It was music to Sigs’ ears
Billerica coach in tune after win
Duane Sigsbury had just spent four gruelling quarters and a stressful overtime period coaching his team to an emotional victory over Everett, so it was time for his wild side to take over.
The coach walked over to the Billerica High band section and led the team, fans and anyone else in a spirited rendition of the school’s fight song, “Boola-Boola.”
“Hey, I used to play the clarinet when I went to the Coolidge Middle School in Reading,” Sigsbury said with a laugh. “Our band is awesome, they work as hard as anyone in the school. Every single day, they are out there for hours practicing.”
It was certainly understandable for Sigsbury to be in a partying mood. The 24-21 victory over Everett, arguably the biggest win since the 1999 Super Bowl win over Newton North, was the latest step in a renaissance for a once-mighty program. The town has clearly caught the bug as more than 2,000 braved the rainy elements to watch Billerica take on a legendary program.
“The support we’ve received from the community is second to none,” Sigsbury said. “The atmosphere here is great, everyone is so excited about the team.”
They were not too excited early on as Everett threatened to deliver an early knockout punch. Marvens Fedna ripped off a 36-yard touchdown run and Jordan McAfee connected with Anthony Norcia on a 26-yard scoring strike to stake the visitors to an early 14-0 lead.
Sigsbury remained calm. He had confidence that his veteran team eventually would play itself back into the game.
“A lot of teams would have packed it in at that point against a great team like Everett,” Sigsbury said. “Our kids battled back, and I really think we were the better team over the final three quarters.”
Billerica responded with three consecutive scores, a short touchdown run by Derek Laundry, followed by a pair of touchdown passes from Zach Burns to Dean Brooks to take a 21-14 lead. Even though Everett rallied to tie the score and force overtime, Sigsbury had confidence.
“We won the coin toss and deferred because the defense is the strength of our team,” Sigsbury said. “Our defensive coordinator Alvin Reynolds and line coach Marvin Wright do a great job, they make all the calls.”
Billerica held firm and when Everett missed a field goal attempt on its opening drive in overtime, the Indians were sitting pretty.
“We didn’t care, we wanted to score a touchdown,” Sigsbury said. “Some wanted us to kick right away, but I thought we could get in the end zone. It’s nice knowing if we couldn’t, we had Jacob Carlson to rely on.”
The Billerica drive stalled and Carlson calmly trotted onto the field to convert the game-winning 18-yard field goal as the band played to its heart’s content. With Duane Sigsbury conducting.
1. DUXBURY (4-0): Too strong on both sides of the ball for Plymouth North to handle.
2. BILLERICA (4-0): Electric crowd was treated to an electrifying result Friday night.
3. BRIDGEWATER-RAYNHAM (3-1): I think it’s safe to say that Shawn Noel is back to full health. 4. XAVERIAN (3-1): Back-to-back shutouts since the one-point loss to Bridgewater-Raynham. 5. BC HIGH (3-0): The Hawks aren’t the only Catholic Conference team flexing its muscles on the defensive side of the ball. 6. CENTRAL CATHOLIC (3-0): Best bet of Week 4 was the Raiders escaping without a loss. 7. EVERETT (2-2): Another killer 3-point loss to an elite team. 8. HAVERHILL (3-1): When you start talking about the star backs in Division 1, be sure to add J.C. Laguerre’s name to the mix. 9. KING PHILIP (4-0): Showed a lot of moxie in winning on the road at Mansfield. 10. TEWKSBURY (4-0): Another business-like effort against Dracut.
11. LEXINGTON (4-0): Any time you drop 56 points on Reading, you go from Cinderella to legitimate.
12. ST. JOHN’S PREP (2-2): Opened the league portion of the schedule by rolling over Malden Catholic. 13. DARTMOUTH (4-0): Continue winning ways at the expense of Durfee. 14. FALMOUTH (4-0): Nick Couhig made sure there was no letdown after the epic win over Marshfield. 15. HOLLISTON (3-1): Stunning loss to Westwood opens up the TVL Large.
16. CATHOLIC MEMORIAL (2-2): Not going to win too many games with 23 yards of total offense.