THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRiDAy, OCTObER 20, 2023 Page 21 Lackland’s five-touchdown performance helps power past Medford to secure another Tide victory After taking on host Malden last night, Everett returns home to prep for Lynn Classical on Oct. 27 By Joe McConnell layers from Andover, Natick, Taunton, Weymouth, Lincoln-Sudbury, Westford Academy and Needham were chosen Division 1 Stars of the Week by the Boston Herald this past week, along with Everett High School football senior wide receiver Damien Lackland. Nominating Lackland to high school football’s honor roll list was easy after his five-touchdown performance against visiting Medford last Friday night, which propelled his teammates to a 41-6 victory. It was the team’s fourth Greater Boston League of the year in as many games, and they are 5-1 overall. As of Oct. 17, the Crimson Tide is ranked 16th P in Division 1 with just two regular season games left before the playoffs begin in early November. The Top 16 teams in each division make the postseason. First-year Crimson Tide head coach Justin Flores didn’t take long to figure out what type of skilled player Lackland is once he was officially named to the position by the school committee in early July, and now the rest of the state is just beginning to catch up. “Damien is a tremendous Tide girls’ soccer bounces back to beat Lynn English after losing to Revere, Reading By Joe McConnell O n Oct. 12, the Everett High School girls’ soccer team (5-9) lost to Greater Boston League rival Revere, 3-1. Despite the loss, Crimson Everett’s Damien Lackland is shown breaking through the BC High defensive line during the Tide’s Homecoming win over the Eagles. Lackland was picked as a Boston Herald Division 1 Stars of the Week this past week. (Advocate file photo) running back,” Flores said. “Teams may be fooled by his size, but he runs with a lot of power and heart. He rarely ever goes down on first contact, and is also one of the smartest players on the field. “The (offensive) line did a good job, along with Damien in executing some schemes that we put into the gameplan to beat the (Medford) defense on the perimeter,” added Flores. “Nothing really changed for us as an offense, and we will continue to be efficient as much as possible, while winning the numbers game at the line of scrimmage.” Flores credited the offensive line for Lackland’s touchdown scoring barrage that also included 19 carries for 133 yards. To say the 3-3 Mustangs has seen enough of Lackland would be an understatement. The Everett coach also mentioned the contributions of several other skilled positions on this talented roster that played significant roles in the win against Medford. “Besides (Jayden) Prophete (2 catches, 23 yards) and (Christian) Zamor (1 catch, 7 yards), Dom Papa has also stepped up, along with (Jaysaun) Coggins (3 catches, 40 yards), which made us more dynamic in both our running and passing games,” said FOOTBALL | SEE PAGE 24 Tide field hockey drops close decision to rival Malden By Joe McConnell T he Everett High School field hockey team (3-9) played just one game last week, and the Tide ended up falling to Greater Boston League rival Malden in a close encounter on the road, 3-0. Cephas Orleus was Everett’s honorary game captain. “We were fired up for this game, because it was their Senior Night, and as a result it was a great match-up,” said first-year Everett coach Sabrina Wright. “This game featured two evenly skilled teams against each other. We get along really well with their coaches, and we’re hoping the relationship continues to build between both programs over the next few years.” Malden scored a goal late in the first quarter to break the scoreless tie. Throughout most of the game, it was just a volley separating us from their end to our end until the fourth quarter, when we let up their two insurance goals, which secured the win for them.” The final score was not indicative on how well the visitors played, according to Wright. “Similar to us, Malden has a team consisting of mostly boys, so watching this game was fun, because the boys on both our teams don’t get tired,” added Wright. “It was a race to the ball, and a race to the goal, and it was really fun. I can’t wait to play them again later this month at home on Oct. 28, and hopefully at that time we will end up on top.” The Crimson Tide have since gone on to blitz non-league foe Greater Lowell on Monday, Oct. 16, 8-0. Caden Sylva and Orleus led the way on offense with three goals apiece. Malaica Guillume and Meghan Currie accounted for the other two scores. It was Currie’s first marker of the season. Everett then faced nonleague Northeast Voke on Oct. 18 after press deadline, before they head to Waltham to play the Hawks later today (Oct. 20) at Leary Field, starting at 4:15 p.m. It’s the second meeting of the year between both teams. The Hawks defeated the locals the first time around way back on Sept. 6 in the opening game of the season at home, 5-0. The Tide is ranked 48th in the Division 2 power rankings, as of Oct. 17. The Top 32 teams make the state tournament, and with still six regular season games left on the schedule there’s still a chance Everett can move up with a late surge. Teams with a .500 or better record that finish below the Top 32 squads must then participate in a play-in game, before moving on to the postseason. Norwood (13-1), Reading Memorial (13-1), Somerset-Berkley Regional (12-01), Minnechaug (11-1-1) and Hopkinton (9-3-2) are currently the Top 5 Division 2 clubs. Tide Coach Dom Persuitte had no problem with the effort of his team. “Our aggressive play was fantastic across the board,” he said. “Emilia Maria-Babcock was tremendous in goal, while Aldrona Flores set up our lone goal. She headed the ball down to Layla Cardona, who in turn ripped it over the keeper’s head.” Layla Leles, Sofia Arana-Quintanilla, Luna Sepulveda Maselli, Shyann Ambersley, Maria Silvestri and Casey Martinez also stood out in this game, according to the coach. On Oct. 16, the Tide dropped a 4-0 decision to non-league Reading. Persuitte praised the efforts of Maria-Babcock, who was once again fantastic in her new role as the team’s starting goalkeeper. She was able to keep her teammates close on the scoreboard during this game that was dominated by the Rockets. The Everett girls got back on the winning track earlier this week against host Lynn English at Lynn’s Manning Field, 6-0 on Oct. 17. More on this game will be in next week’s Everett Advocate. They also took on Lynn Classical at home yesterday (Oct. 19) after press deadline, before heading to Medford’s Hormel Stadium Monday night (Oct. 23) to face the Mustangs at 6 p.m. They will then have four games left on the regular season schedule. The Crimson Tide was ranked 50th in the Division 1 power rankings, before the win over Lynn English was calculated into the standings. The Top 32 teams qualify for the state tournament. Teams with a .500 or better record that finish below the Top 32 squads must then participate in a play-in game, before moving on to the postseason. Bishop Feehan (12-0-1), Natick (10-1-1), Hopkinton (13-0-0), Wellesley (11-3-0), Franklin (121-0) and Winchester (12-1-0) are right now the Top 6 Division 1 clubs.
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