RallyNorth.net: High School Sports – Merrimack Valley and Southern NH

Eh Hec…. I Don't agree with 'stro's /devils prediction ,Whatsoever! Somewhere true grit and skill has been lost in translation. Look at the players pound for pound Pinkerton's roster is bigger and stronger. All teams have bad games…. Astro's have the the PLAY OFF experience and position players to go all the way. Go Astro's!!!!!

Hec, you mentioned “an emotional week” for the Raiders. Let's take a moment and acknowledge the passing of one of the truly class men in the area in the last four decades, former CCHS teacher, coach, and AD Mike Sullivan. He always, always had the best interest of kids at heart and bled red and blue. A wonderful family man, he will be missed.

Mike Sullivan
A corner stone of CCHS for 40 years–a great teacher, coach, father, granddad and husband. A great, great man who cared so much for the students and athletes. My deepest sympathy to his family and the Central community.

JS,

I really wasn't sure if the family wanted it out there, so out of respect I tried to keep away from it.
Mr. Sullivan was the AD at Central when I was there, and he was one of those true Valley sports icons.
Under his days as AD, he turned Central sports around.
Two giant hires:
1. Dick Licare, who transformed hoop in the Valley as we know it. Before him, the hoop scene was pretty much Andover and a Bill Donlon-led blip on the Methuen map. (Remembering of course that NA wasn't in the MVC). Mr. Sullivan took a huge chance on Licare, and the rest is history.
2. Mike Cassano/Chuck Adamopoulos – Before them, Central football was a doormat. These two came in together and basically legitimized a program that was in shambles.
But it was more than that.
Mr. Sullivan lived and breathed CCHS, poured all he had into it and saw Valley more than in just whether you could throw or catch, hit or miss. He valued people.
My condolences to his family, especially his children, whom my years at Central were sandwiched around. They're all good people.
I'm sure a ton of that has to do with Mr. Sullivan.

Thanks, Hec, for the kind words re: Mr. Sullivan, a consummate gentleman. Tonight's game is best symbolized by Central's opening kickoff, which went out of bounds. From there it was a steady dose of Laspada throwing lazers. The thing that's so impressive about the kid is that his receivers don't need to be all that open. Slight separation and the ball is there. Can't count how many throws went from the near hash to the far sideline ten yards down the field on a frozen rope of about 35 yards. Yes, there were breakdowns in Central's secondary, including a couple of huge ones, but you got the feeling that it didn't really matter. Billerica was the better team and a tip of the cap to them. To their credit, the Raiders battled and could have made it interesting prior to fumbling on the 1 yd. line. They should play Andover with a chip on their shoulder.

Tonight's performance by Billerica is your proof all you MVC sports nuts…LaSpada is a PHENOM. I've been covering this kid the last 2 years on WCAP and he plays at a college level as a 15 year old. He is a pure talent and makes unbelievable plays with the pigskin. One of the best athletes the MVC has seen and will see in a long time… Division 1 colleges will be drooling all over LaSpada next year guaranteed. Don't be surprised if Notre Dame is sitting in the stands on Turkey Day. LaSpada is the real deal… everybody gets it! This league title will be the 1st of 3 for LaSpada and Flynn.

Steve, I tried telling this to Hector, but I guess he just had to see it for himself last night. I was there, this stud put on an absolute clinic out there. He was playing on a different planet than everyone else. He is going to go down as the greatest player to ever play in the state of Massachusetts. I said it before, I'll say it again. He's a touchdown waiting to happen. Runs like a deer, busts tackles, did you see those lazers he was firing all over Lawrence Stadium last night. This star is a sophomore, can you believe that. USC, Notre Dame, any prolific D1 offense are going to be flying this kid out to take in Saturday games just like they are doing now with the Brockton kid. BC will be lucky, and I mean lucky if they can get LaSpada in there. Coach A said it, the kid is Superman. He's already a high school legend, and he has two more years left. YIKES !!! Hector, you told me to calm down before about him, how do feel now after watching him tear the place up last night?

