Second helpings

November 28, 2008

On the practice squad

At 12 years old, Justin Ellcock is too young to play for Cambridge's football team. But with six years of Cambridge Pop Warner already under his belt, Ellcock hasn't wasted any time honing his skills.

Before yesterday's game against Everett, the youngster was playing wide receiver with his fellow Pop Warner friend, Jason Barbosa, 12, who like Ellcock hails from East Cambridge.

Though his cousin plays for the Crimson Tide, Ellcock, who has attended the game four straight years, wasn't masking his loyalties.

"I want Cambridge to win!" he said. "I don't think they will; we haven't beat Everett in a long time." With a 58-28 final score prediction, Ellcock was slightly off the mark, but he was right in announcing that the Falcons would find a way to score "at least once" and added, "I'm going to play for them someday."
Amelia Rayno

Traditional preparation

If you walk into the Abington football locker room, you might feel as if you've stepped back in time about 30 years. It has gone largely unchanged in the time Jim Kelliher has been head coach, particularly the cramped space he uses as an office.

But for each of the last 30 years, that's where you'll find him the night before Thanksgiving. "I feel a lot of tension and get all excited and I know I won't be any good at home, so I thought the best thing was to have dinner and get down there at about 8 o'clock and get some things done," Kelliher said.

He usually manages to get a couple hours of sleep there, and is raring to go for the game against archrival Whitman-Hanson.

As for Wednesday night, "It was a nice quiet night," he said with a laugh. "Some nights over those years haven't been quiet nights."
Nick French

Great expectations

It will go down as the year of the rebirth of the Reading football program, but coach John Fiore had a much more important birth on his mind.

The Rockets play Walpole Tuesday in the Division 2 playoffs for a Super Bowl berth. Fiore's wife is due to give birth Friday.

A baby in time for a Super Bowl, coach?

"Whatever happens, we want [our baby] happy and healthy," Fiore said with a smile.
Jeff Powalisz

Desilets remembered

Before the Framingham-Natick game, fans, players, and coaches honored former Framingham standout Jeremy Desilets with a moment of silence. Desilets was a captain for the Flyers who graduated in 1995 before attending Plymouth State. He died in October.
Maggie Cassidy

Moment of silence

Prior to Acton-Boxboro's game against Westford, a moment of silence was held in memory of former Colonials coach Ed Leary.

Leary, known as "Coach" to many in the community, died Tuesday.

After filling the coaching opening in 1968, Leary led A-B to four league championships during his 36 years at the helm. He also helped found the local Pop Warner football league.

A Cambridge native, Leary played football at Boston University. A-B's Leary Field is named in his honor.
Jeff Schaible

Give these girls a cheer

The Dartmouth High School cheerleaders have been raising money throughout the fall for Helping Hands, a local charity that helps needy families. The girls reached their season-long goal of $7,500 yesterday.
Chris Estrada

Clock management

The MIAA ruled that teams that had secured or were in contention for playoff berths would play 10-minute quarters instead of the usual 12, a decision that affected hopefuls Amesbury and Newburyport. The aim was to keep playoff teams from being overworked, given the possibility of playing three games in a 10-day span. It forced the Cape Ann Small rivals to alter their approach, at least a little.

"We didn't like that," said Newburyport coach Ed Gaudiano after his team's loss. "It didn't really change [anything], but we can get down the field in a hurry. It takes away eight minutes of the game."

As Amesbury coach Thom Connors saw it, those missing minutes worked heavily to his club's advantage.

"That was eight minutes that [Newburyport quarterback Joe] Clancy couldn't be on the field," said Connors. "That worked in our favor."
Dan Hickling

Uniting for a cause

Regardless of the sport, when North Attleboro, Bishop Feehan, and Attleboro play each other, the competition is fierce. But for the first time on Thanksgiving, students from the schools combined to raise money for less fortunate families in the area.

"It's a combined effort between Bishop Feehan, North Attleboro, and Attleboro to collect money to provide a Christmas dinner for needy people in the North Attleboro and Attleboro areas and surrounding towns," said Attleboro's Ashley Balerna, who was accepting donations yesterday at the North Attleboro-Attleboro game along with fellow students Ashley Eustis, Lauren Annese, Jasmine Vivar, and North Attleboro's Hollie Badger, Courtney Flanagan and Jill Brunelli. Attleboro principal Jeff Newman said his Feehan counterpart, Bill Runey, reached out to the other principals.

"For many years, Feehan has helped to fund the Tedesco Family Foundation, which has fallen on difficult times and needed help," said Newman.
Mike Scandura

Flutie honorees

At the half of the Weymouth-Walpole game, former Weymouth athlete Jake Harrison was recognized as the male Bay State Conference Doug Flutie award winner for 2007-08.

The award is presented to the top male and female student-athletes in the conference for their character, athletic success, and academic excellence. Harrison excelled at football and wrestling, being named Wrestler of the Year as a senior. He is currently a freshman at the US Merchant Marine Academy.

Melanie Baskind, the Globe's 2007-08 Female Athlete of the Year as a senior at Framingham High after earning All-American honors in soccer and lacrosse, was honored at halftime of the Natick-Framingham game.

Baskind, who led the Harvard women's soccer team in scoring as a freshman, received the award from Flutie, alongside Framingham athletic director/coach Gary Doherty and Natick AD/coach Tom Lamb.
David Auguste and Maggie Cassidy