21 Oct 2023

Red-hot Wellesley, Max Poirier put up enough points to edge Natick

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WELLESLEY — As Max Poirier made the customary walk across the stream to the field Saturday, the skies appeared somewhat ominous. Wellesley football fans were concerned about an oncoming monsoon, but the senior was focused on his opponent.

Attention to detail pays off.

The wideout finished with 124 total yards, scampering for a late touchdown as Wellesley put the Bay State Conference on notice with a 17-10 victory over Natick on Senior Day.

“I think it’s fitting that we’re honoring our seniors today, because it’s really the seniors that have taken control the last few weeks,” Wellesley coach Jesse Davis said. “We started off 0-3, right? But to win four straight like that, especially against good teams like Natick, who are well coached, these kids are tough.”

For the majority of the first half, the game itself was a stalemate. The torrential rain wreaked havoc, keeping offense at a premium. Bronson Manccini hit a 25-yard field goal to break a scoreless deadlock with 8:35 to play in the second quarter, providing Wellesley (4-3) a 3-0 edge.

Then Wellesley staged a last-minute drive, starting with one play.

In the face of pressure, sophomore quarterback Bobby Shanahan dumped a pass over the middle to Poirier. With blockers in front of him, the senior found a lane and broke off a 64-yard reception, setting up a one-yard touchdown rush by Henry Redgate to make it 10-0 in favor of the Raiders at the half.

Later on, with 3:50 left in the third stanza, Davis and his staff drew up an identical play they did in the opening half – a quick screen pass to Poirier led to a 34-yard reception. Poirier capped the drive shortly thereafter with a one-yard touchdown rush as Wellesley jumped ahead 17-0 with 1:08 to go in the quarter.

“It was the perfect play call,” said Poirier. “D-line, everybody crashing. My line was in front of me, Bobby put it right on me. That’s all I could ask for.”

That’s not to say Natick (4-3) was done. The Redhawks cut it to a 17-3 game with 6:41 remaining on a 34-yard field goal by Nathan Napier. Some thought the ballgame was over, and hastily made their way for the exits as the downpours picked up.

Might have been a mistake. With 2:50 left in regulation, sophomore quarterback Jesse Gagliardi connected with senior Ben Chandler for a 31-yard touchdown reception to make it 17-10.

As the Raiders attempted to ice things, Shanahan made a break for the sideline. Then, the ball was punched from his grasp. The quarterback tumbled to the turf in a scrum, and could only watchas it fell into the hands of a Redhawks tackler. Out of nowhere, Natick had an opportunity for the tying score.

When the pressure was at its highest however, Wellesley’s defensive front held strong, forcing the Redhawks into a turnover on downs to seal it.

Shanahan finished 6-of-10 passing for 127 yards to aid the Raiders, while Jordan St. Louis added an interception in the victory.

“Knowing that we started off 0-3, we worked our asses off for this four-game win streak,” Shanahan said. “We’ve just got to keep it rolling. Stay humble, keep our heads down.”

21 Oct 2023

‘A math problem’: Providers support limits to Massachusetts emergency shelter capacity

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For Mark DeJoie, the head of North Shore human services provider Centerboard, Inc., the need to limit the number of people in the state’s emergency shelter system boils down to a simple “math problem.”

“There’s just too many people for too few units. And that, too, has been exacerbated because of the migrant influx,” he said in an interview. “We’re dealing with an immigration crisis as a shelter system. We’re not built for that. We’re built to house families.”

An influx of migrants over the past year has pushed a shelter system built to handle about 3,000 families each year to its limits, forcing providers across the state to scramble to find additional housing units for the thousands of new arrivals that have made their way to Massachusetts.

More than 1,500 families have entered the emergency shelter system since Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency at the start of August. The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities reported 7,089 families in the system as of Friday, with 3,624 at traditional sites, 3,376 living in hotels and motels, and 89 at temporary sites.

Many, including Healey, other providers, and advocates, have described the scenario as unsustainable without assistance from the federal government and as costing the state tens of millions in taxpayer dollars, at least, each month.

It led Healey this week to limit the number of families that can stay in the system to 7,500, a move that will surely test the boundaries of Massachusetts’ right-to-shelter law, which requires the state to temporarily house homeless families with children and pregnant women. Healey argued the state has neither the money, space, nor personnel to keep expanding the system.

For a handful of shelter providers who say they were feeling strained months ago, putting a cap on the number of families in the emergency shelter system was inevitable. Still, others are worried what will happen to those who arrive in the state once all the space is taken up.

“We are grateful for the administration’s all-hands-on-deck approach to the (emergency assistance) shelter crisis since taking office, but fear that the announced changes may result in children and families being unable to access shelter when it is needed the most,” a trio of housing policy and law groups said in a Friday statement.

