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On the Verge of greatness

Wednesday, September, 19 By Hector Longo
Staff writer

Patty Verge has an important reservation Saturday afternoon, one with little wiggle room according to her son, Colby. "She'll be on the Pinkerton side," said Colby emphatically. "I guarantee it. I'm sure of it. Pinkerton side, yep." Colby, a junior defensive back for the Astros, almost sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

But after what he's done to get here, mom had better walk that extra eighth of a mile around the Grant Field track in Salem, to the visitors' section.

Patty teaches physical education at Woodbury Junior High in Salem. Saturday afternoon (2 p.m.), Patty's boys of Salem take on her boy, Colby, and undefeated (3-0) Pinkerton Academy with first place in Division 1 football on the line. Colby, might still be taking some wary steps on the Grant grass. The fleet-footed safety is playing in only his second game since tearing up his knee in the regular season finale a year ago.

"I had picked off a pass and went to make a cut, and it just tore my ACL," said Verge, who proudly noted that at Astro home games mom is busy working the first-down chains. "All I can say is that I'm so happy to be back. I still have my junior and senior years, and I'm feeling really confident about the knee. Coach (Brian) O'Reilly has been great about it, putting me back in there."

O'Reilly says Verge, who lives in Derry, is in there because he belongs.

"He was my only sophomore starter out there, and he would have started for me in lacrosse, too," said O'Reilly. The knee injury did prevent him from playing basketball, where he probably would have started at point guard. For Verge, missing the football playoffs and sitting out the other two seasons was no fun.

"The waiting has been the toughest part," he said. "It feels the same as it used to now, and that's what is most important. The doctor and the physical therapist did a great job. I can cut just like before. And if I ran a 4.75 40-yard dash before, I'll bet right now I'm at 4.8."

Few could argue with Verge, who spent Saturday afternoon flying all over the field in the big win over West. He split time at corner back and safety and looked sharp, according to O'Reilly.

Was it a coincidence that Verge debuted against previously 2-0 West? The Astros had plowed through Nashua North and Manchester Central in the first two weeks. And the wood is coming.

"Salem will, of course, be the big one. No doubt, they have the best backfield in the state," said Verge, who is the junior class secretary at Pinkerton. "We go Salem, Londonderry and two weeks later, Brockton, so this is a great time to be back."

Inside the unbeatens

Amazingly for so early in the season, only four local teams remain in the unbeaten ranks, not including Brooks School and Phillips Academy, who have yet to lace them up for real. Of the 16 local teams whose seasons are underway, Pinkerton Academy (3-0), Greater Lawrence Tech (2-0), North Reading (2-0) and Pelham (3-0) own the only spotless records. In some ways, this is not a bad thing. Often area teams are going out and challenging tough opponents, instead of seeking out softies.

You could make a case that all four of the unbeatens are at least a bit of a surprise.

Rebuilding Pinkerton, a two-time defending state champ, was supposed to be at least a little vulnerable early but survived 10 turnovers combined in the first two games. The Reggies, with Whittier, Northeast and Minuteman up next, could be 5-0 when forced to crank it up another notch against Greater Lowell Tech in Week 6.

Pelham has a tuneup vs. winless Winnisquam before amping it up against defending Division 5 state champ Bishop Brady, which has a loss to independent Trinity but is 2-0 in the division.

And then there's everybody's Cinderella story, North Reading. The Hornets travel to 1-1 independent Watertown, which has gone 1-1 in the early going, getting splattered by Dover-Sherborn and taking it out on Trinity Catholic to snap a 23-game losing streak.

With each successive win, the Hornet storyline gets that much better.