Through six weeks of the high school football season, there’s only four undefeated teams.
Locals fans know all about Pelham and its jaw-dropping 47-game winning streak, but what about the other three?
All are technical schools – Shawsheen Tech, Greater Lowell Tech and Nashoba Tech are 5-0.
Nashoba Tech head coach Danny Kelly said “it means a lot to us” from a Commonwealth Athletic Conference standpoint.
“Sometimes the Voc schools get overlooked for their talent. We all have the same lunch box mentality where we go to work, don’t make excuses and show up every day ready to go. It’s huge for the league and everyone to see that the vocational schools are well represented,” he said.
Late Friday night, one of the three Voc schools will no longer be undefeated. Greater Lowell will travel to Cassidy Field in Billerica to take on Shawsheen. This matchup is one of three potentially tremendous – and most likely high-scoring games – on tap for Friday night, with Methuen visiting Billerica and Tewksbury visiting Chelmsford as the other two.
GLT at Shawsheen
These teams met 25 times on Thanksgiving Day from 1993-2017, and since have clashed in the regular season. Over the 31 meetings, the Rams have won 27, including the last 24. Over the past three matchups, Shawsheen has won 16-7, 36-0 and 31-0.
The winner of this one remains undefeated and also holds the “Collins Cup” for a year. The Cup has been a part of the tradition since 1993, named after former Greater Lowell Superintendent of Schools William J. Collins.
“We have been thinking about this game all year,” said Greater Lowell senior captain and two-way lineman Eric Morrison. “It’s been over 20 years since we’ve beaten them. We’ve been working hard all year long. Everyone has been doing their job and getting better. Shawsheen is a great team. It’s going to be tough game, but if we come out strong and play tough from beginning to end, we will give ourselves a great chance.”
Greater Lowell is averaging 29 points per game and have been led by QB MJ Camara, who has completed 44-of-71 passes for 828 yards and seven touchdowns, and running back Aviren Chitpaseuth, who has 820 rushing yards with 10 TDs and two other receiving scores, while Damian Jackman and Lennoxx Ramos have combined for 537 receiving yards and five TD receptions.
The Gryphons will try to score against a terrific Shawsheen defense which blanked a high-powered Wayland last week. Cullen Walsh and Eric and Jake Banda have played extremely well for the Rams.
Offensively for Shawsheen, QB Sid Tildsley rushed for 118 yards and three TDs against Wayland, while Banda had 103 yards and Zack Timmons had 48 with a TD.
Sun’s Super 6
1. Shawsheen Tech (5-0): The Rams were idle last week and move up a spot which seems a bit strange but, really, which team has played better this season?
2. Pelham (6-0): The Pythons’ running back duo of Junior MacKinnon and Justin Bowlan is too tough to stop.
3. Billerica (3-2): Huge win last week over Tewksbury, but an even bigger challenge with the Rangers.
4. Tewksbury (4-1): The Redmen go from No. 1 to No. 4 – not because of the loss per se, just other three teams ahead of them are playing slightly better. On the road against a much improved Chelmsford team will be no easy task.
5. Greater Lowell (5-0): The last time the Gryphons beat Shawsheen everyone thought the world was going to end due to Y2K. This game has been circled on their calendars for a year.
6. Nashoba Tech (5-0): The impressive Vikings make their first appearance in the Super 6. Last week they passed a huge test, beating a tough Whittier team with a clutch last-minute scoring drive.