The logistics of housing a never ending stream of migrants arriving in states across the country — most who fled unstable and dangerous conditions at home and made a treacherous journey to reach the United States — have vexed Democratic governors and mayors this year in places like New York City and Chicago.

Healey is no exception.

What started as an apparent political stunt with tens of migrants landing on Martha’s Vineyard last year at the behest of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, just before Healey took office, has turned into a very real problem for Massachusetts and emerged as one of the first tests of the Healey administration.

The Healey administration and some providers say part of the answer to reducing the number of families in the system is access to work training and federal authorizations that will allow them to secure jobs.

The Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance, a service provider based in Worcester, was at capacity in July and has doubled shelter capacity since November 2022, said Executive Director Leah Bradley.

The organization continues to hire staff “and do the things that we need to do, but we just can’t keep up,” Bradley said.

“It’s really a federal issue that needs some federal intervention,” Bradley said in an interview. “The folks that are coming here are lawfully here, and the federal government has said that they’re allowed to be here so it really is something that we just need the federal government to partner with us on this.”

It is anybody’s guess as to whether the federal government will send more direct aid to Massachusetts, though the Biden administration has said it is attempting to reduce the time it takes to process applications for work authorizations and sent a Department of Homeland Security team to Boston this month.

Healey on Friday applauded a $1.4 billion funding request for a shelter and services program run by the Department of Homeland Security, which handed Boston and the state $1.9 million earlier this year to expand shelter and transportation services for migrants.

“More funds from the state government, and particularly the federal government, will enable us to provide job training, (English as a second language) training, and provide the opportunity for people to move out of the emergency shelter system, out of motels into apartments so they can become a part of our thriving economy,” said Cindy Rowe, president and CEO of the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action.

But money alone will not fix the issues Massachusetts’ emergency shelter system faces, said DeJoie, the head of Lynn-based Centerboard, Inc. The problem is lack of space and ability for migrant families to quickly find work, build a source of income, and exit the system, he said.

“Quite frankly, the people that are here, we could use them,” DeJoie said. “I would hire some of the people that are living in our shelter just because the skills that they have, the translation services, the cooking abilities they have. But I can’t.”

Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald

Centerboard’s office in Lynn. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)

21 Oct 2023

Celtics’ Al Horford willing to sacrifice with bench role, focused on impacting winning

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Al Horford has played 1,180 games in his career – regular season and postseason combined – with 1,168 starts. That includes starts in all 429 games he’s played in five seasons with the Celtics. Horford has stated in the past his preference is to start, and his consistent play throughout his career has justified that.

“For me as a competitor, I want to be in a position that I’m playing when it matters most,” Horford said in 2021. “I do like to start. That’s just the reality. As a competitor I try to feel like I contribute and be a great asset.”

Two years later, though, the equation has changed. This offseason, the Celtics added Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday, two All-Star level players still in their prime, to form arguably the most talented roster in the league that also includes, of course, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Derrick White.

While Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla has not committed to a starting lineup – a narrative he feels is being overblown – the fresh look means Horford may be primarily coming off the bench for the first time in his career. The 37-year-old is just fine with that now.

“I just think that, the type of team that we have, we have a lot of depth, we have a lot of talented players,” Horford said. “One of our strengths is our versatility as a team. So there’s going to be times that we’re going to have to go a certain way. There’s other times that we got to play big, play small, things like that. That’s just the way it is. And I’m in a position right now that I feel like we all can impact the game in a positive way and sometimes the best thing for a group right now is to play in that way. There will be times that we’ll play big and we’ll do things like that. But for me, I’m in a good position where I’m at and just staying locked in and ready to go.”

As Horford suggested, the Celtics will likely go back and forth between their small lineup (which includes Holiday and White in the backcourt) and double-big lineup (which includes Horford and Porzingis) throughout the season based on matchups and player availability. In their penultimate preseason game, Horford came off the bench and thrived in the role as an energy creator with several hustle plays.

Mazzulla has downplayed the importance of who starts given that lineup only lasts about five minutes. But there is still an ego check involved with sacrificing and accepting a role off the bench – see Malcolm Brogdon last season – and typically the starters play in that spot to maximize their impact. Sacrifice has seemed to be an important focal point of this preseason, whether it means one of the top six is not starting or not finishing.

“I have the utmost respect for Al,” Tatum said. “If Al can come off the bench at this stage of his career, nobody should have anything to say if you’re the guy that’s coming off the bench or Joe takes you out of the game or if you don’t finish. And everybody has to have a team-first mindset to accomplish what we’re trying to do.”

