By John Orrell, Contributing Writer
Shrewsbury – What better way to open a new season and a new high school coaching career than with a four-game win streak?
That’s precisely what Shrewsbury High School (SHS) varsity football head coach John Aloisi and his cast of players and coaches pulled off in 2014 before hitting a rough patch. They still finished strong at 6-5 with a Central Mass. Division 2 playoff victory along the way.
Fast forward to 2015 and Aloisi has a year with the Colonials under his belt and a sense of chemistry between players and coach is palpable in the second year of what should be a long and successful run for Shrewsbury High football.
“Going through one year has helped significantly,” explained Aloisi, who is assisted by Bruce Pinto, Zach Hertel-Therrien, Lee Diamantopoulos, Mike Besaw and Mark Ellis. “Familiarity between the kids and me helps out a lot. They know what to expect now. They know the rhythm of practice. They know the expectations so as expected it’s been a nice improvement.”
There will be no opening-season win streaks this year as the Colonials dropped their home opener, falling to St. Peter-Marian High School Sept. 11. There was a lot to be learned from that opening night defeat; much to take away and learn from, said Aloisi.
“There were a lot of positives,” he said. “Lots of our plays we looked carefully at and we had nine or 10 guys doing really good stuff, but we had a couple of mental errors or two. I think that a lot of the mistakes we made are controllable. It’s frustrating and encouraging at the same time but I think we did a lot of good things at all three phases.”
This 2015 squad will be led by talented senior co-captains Chandler Couture, Jake Cohen and Jake Ayisi. One key ingredient will be strong captain leadership, and this bunch has proven more than capable of handling the responsibility.
“We have a great group of players on this team and the captains are always looking out for the younger kids,” said Couture, one of the region’s top linemen. “If they ever have questions, we tell them to come to us and we help them. We tell them in the huddle that the reason they’re here is that they are good enough to be here. We tell them to do their best and encourage them and not be afraid when they get in.”
“The most important thing about leadership is keeping everyone motivated during practice, lifts, waking up early and other team events,” agreed Cohen. “When people lose motivation for those things, they lose drive and don’t play as well.”
Aloisi’s roster numbers more than 60 players and is still fluid at this early point of the season. Names to look for that are expected to see considerable on-field time include QB/DB Christopher Wiseman, RB/DB Nicholas Martin, Ayisi, A.J. Laramee, RB/LB Cohen, TE/LB Grayson Lee, Nnamdi Okaka, OL/LB Chris Jalbert, Michael Mulvena, OL/DL Chandler Couture, Nicholas DiGirolamo, Ed Daher, Paul Mulcahy, WR/LB Connor McAulay and WR/DB Brian Moura.
Playing in arguably the region’s toughest league, Mid-Wachusett A, consistency and day-to-day improvement and hard work are the main approaches for success, according to Aloisi.
“We just stay with our approach regardless of who we are playing,” he said. “We want to give our best effort and play for each other. We’ll play hard and not worry about who’s on the other side. We have great kids and we’re going to stay the course.”
“At practice, we’re all flying around. We’re excited to be here,” added Couture. “We have a hard schedule but I think we’re a team to beat and if we go into games and do what we need to do, we’re going to be one of the top teams.”