In honor of all the fall football stars just waiting for their chance to pound the turf at Veterans Memorial Stadium, during the 2020-2021 Everett High School fall sports season, we are showcasing snap shots of newspaper clips from the past, each including some of the biggest names and games in EHS football history.
By LORENZO RECUPERO
The field hockey and soccer teams at Everett High School were scheduled to be the first in the city to jump into the modified Covid-19 era of HS Sports in Massachusetts this week but climbing virus infection rates in the community and surrounding areas have forced both seasons to be pushed back.
“We are encouraging everyone to wear mask and social distance so we can play,” said Melissa O’Donnell, fourth-year head coach of field hockey at EHS, who was scheduled to lead her team into their first competition of the year against St. Mary’s of Lynn on September 8 but the match was postponed because Everett as a community has been designated a “high-risk” area or in the “red category”.
A high-risk community, ac- cording to the state, means there’s more than 8 cases of Coronavirus infection per 100,000. Other communities in the area currently designated a red zone include Chelsea, Revere, Lynn, Salem and Saugus amongst others.
Continue reading More EHS fall sports delayed
By LORENZO RECUPERO
Like an audible straight out of the unprecedented playbook, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) and Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) released joint guidance for modified high school sports seasons in the 2020-2021 school year.
The guidelines, constructed to keep student athletes safer during the Covid-19 era, modified which sports could conduct full-scheduled seasons this fall, dividing each into lower, moderate and higher risk categories. The higher risk sports, including football, cheer and basketball will not have their seasons take place during the fall and instead will have “floating” schedules, which basically means all games will be postponed for a later date while players are still allowed to practice in the interim, provided paperwork stating health guidelines are being followed are submitted.
The MIAA and DESE released this statement of the changes:
Continue reading Tide season postponed
By LORENZO RECUPERO
Everett Little League’s playoff finisher at Sacramone Park Saturday was “Silly” good.
The Rays completed a two-game series sweep of the Red Sox with a 4-0 shutout to capture the 2020 Major League Championship and did so in exciting fashion.
It was 12-year-old pitcher Ryan “Silly” McMahon, who earned the nickname for his playful nature and not his skill set, that helped secure the title for the Rays with a no-hitter on the mound and a home run – his first ever – at the plate.
“He was just out there having fun and being himself,” said assistant coach Mike Belloise, who is in his first season with the Rays but coached McMahon in the past as part of a traveling team when he was 9.
“He just kept saying to me ‘We’ll win one together, we’ll win one together’ and after we did, he came to me and said, ‘I told you we’d win one’,” said Belloise.
After finishing the regular season 5-6-1, the Rays outdid their opponents by a combined score of 26-3 while going undefeated in the playoffs.
Continue reading Rays are Little League champs
By LORENZO RECUPERO
Not even Covid-19 could stop the Everett Girl’s Softball League from fielding a season in 2020.
The league, which has been around since 1978, typically gets finished with its schedule by June but alterations due to Covid-19 pushed the season into the summer months.
The decades old program caters to youth ranging from Pre K- 8th grade and is split into three divisions: Farm League (Prek-2nd grade); Minor League (3rd- 5th grade); Major League (6th-8th grade).
This year, due to high school softball seasons being cancelled across the country, 18 freshman athletes were welcomed back to the league to help keep their baseball seasons alive.
Vincent “Vinny” Oliva, President and esteemed overseer of the league, has been a part of the program for 8 years and recognized – all things considered – this year has been as good and in some ways more special than years past.
Continue reading Next batter up: Black Widows take down Legends