Horford, entering his 15th season, will likely sit out the second end of back-to-backs again like he did last season as the Celtics try to preserve his best for the playoffs. Even then, he seemed to wear down during the Eastern Conference Finals last season, so it would make sense to dial him back some in a reserve spot. But at this stage of his career, after coming so close to a title over the last two seasons, it doesn’t seem to bother Horford. His role may change, but his goal remains the same.

“We’re all looking at the same thing, trying to accomplish the same thing,” Horford said. “On that particular day (on Tuesday) it was obviously to win the game and that’s our focus. So for me, it’s seeing how I can impact winning. That’s always my focus.”

An extra focus

The Celtics ranked near the bottom of the league in turnovers forced last season, and that seems to be a focus going into this season. Horford said Mazzulla has been demanding the Celtics be more active on the defensive end. It showed in the box score in Thursday’s preseason finale as they forced 22 steals in the win over the Hornets.

Mazzulla said he looked through every box score last season and one big takeaway was that the Celtics were out-shot in most games but because of their shot quality they won games more often than not, and when they didn’t shoot well, they lost. Mazzulla asked himself, how can the Celtics continue to have a high shot quality but eliminate the variance of, “if you don’t make shots, we’re not going to win”? He said it’s by creating extra possessions through offensive rebounding and forcing turnovers.

“We have to eliminate the luck of the percentage at times with our shooting and we have to create easy baskets, whether it’s with offensive rebounding or forcing turnovers and deflections,” Mazzulla said. “We had 22 steals, 24 turnovers, 26 deflections and those lead to easier baskets. I think the correlation of our shot margin and our defensive activity and our offensive rebounding is an area of growth for our team from last year and something we have to continue.” …

The Celtics officially waived center Wenyen Gabriel and guard D.J. Steward on Saturday.

21 Oct 2023

St. John’s Prep wins battle of trenches, defeats Catholic Memorial

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DANVERS — St. John’s Prep coach Brian St. Pierre said that when you play Catholic Memorial, you find out just how good you are in the trenches.

On Saturday, St. Pierre had to like the answer he received on that.

St. John’s Prep ran the ball well and stopped the run in a 19-8 victory over Catholic Memorial in a steady downpour.

This was the first loss by the Knights (4-2) to a Massachusetts team since a defeat to the Prep (7-0) in the 2019 D1 state title game at Gillette.

“I thought our lines, both sides of the ball, dominated the game,” St. Pierre said. “Against that group, against the size they have, the injuries. We started a freshman right guard today: Cayden Blanchette. He just turned 14 this summer, I think. Proud of our guys, that’s all I can say. Our lines won the day. I believe, the coaching staff, we believe in the trenches and winning up front … I thought we won the trenches on both sides.”

It was an accurate assessment. The Prep rushed for 306 yards. The leading ground gainers were running back Cam LaGrassa, who had 254 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries, and Wildcat quarterback Jimmy Nardone, who rushed for 41 yards.

All this while Prep lost top back Dylan Aliberti to a leg injury in the first quarter.

Catholic Memorial was limited to less than 50 yards rushing, and never got anything consistent going on offense, although quarterback Peter Bourque passed for 202 yards, most of which came in the second half with the Knights playing from behind.

“This game proves a lot,” LaGrassa said. “We were working really hard all week throughout practice. A lot of people think that we weren’t really capable of doing what we did, so it was to build on that reputation.”

After a scoreless first half, Prep took over in the third quarter. LaGrassa rushed for a 43-yard gain to start, which helped set up Deacon Robillard’s 31-yard touchdown pass to Merrick Barlow on a ball that looked tipped. Nardone added the two-point rush on the conversion, and Prep led, 8-0, with 8:25 to go in the third.

CM punted on its next possession, and Prep faced a third and 7 from its own 25-yard line. LaGrassa took the handoff, and went right up the middle untouched for a 75-yard touchdown. Nardone ran it in again and the Prep held a 16-0 lead with 4:55 left in the quarter.

The Knights battled back, as Bourque hit Isaiah Faublas for an 80-yard touchdown over the middle. Another Bourque pass, this time to Michael Hegarty, earned the two points, and CM trailed just 16-8.

CM’s DJ Overall fell on a Prep fumble early in the fourth quarter, but near midfield, the Knights turned it over on downs.

The Eagles sealed it with a 21-yard field goal from Langdon Laws to complete the scoring with less than two minutes to go.

“When you get turnovers in a game like this, we didn’t have any,” CM coach John DiBiaso said. “They had four. We didn’t take advantage. We did not take advantage of the opportunities. But, hey, they have a great team. They played hard. Brian’s a very good coach. They’re well prepared. We had trouble stopping their run.”

Catholic Memorial runner Lasean Sharp, left, is leveled by St. John’s Prep’s John Droggitis during a football clash of state powers in Danvers. (Staff Photo/Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)