Cyclones take football season by storm
EAST BOSTON -- From the football ribbon tied in her red hair to her gold knee-high socks, Laura Valley is a true-blue Malden Cyclones fan.
A sister of star quarterback Kevin Valley -- who led his Pop Warner football team to the Eastern Massachusetts Division 1 championship last week -- she's got even more reason to strut proud. "He's good in school. He loves football," Valley, 13, gushed about her older brother. "And he loves his sister."
And Malden loves its Cyclones. They're the nation's No. 1 team in the Division 1 Midget group (ages 13-16), going 11-0 in the season and playoffs. Under the lights Tuesday at Satori Field , in the shadow of Logan Airport, the Cyclones beat another undefeated team, the East Lynn Bulldogs, 6-0, to win the Eastern Massachusetts championship.
Bright lights flooded the artificial turf. The rain that had postponed the game for two days had finally stopped. The sky was cloudy, the metal bleachers cold. No one seemed to notice the occasional plane landing on a distant runway, or the traffic streaming into the airport. Kickoff was at 8 p.m.
On the sidelines, cheerleaders for both sides did their jobs. Go. Fight. Win. We say 'Go.' You say 'Win.' Go Fight Win, the East Lynn squad shouted. On the Malden side, the chants were equally spirited. Blue, Blue, White, White. Come on Malden, Fight. Fight. Today , the Cyclones will make another title run. They'll play the Norfolk Vikings for the Division 1 Midget state championship at 3:15 p.m. at Lawrence Memorial Stadium. A "W" will put them in the New England championships, with the winner heading to the Pop Warner Super Bowl at Walt
"It's been 15 years since a Malden squad has gotten this far," said Sherri Murray , whose son, Trevor MacNeill, is an offensive lineman. "When the season started, I never would have guessed we'd be here."
George Paone , the Cyclones' line coach, won't let a Disney dream distract his young charges. "One game at a time," said Paone, 48, the former head coach of Everett Huskies and Everett Eagles teams that made a combined five trips to Disney. "We had our chance to celebrate with the trophy," after the East Boston game. "Now, we'll be focused on beating Norfolk, which won't be easy."
The Cyclones tore through their season. Twice, they beat the vaunted Dorchester Eagles, the New England champs for the past two seasons. While every victory is sweet, Malden had to work extra hard to knock off East Lynn.
The Bulldogs -- who had to play without injured quarterback Paradise Hogan -- also entered the game with a 10-0 record. They rolled to the North Shore League crown, allowing only 6 points to be scored against their defense. East Lynn routinely rang up double-digit victories, except against hometown rival West Lynn, whom the Bulldogs beat, 6-0.
The steely performance kept East Lynn fans ringing cow bells, blowing horns, and cheering all season, right up to the end of Tuesday's game. "How can you not cheer for them?" said Patty Bennett , who sat rooting for her nephew, Jarred Dwyer , the Bulldogs' center. "Just look at what they did this season."
Bob Dwyer , a retired East Lynn Pop Warner president, is equally proud of the team. At 75, he's been involved with the program for 40 years. He attended every practice session and game, sometimes arriving as early as 7 a.m. to help his son, Bob Jr., now the league president, prepare for the game.
"They're all good kids," said Bob Dwyer, a retired composing room foreman at Lynn's Daily Evening Item newspaper. "The coaches, parents, everybody works real hard with them. . . . They teach them discipline. And it's paid off. Just look at where they are tonight."
The two teams battled to a scoreless first half. But just 1:25 seconds into the third quarter, fullback Frankie Dunne ran the ball into the end zone from 4 yards out. It was the only touchdown of the game. But it was enough to make his older sister, Naquana Dunne, 15, proud.
"My brother knows how to play football," she said of 13-year-old Frankie. "He loves it."
And her two friends love her younger brother. Talia Petrillo , 14, and Justina Butera , 13, painted Dunne's No. 20 on their cheeks. "I think he's hot," said Petrillo. "Yeah, H-O-T-T, with two T's," chimed in Butera.
A few steps away, the Murray clan huddled together in the first row of the bleachers. Sherri, Steve, and Carol Ann Murray wrapped themselves in a wool blanket. The trio have gone to just about every Cyclones game this season, taking their spot in the first row.
"We sit as close as we can get," Carol Ann explained.
"If they sat any closer, they'd be in the way of the football," observed her daughter, Megan, 10.
As the Cyclones look to win the state title today, their fans promise to be just as loyal. Just as loud. And Laura Valley promises to show up in her "uniform." She'll wear her brother's practice jersey, gold undershirt, along with his socks, wrist bands, and her football ribbons.
"I used to play football, too," said Valley, who played on Malden's E, D, and C teams. "I wear this to every game."
Kathy McCabe can be reached at kmccabe@globe.com. 
