Summer is quickly winding down for the Marblehead High School fall sports coaches and athletes. For instance, football coach Jim Rudloff is set to welcome his prospective players to the first day of practice on Aug. 15. They will have to hit the ground running to get ready for the first scheduled scrimmage against host St. John’s Prep on Saturday, Aug. 23, at 10 a.m.
Three days later on Tuesday, Aug. 26, West Springfield comes to Piper to scrimmage the Magicians, starting at 5 p.m. The Marblehead boys then won’t have too much time to rest up, before traveling to Billerica to face the Indians in their final organized tune-up on Friday, Aug. 29, also at 5 p.m.
The condensed heavy workload is all because Labor Day comes early this year on Sept. 1, with the regular season opener slated to take place just days later on Friday night, Sept. 5, against non-league host Lynn English at Lynn’s Manning Field, starting at 7 p.m.
The rest of the nine-game regular season schedule lines up as follows: Bishop Fenwick at Piper on Sept. 12 (7 p.m.); at Shepherd Hill Regional on Sept. 19 (6 p.m.); North Andover at Piper on Sept. 26 (7 p.m.); at Beverly on Saturday, Oct. 11 (11 a.m.); at Peabody on Oct. 17 (7 p.m.); at Masco on Oct. 24 (6:30 p.m.); Danvers at Piper on Oct. 31 Halloween Night (7 p.m.) and Swampscott at Piper on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 27 (10 a.m.).
But before these games, this year’s edition of the Magicians will be well-prepared for another postseason run. Never mind the preseason practices and scrimmages, they began honing their skills with an active summer schedule that included several 7-v-7 tournaments, and with each one they enjoyed considerable success.
“We won 22 straight 7-v-7 games this summer, beating teams like Swampscott, St. Mary’s of Lynn, Winthrop, Lynn English and Woburn along the way,” said senior quarterback Finn Gallup.
Most of these wins meant championships. The Northeast North Division 7-v-7 Tournament in Berwick, Maine, was one of their most recent success stories on July 12. They went undefeated in the Pine Tree State, winning all seven games against teams from three different states. The title clincher was against St. Mary’s of Lynn on a last second touchdown by incoming junior Noah Wilson.
The Marblehead boys followed up that championship with a trip to Milton on July 31 to play in the New England 7-v-7 tournament. They first defeated Barnstable (33-14) and Greater Lowell (28-6) to make it to the semifinals, where they dropped a close 26-20 decision to BB&N out of the Independent Prep School League.
Throughout these summer tournaments, Gallup has really been impressed with the defense. “Our defense has improved exponentially over the course of the summer, while the offense continues to click,” he said. “The younger guys are really coming into their own, while us older guys continue to learn to lead in order to grow the overall team.”
Gallup explained that he and his skilled position teammates have been getting together regularly to throw, and the linemen have been doing the same to go over blocking techniques to get ready for that first day of practice with coach Rudloff on Aug. 15. But the entire team also convenes four days a week – Monday through Thursday – for daily workouts.
“We have had great attendance for these workouts, and it shows by our progress,” said Gallup. “We have become a very close-knit group, developing loads of chemistry on both sides of the ball. Nonetheless, we know we still have a lot to work on, but with two weeks to go before the first official day of practice, we’re still in a solid position to compete.”
During the last three Sundays in July, the Magicians hosted the North Shore 7-v-7 League. They won all eight of their games to account for another championship. They defeated Woburn and Winthrop in the first week, and Lynn English, Swampscott and St. Mary’s of Lynn in the second week. They then wrapped it up with victories over St. Mary’s, Woburn and Winthrop in the third week.
Gallup would like nothing better than to carry this winning momentum over to the regular season in September to ultimately clinch another playoff berth that could advance them to the program’s fourth Super Bowl appearance in the Rudloff Era, which started in 2009.