Steve and James_2: As a Central fan, I stated in a previous blog that the Raiders would need to contain Laspada on third and longs. They did not do it. Best example was a third quarter third and twenty. Normally you're feeling pretty good about your chances of forcing a punt. Not last night, and the kid throws a frozen rope for a first down. Big kudos as the kid is as good as I've seen at the high school level. But best EVER from Mass?? You might be getting ahead of yourself as that list includes a couple of Heisman winners. Question: Why was the kid a) in the game and b) throwing it into the end zone from the 40 yard line with four minutes left and Billerica up 34-7? Does he play other sports? Pink-Salem moved to Sunday at 1:00.

Thanks for the acknowledgement John, look where is Hector?, I mean I know he's a hometown guy, but that prediction of 23-13 ? He basically called Billerica a one-man show, this team is the furthest thing from it. Hector how did that defense look last night ? Did you see the skill guys at wideout? How about that secondary? They've been playing great all year long. Why was LaSpada still in the game ? Why take him out ? You don't see Coach Moore from Dracut pulling his QB out during their blowouts. He wants his QB to ring up the stats, maybe Flynn wanted LaSpada to finish this out strong regardless of the score. Look Silva is good, but he's not LaSpada. Again, not to beat a dead horse, but aside from that D1 stud in Brockton, St.Louis, name me a better player playing in the state right now. LaSpada's the most exciting, most dynamic, most athletic phenom I have ever seen playing as a sophomore and I've watched ALOT of HS ball. He has the size, the strength, the athletism, the smarts, the heart, the leadership to take his game not only to D1, but beyond. Again Boston College will be lucky if they land him, like Steve mentioned, D1 scouts are going to be all over Calabrese field next Oct and Nov.

Billerica lost 1 game all season…LaSpada didn't play. When he plays this team looks UNSTOPABLE. When he doesn't they can't beat Tewksbury which is a long way from being in the hunt for the MVC title in the small division. He makes everyone around him play better…I've seen one player make LaSpada play scared and that is 6’4’’ 235 pounder Matt Grimard of Dracut. I was there last year when Grimard scored 5 times in the 1st half and LaSpada couldn't do a thing to stop him. The Super Bowl Champion Middies bulldozed there way to victory that night using everything they had to run up the score on the Indians. Lucky for LaSpada he has 2 more years to blossom into a collegiate star. Now he has 1 MVC title and 2 more awaiting him. If you thought football in the MVC is big now wait till LaSpada gets National Attention.

You can't blame him for calling the team a one man show. They lost to a pretty weak team without him. If he accounts for 70% of the teams offense, how good would they be without him? When you have the 'best player ever' in Mass on your team, it is possible to win just because he is there…..that being said, my stance is that he is part of the team so the team is pretty darn good.

As noted in a previous post, Central played three one-man teams in the last three weeks. They won the first and lost the last two. I agree that Billerica has terrific skilled guys at wideout. But without Laspada to get them the ball you have 12-7 vs. Tewksbury. That said, if I understand James' argument: Dracut kept Grimard in during blowouts last year, therefore Laspada should stay in during blowouts this year. Huh? That's precisely how you get kids hurt via cheap shots. And where is Grimard now, btw? Look, this Billerica team is clearly very good and best of luck to them in representing the MVC, which I think they'll do very well. Just don't get ahead of yourselves. Finally, probably just as well that CCHS lost as it might muffle the “Central-Out-Of-The-MVC” rhetoric for the time being. At least until tipoff.

laspada had a great game last night and he has had a great season but DONT EVER compare him to grimard. i do not know him personally but after playing against him he deserves better than to be talked about with that kid. laspada was a good kid when i played against him and his teammate tha i played with in the summer said he was a good kid. grimard is an embarrassment to the MVC and laspada does not deserve that.