Thanksgiving was two weeks ago, but opposing football coaches and fans across the Middlesex League are still giving thanks that they’ve finally seen the last of this year’s crop of Lexington seniors.
The 2017 edition of Minuteman football more than met the substantial expectations heaped on them at the year’s start. Led by senior co-captains Sal Frelick, Ben Quint, Will Thomas and Jimmy Lane, the team cruised through another unbeaten league season averaging 47 points per game on their way to their second straight Middlesex Liberty Title. They were rewarded with a number two seed in the loaded Division 1 North play-offs and hosted two play-off games before finally succumbing to Everett in the North semi-finals.
Reflecting on their 9-2 season coach George Peterson said, “the expectations were huge for these kids, and I think they lived up to them. Back to back league titles. Getting our chance to play Andover and right that wrong from last year…that was awesome. The Everett game was probably the biggest game in Lexington in a long time, and we gave them as big a scare as any team has so far this year. And,” he continued, “to top it off we put eleven kids on the league all star team; more than we’ve ever had before.”
Those eleven all stars include, of course, the repeating league MVP and legitimate contender for Massachusetts Player of the Year, Frelick, who accounted for an eye popping 51 touchdowns during a sensational senior season.
“I believe he should get the honor,” Peterson declared. “I hope it's a foregone conclusion. Nobody’s put up the kind of numbers he has this year.”
Quint was another shoe-in all-star making the team at safety (to allow room for a deserving Jack Geiger from Reading at running back), but offensively he scored 23 times making him the second highest scoring running back in Division 1 and ran for over 1000 yards on just 78 carries.
Peterson had some special comments for Quint. “In a way it’s unfortunate that Ben played at one of the few schools in the state where he’d be in a supporting role. But it says so much about him that he accepted that and never let it affect him or the way he plays. It’s a credit to the kind of person he is. He easily could have had 150 to 200 carries and over 2000 yards but that just isn’t the offense we have, and he understood that.”
Junior wide out Tony Bianchi was another obvious all-star selection with 71 total receptions on the year, 17 for touchdowns. No other receiver in Division 1 was close to those numbers.
Those three skill players who get all the headlines would be the first to admit that none of what they did would have been possible without their three all-star offensive linemen, Thomas at center, senior tackle Seamus Spencer and senior guard Max Khozozian.
There were deserving all-star selections on the defensive side of the ball, too. Junior linebacker Max Stevens had some impressive numbers of his own leading the team in tackles with 141 (a whopping average of 13 per game), most of them of the jarring variety, and 11 1/2 sacks.
His linebacker partner, Lane, was right behind him with 99 tackles and 7 1/2 sacks.
Defensive end Sean Sullivan with 48 tackles and 8 1/2 sacks also made the team along with the rock of the defensive line, senior Tenzin Pharachesur the intimidating 300-pound mass at nose tackle.
Dependable, almost automatic Junior kicker Duncan Hewitt was another easy all-star choice. Hewitt led all of Division 1 with 64 extra points and many goal line kick offs.
Summing up his feelings about the season Peterson said, “There were so many highlights. We were very fortunate to have a group of senior leaders that made this a special thing. It was a great year…a lot of fun. I was excited to be a part of it.”