and I’d guess by Monday, there won’t be any snow left,” Bingham said. “I think we’ll be able to sneak a game or two in at the Bowl this season, weather permitting.”
For now, Bingham and the Bernardians are simply doing what they do every preseason: controlling what they can and hoping to improve daily.
“We’re worried about getting out here every day and doing our thing,” Bingham said. “The rest of it is out of our hands. I think a lot of things will work themselves out between now and (March 19).”