The high school football pre-season officially begins Friday, Aug. 19.
“We’ll have our Iron Man (strength, conditioning, and agility) competition on that day,†said Winthrop High head coach Jonathan Cadigan. “We’ll practice on Saturday (Aug. 20) and begin double sessions at the start of the next week.â€
Pre-Season Scrimmage Schedule
The Vikings will have their Blue and Gold
intra-squad scrimmage on Aug. 25 at 6 p.m. at Miller Field.
Winthrop will travel to Hurd Stadium in Beverly for a scrimmage on Aug. 27. On Aug. 31 at 4 pm., Winthrop will host East Boston High School.
The final scrimmage, which will be a simulated game scrimmage, is set for Sept. 2 at 6:30 p.m. against Manchester-Essex at Miller Field.
Winthrop opens its regular season at Stoneham on Sept. 9 at 6 p.m. The Vikings’ first home game is on Sept. 16 against Sean Driscoll’s powerful St. Mary’s contingent that features Boston Globe Player of the Year David Brown Jr., who is the son of Winthrop Police Officer David Brown Sr.
Skill Positions Looking Sharp
Coach Cadigan has been impressed by his skill position players, led by returning senior quarterback Robert Noonan.
“Robert has noticeably improved since last year, and as a group, they’re looking pretty good,†said Cadigan. “That’s probably the strength of our team right now.â€
Nick Cappuccio, who had an outstanding freshman season for the Vikings, is also receiving notice for his speed out of the backfield.
Winthrop will finish its 7-on-7 tournament schedule this weekend at Marblehead High School.
This and That
Coach Cadigan has scheduled Media Day for Saturday, Sept. 3 at 8 a.m. at Miller Field. The official team photo will be taken at that time.
There were rumors that Salem High School was considering a move to the Greater Boston League, following Lynn Classical and Lynn English who left the Northeastern Conference to join the GBL.
But those rumors – which may have started in Lynn – have been quieted with the arrival of new Salem High athletic director Reilly Christie who began his responsibilities on
July 1. Christie will likely evaluate the entire Salem High athletic program before even considering such a monumental decision as moving to the GBL. The NEC is also a much better fit geographically for Salem than the GBL.
There is big news brewing in Everett where a new youth football organization has been launched. For years Everett had two Pop Warner organizations – the Everett Huskies and the Everett Eagles – but they merged to become Crimson Tide Pop Warner. There is reportedly another Everett-based organization ready to begin competing in the 2022 season.