Despite its proximity, the Walpole High football team faces a different obstacle than any other Bay State Conference team in getting to Gillette Stadium this fall, and its has nothing to do with back roads or traffic.
No, the biggest pothole on the Rebels path back to the Super Bowl this time around will be the added burden of expectation as with a slew of key cogs from last year’s Herget Division champions returning, many have already Walpole penciled into a Division 2 playoff spot and are just waiting to find out what time to show up in Foxboro on December 6.
To Walpole High coach Danny Villa, those type of expectations just go with the territory when you wear orange and blue.
“I think they are going to handle (the pressure) pretty well,” said the Rebel mentor. “They are grounded kids, they understand that Walpole is expected to win games and not just a few, it’s tournament or nothing. You hate that mentality in high school but that’s the tradition that has been set. They want to go out and prove that last year wasn’t a fluke.”
A year ago, the Rebels were coming off a disappointing 6-5 season and facing major overhaul of the roster, losing 17 seniors, most of who formed the backbone of the squad. While there was optimism of what an injection of promising young talent would bring the Rebels, conventional wisdom was that Walpole was at least a year away from contending in the division, especially with a loaded Natick squad as reigning champs.
But the Rebels knocked off the Redmen with a dramatic Week 2 victory and, after a hiccup the following week against Framingham, ran the table the rest of the way in the league to claim their third Herget crown in Villa’s seven-year tenure.
A 30-14 playoff win over Melrose earned the Rebels a berth in the Division 2 Super Bowl, where Walpole wrapped up the inaugural six-game slate at Gillette by having a fourth-quarter comeback bid fall painfully short in a 26-20 loss to Bishop Feehan.
With 10 starters back from that team, including the league’s most explosive weapon in dynamic junior running back Ryan Izzo, the Rebels know that wearing the tag of the favorite this year bring a new set of challenges.
“It’s different from last year, coming into the season a lot of people projected is to be under .500 and rebuilding and we came in with a chip on our shoulder,” said Walpole senior captain Adam Riegel. “We still have that chip now it’s just a different label. This time we are not trying to beat other people’s expectations but our own.”
The legend of Izzo’s exploits on the Rebel freshman team had already spread through Walpole when the 5-9, 180-pounder arrived on the varsity last fall. But the rest of the BSC quickly found out what the fuss was about when Izzo torched opponents for over 2,000 yards on the ground and a Division 2-best 33 touchdowns.
The sophomore back generating buzz this fall is Troy Salvatore, a burner that could get a chance to share some of Izzo’s heavy workload.
But Izzo was just one of a trio of sophomores to make their presence felt in the Rebel offensive backfield. Sonny Mastromatteo emerged from the quarterback competition to claim the starting job and earned his stripes under center, throwing for nine touchdowns and rushing for two more. Fullback Matt Nee completed the young triumvirate, all of whom will be back in their familiar spots.
Where the Rebels took a hit offensively was on the line and the receiver positions. Three of Izzo’s path-clearers moved on, including All-Star Andrew Fellini while Mastromatteo lost his two top targets in older brother Niccolo Mastromatteo and Billy Hickey.
Riegel and fellow captain Sean Driscoll return to anchor the line, the composition of which is still being sorted out. Riegel will be on the ball at center and Driscoll at a tackle spot. Senior Kyle Morris, who filled in for a few games last season, would seem to have an inside track on a spot while seniors Matt Sweet, Bryan Norberg and converted fullback David Wyman, and junior Chris Tetreault are all candidates for time.
Another place where the Rebels seem to have a myriad of options is at receiver, where Villa believes eight or nine guys could play prominent roles, among them senior captain Chris Cameron and Ryan Collins, fellow seniors Ryan O’Keefe, T.J. Kelliher and Steve Conroy, and junior Peter Bowes.
Roles should be come more defined when Walpole determine which players fit best on either side of the ball, but one of the themes of the preseason has been the amount of depth in program and the fierce competition at a number of positions, an atmosphere that can only benefit the Rebels.
“During practice every day we are going against great kids,” said Cameron, who will see most of his action offensively at tight end. “Coach Villa tells us that some of our second team guys could start for other teams so everyone is working really hard in practice to earn their spots because no one wants to be on the sidelines.”
That depth will come in handy on the defense, where the Rebels are looking to rotate in fresh bodies around an outstanding core that provides the foundation for the unit up the middle — Riegel and Sweet at the defense tackles, Mitch Savini at middle linebacker and Collins at safety — all of whom return as starters to a defense that kept foes to a touchdown or less in nine of their 11 BSC contests last year.
Tetreault and Derek Hand should be among those helping out Sweet and Riegel up front, while Cameron, Nee, Kelliher and juniors Evan Locke and Nick Romaine join Savini in a deep and swift linebacking corps.
“We think that speed is going be our strong point,” said Savini, whom Villa considers the quarterback of the defense. “People tend to think of Walpole as a smashmouth team. We have some big guys, but speed is what is going to get it done.’
Villa’s main concern defensively is in the secondary, where the losses of Mastromatteo and Hickey will be even harder to replace. Walpole is going to need players like seniors Vinny Lee, Adam Nichols, Mike Connors and Leo Ajeman, an injury casualty last year, to fill the void around Collins.
While it will be tough for many fans to not peek ahead to a Week 10 showdown with Natick, widely considered Walpole’s chief roadblock to defending their Herget title, it’s doubtful that any Rebel will be looking past its opening opponent tonight under the temporary lights at Turco Field. Last year Framingham and star quarterback Dan Guadagnoli dealt the Rebels their only BSC defeat of the season, 19-18.
“It’s been talked about, so it’s definitely in the back of their minds. They are well aware,” said Villa. “They are definitely not going to lack for motivation.”
