Summer may still be in full swing, but the high school football season is right around the corner.
In Gloucester this fall, a new gridiron era will commence with familiar face Brian Anderson seizing the reins as head coach, and former coach Dan O’Connor remaining on staff. Practices won’t officially get underway for a few weeks, but the preparation for another playoff-hopeful campaign has already begun.
This past weekend, the Fishermen competed in the annual 40-team, 7v7 tournament at Bishop Fenwick as members of the Small School Division. They performed very well out of the gate, going 3-1 to advance to the playoffs as the top seed in their pool.
Gloucester’s run ended with a first-round playoff loss to Lynn Tech, but that didn’t take away from a successful showing overall.
“Happy to see them have some success, coming out as the top seed in our pool,” said Anderson. “As a run heavy, Wing-T team we are out of our element but it’s a highlight of the summer.”
This year’s tournament — which features no pads and no tackling — had four pools of five teams in each division, meaning every squad played four games. The top two teams in each pool advanced to the playoffs. Games are contested on a time limit basis on fields of 30 or 40 yards. The offense, which has a snapper, a quarterback and five receivers, has three downs to gain a first down.
Gloucester opened things up with wins over both Somerville and Bishop Fenwick before suffering its first loss to eventual Small champion Lynnfield. The Fishermen then beat Mashpee before ultimately bowing out of the competition with the aforementioned playoff loss to Lynn Tech.
Peabody was victorious over Masconomet in an All-NEC matchup in the Open Division finals, while Lynnfield held off Danvers for the Small crown.
Gloucester was led at the tournament by senior captain Cole Mosley-Wynn at quarterback. They also got key contributions on both sides of the ball from Connor Mahoney, Tanner Smith and Nash Marshall.
“The tournament is a great opportunity for our kids to go out and compete against surrounding schools,” said Anderson. “The kids have been working incredibly hard running and lifting, so it’s good for them to get out on the field and have some fun.”
Sports Editor Nick Giannino may be contacted at 978-675-2712 or ngiannino@northofboston.com.