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Manchester Essex faces tall task in unbeaten Brighton

Monday, November, 26 By Nick Curcuru
Correspondent

The Manchester Essex Hornets and the Brighton Bengals have had a similar road to the Division 4 football playoffs.

Both teams thwarted off a tough non-league opponent in Pope John, with the Hornets winning 27-26 and the Bengals winning 60-58 in triple-overtime. Both teams also clinched a playoff spot in their last regular season game, with the Hornets defeating Georgetown 27-7 and the Bengals defeating Dorchester 30-6.

That is where the similarities end, however, as these two teams will bring in two different philosophies and styles of play when they meet in the Division 4 playoffs tomorrow at Wayland High School (4 p.m.). The winner will move on to the Division 4 Super Bowl against either Pope John or West Bridgewater.

Both teams advanced to the postseason last year. Brighton was defeated by West Bridgewater, 34-14, in the Division 4 Super Bowl, while Manchester Essex fell to Ipswich, 34-0, in the Division 3A semifinals.

Boston South League champion Brighton (10-0) brings a smashmouth style of offense and an aggressive defense. Manchester Essex (9-2), on the other hand, likes to spread teams out and make them deal with its speed.

Manchester Essex has been stressing that it needs to keep up the intensity that was so effective against Georgetown. "We have to come out with the same intensity as we did on Thursday," Hornets senior captain Sam Cohen said in reference to his team's dominating 27-7 playoff-clinching win. "We came out fired up on Thanksgiving and clicked on all cylinders, and that needs to carry over to (tomorrow)."

In addition to keeping up intensity, the Hornets must stop a potent Brighton offense that averaged 35 points per game this season. The Bengals tight double wing offense is led by senior quarterback Kameel Lashley. The bruising quarterback stands at 6-foot-3, 225 pounds and is a dual threat. He rushed for 16 touchdowns and threw for eight more.

"Stopping Lashley will be our main objective on defense," said Hornets head coach Mike Athanas, whose team is in the postseason for the second straight year. "We need to start with him and make plays on the other guys too because they can spread the ball around. They can also spread you out and throw, but they mostly like to run and play smashmouth football."

The Bengals like to use a slew of other backs to spell Lashley; five other backs have scored five touchdowns or more for the Bengals.

"We have a pretty balanced offense," Bengals head coach James Philip said.

Brighton's offense is not its only strength | it has an equally effective defense that has allowed 142 points on the season. With the exception of Pope John scoring 58 points in an extended game, the Bengals have not allowed more than two touchdowns to any other opponent.

Senior linebacker and defensive end Kariyn Azeez leads the Bengals defense and is lauded by Philip for being one of their biggest playmakers.

"We pride ourselves on good defense; we put some of our best athletes on the defensive side," Philip said. "Our goal for the playoffs is to limit both Manchester Essex and whoever we may play in the Super Bowl to no touchdowns. Our philosophy has been, 'If we score we may win; if they don't score we will win.'"

The Bengals defense, while potent, will have their hands full with a high-powered Hornets offense led by quarterback Pat Orlando.

The junior captain has led the Hornets offense to 302 points this season by putting up 1,648 yards passing and 17 touchdown passes to go along with six more rushing touchdowns. The Hornets also feature an effective running game led by sophomore Brian Ciccone.

"We need to execute on offense just like we did on Thursday," Athanas said. "We will take what's given to us and go from there. Run or pass, it doesn't matter, we will go with what works."

Philip outlined a very simple strategy to try to slow down the Hornets offense.

"We need to hit them in the mouth," Philip said. "We need to bring a lot of pressure. (Orlando) can throw and run well, and they have a number of effective running backs."

All in all, the Hornets expect a tough game and hope to ride the momentum they gained on Thanksgiving.

"We executed so well on Thursday," Athanas said. "Our defense came prepared and our offense clicked. We need to put it all together again against Brighton because they are a tough team."

Philip also believes it will be a battle.

"We are expecting a good game," Philip said. "We will go out there, play hard and have some fun. That's what it's all about."

Keys to Victory

Manchester Essex

1. Keep the momentum going - The Hornets played their most complete game of the season in their Thanksgiving victory over Georgetown. They need to let that momentum carry into tomorrow.

2. Keep up the physical play - The Hornets are no stranger to physical play and big football teams. They need to handle themselves just as they did against Greater Lowell and Whittier Tech and go blow for blow with the Bengals.

3. Contain Lashley - Kameel Lashley makes the Bengals offense go. If the Hornets can contain him, they have a great shot at winning.

Brighton

1. Contain Orlando - That has been the goal for every Hornets opponent this year, and no opponent has had much success. The Bengals will need to have success in this area to win. It starts with pressure.

2. Slow the game down - Brighton needs to use its running game to keep the Hornets offense off the field and eat the clock.

3. Use size to an advantage - The Bengals have a definitive size advantage over the Hornets; they need to use it to wear them down.