THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, September 10, 2021 Page 13 ~ Greater Boston League Notebook ~ EHS Football opens season tonight on road vs. #3 Xaverian; RHS Patriots Football opens regular season at home tonight hosting Peabody; MHS Football builds up numbers, eyes season/home opener on Sept. 16 vs. Whittier By Steve Freker I t’s a tall order and a top-shelf test, but second-year head coach Rob DiLoreto would not have it any other way. The long-awaited 2021 season opener for the Everett High School football team is tonight on the road at #3-ranked Xaverian High School in Westwood. It’s a 7:00 p.m. kickoff for the Crimson Tide. Tonight’s game will be the marquee game of the weekend as Everett is also highly ranked, at #4 in the Globe Top 20 Poll. Xaverian won the Catholic Conference title in undefeated fashion in the shortened Fall 2 season this past spring and returns many of the players from that team. Four of Xaverian’s top players – Joe Kelcourse and Michael Oates, both running backs, and split end Carlo Crocetti as well as safety Anthony Busa – were included on the Herald’s “players to watch list.” Everett is led by seniors Ishmael Zamor (split end) and Jaylen Murphy (offensive line) along with senior lineman Jaylen Biggi and running back J.C. Clerveaux. Interestingly, this will be Everett’s lone 7 p.m. kickoff of the regular season. It appears that the Greater Boston League (GBL) has moved its Friday night starting times back to 6 p.m. for all league games. **** Everett’s football schedule a lot different than in past, due to enlarged GBL For the first time in many years, Everett’s schedule, aside from tonight’s season opener, looks a lot different. Gone are the multiple marquee matchups with some of the top schools around the region. There’s a very good reason for that: There’s just no room! Due to the increase in size in the GBL, which now features eight teams, the space for non-league games has shrunk considerably. Starting next week with a home game versus GBLer Somerville on Friday, Sept. 17 at 6:00 p.m., it will be all-GBL games for Everett until Thanksgiving, when it begins a brand-new holiday rivalry, hosting Catholic Conference team St. John’s Shrewsbury at 10:00 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning. **** Revere opens tonight at home versus nonleaguer Peabody Head Coach Lou Cicatelli and the Revere High Patriots open the 2021 season tonight versus a longtime rival – which is now situated in a different league. The Patriots will take on Northeastern Conference member Peabody tonight at Harry Della Russo Stadium with a 7:00 p.m. kickoff. This will be the first ~ Op-Ed ~ How Did Each Candidate Answer “The Question”? By Craig Spadafora, Councillor-at-Large E ach election season brings with it its own dynamic, and this year is no different. The Councillor-At Large race features for the first time in a long time two open seats, with six candidates vying for three seats in total. Across the country, the ‘defund the police’ movement remains alive, and the Councillor-At-Large race includes two candidates, Karen Hayes and Carey McDonald, who are supporters of the ‘defund the police’ movement. Of course, lately, as candidates have figured out it may not be as politically popular as they once thought it was, they’ve tried to do what politicians do best and the public hates the most, back pedal and redefine what they really mean to avoid being held accountable. With transparency being an often talked about topic in this year’s race, we can put this to rest really easily. Earlier this year, there was an effort led by a group called the people’s budget. The group endeavored to gain support for their agenda by putting out a survey, and then asked city leaders to create a budget based upon the results of this survey. One of the questions was as clear as clear can be: For Police and Policing, would you Spend Less, Spend the Same, or Spend More. Full disclosure, I did not answer “Spend Less”. I’m proud of that. If you are a supporter of your local police and one of the candidates comes to your door, or you somehow get the chance to engage then, ask them this simple question. HOW DID YOU ANSWER THE PEOPLES BUDGET ON REDUCED POLICE FUNDING? There are only three answers. One of them isn’t “yes, but….”. A lot has changed over the years. Some things haven’t. Great neighborhoods start with safe neighborhoods. Safe neighborhoods simply don’t exist without brave men and women who show up to work each day, willing to take on whatever challenge is thrown at them. I’m ever mindful that while so many people ‘worked remotely’ during COVID, that was not an option for our Law Enforcement professionals. Defund the police? No thank you. I’ll take DEFEND the police instead. game of the first official “full” GBL schedule for Revere, which joined the GBL officially in 2020. Revere Football’s four captains are Augusto Goncalves, Elmahdi Elkeaouakibi and Wilmer Rodriguez, who are all seniors, and Max Doucette, a junior. Revere is coming off a torrid stretch where the Patriots have won 10 of their last 13 games over the 2019 full season and the Fall 2 season, which was played this past spring. **** Coach Exilhomme welcomes growing numbers as MHS football eyes Sept. 16 season opener First-year Malden High School head football coach Witche Exilhomme knew he would have to spend time “marketing” his Golden Tornado program within the walls of the school, and so far it is paying dividends. Coach Exilhomme said he is pleased with the growing numbers of MHS football players who have signed on since the start of preseason camp. “We need numbers to provide depth, and we need depth to create competition among ourselves for the top positions,” Coach Exilhomme said. “When you have a lot of competition, it makes for a more productive practice, and that is how we improve as a team.” Malden has a scheduled “bye” along with a number of other Eastern Mass. schools. The Tornado boys are eyeing a season opener set for next Thursday, Sept. 16 at Macdonald Stadium in Malden. The Golden Tornado squad will host Whittier Tech at 6:00 p.m. that night. “We have been working hard and doing a lot of teaching as coaches,” Coach Exilhomme said. “We will be ready for our opponent on Opening Night.”
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