Luckily for the Rebels, many incoming Seniors will be the majority of the team, many of whom are returning starters; such as, star players Cam Hanley and Chris Collins. Also, the return of seniors Mike Rando, Hanley, and incoming Junior Connor Moriarty will aid the team. Although they will miss the productive duo of Craig Hanley and Shane Blass at running back, the team has three players ready to step up in Cam Hanley, Rando, and Steve Thulin. Sophomore Kyle Raftery even went as far to state that these three players “are the best group of running backs in the Bay State League.” When asked what he thinks about next’s years team Head Coach Barry Greener said, “This team is experienced at many positions” and that this team is full of character with “Four great co-captains [Cam Hanley, Mike Rando, Ricky Ordway, and Steve Thulin].” Greener also said that the team really showed its good character with the large amounts of players showing up to help set up for the graduation celebration at the high school.
Even with the strong incoming Senior class, the team will miss the presence of the graduating Seniors and Bay-State All-Stars: Craig Hanley, Dan King, Dan Woods, and Dave Thibault. Also, a major concern is the upcoming junior class, which is unproven with only Colton Mittchell, Kyle Raftery, Nick Cordapatri, and Noah Kung getting legitmate varsity playing time as sophomores. Mix that in with the fact that the 2012 Rebels will be looking for a new quarterback with senior Tom Donnellan graduating, the team has glaring holes. However, there are four players battling it out for only two positions and all four are inexperienced. Jared Porack, the oldest of the four, will be a senior next year but was slowed by a concussion last year and got limited playing time. Next, there are sophomores Moriarty, Brendan Chaisson, and Will Bolster. When talking about the race for the quarterback position Head Coach Barry Greener said, “This is the most interesting and wide open battle for any position on the team next year” Greener went on to further explain that, “All four players have different body types as well as different strengths and weaknesses.” Although they do not know who will start yet, we will know when it will be decided after the Darmouth and King Philip scrimmages. To summarize Greener states, “The winner for the quarterback will be whoever fits best into the system.”
The final Concern for the 2012 Rebels will be the injuries, as mentioned earlier, the Rebels lost some key players last year: Cam Hanley, Mike Rando, Pj Hayes, Charlie Love. They all had their season’s cut short with only Rando and Love able to come back for the Thanksgiving game and the playoffs; while, Moriarty was not even able to play last season because of injuries. When asked about last season’s injuries Coach Greener said, “Last year we had more injuries to key players than we did in the previous 5 years combined.” These injuries are exactly what Greener and the Rebels are hoping to avoid this year if they would like to make a strong run at a chance to go to the SuperBowl.
Tough Opponents For Next Yer:
-Natick: Last year the Rebels barely squeaked by the speedy Red Hawks, winning 16-13 on Mitchell’s last minute field goal. Like the rebels this year the Red Hawks are returning a lot of last years starters. Top that off with studs like Troy Flutie and Brian Dunlap and you have a scary team that should only get better from last year.
-Needham: Another tough matchup for the Rebels this fall will be the Needham Rockets. Last year the Rebels fell to the Rockets losing to a score of 31-22. This year the Rockets once again will be the favorite to win the Carey division. Another reason the Rockets will be a tough matchup is because of their senior quarterback Drew Burnett, to describe the Rockets quarterback Steve Thulin simply stated, “Their quarterback is a stud.”
