Ed Melanson knows Cape Ann League football.
Make no mistake, he knows that to have any success in the league, you need to have some sort of continuity. That’s why when the Triton Regional job became available, he knew he had to throw his name into the ring.
And now, he’s ready to hopefully lead the Vikings back to the playoffs.
Melanson, who was hired back in May to be Triton Regional’s new head coach, is no stranger to both the North Shore football world and to the Vikings. He joined the program as an assistant for coach Eric Burgos ahead of the 2022 season, helping out on both the offensive and defensive lines, and was retained on staff when Paul Sobolewski took over in 2023. So when the position opened back up at the beginning of this year, Melanson wanted to hopefully get hired to keep a familiar face around — for a program that is now on its fourth head coach this decade.
And he got the gig.
“I’m really excited to get started,” said Melanson. “The Cape Ann League is so underrated when other teams look at it from the outside. They don’t know about it until they play a CAL team. You have to have continuity, and you have to have grit if you want to compete here. And I feel like it’s always been a balanced league where no program is too up or down for too long.”
Melanson’s name is very well respected in the MIAA football community.
Coaching since the start of the new millennium, Melanson has made stops as a top assistant and offensive coordinator at North Reading, Hamilton-Wenham, St. Mary’s (Lynn) and Peabody before landing at Triton. He helped St. Mary’s win the Division 3A Super Bowl back in 2006 with his single-wing offense, and also served with longtime North Reading coach Jeff Wall during a time when the Hornets won back-to-back CAL titles in 2016-17.
He enjoyed his time there so much, in fact, that he’s brought Wall along with him to Triton as an assistant helping out with both lines.
And that single-wing offense is coming to Triton.
“The thing that I’ve liked the most so far is that I run an unusual offense, but the kids really took to it right out of the gate and they’re picking it up,” said Melanson, who served as a Captain in the Essex County Sheriff Department for 32 years.
“It’s been nice to see them catch on so quickly.”
The job out of the gate, however, certainly won’t be the easiest.
Last fall, Triton (7-4) did just miss out on making the Division 6 playoffs, but still earned the program’s most wins in a season since 2016. The Vikings then graduated out their top-2 receivers (both Daily News All-Stars in Liam Friis and Jason Holscher), a two-time Daily News All-Star running back (Jayden Torres), and 80% of their starting offensive line including the majority of the primary back-ups.
But the cupboard isn’t bare by any means.
Returning to the Vikings this year is starting quarterback Braylon Lupa, who threw for 1,510 yards and 15 touchdowns a year ago. Fellow senior captain Athan Eggleston shined when he took over as the team’s starting running back late last season, rushing for 484 yards and four TDs, and Everett Romano will be a name to follow as well. But leading it all will most likely be senior captain Carl Lucy, a 6-foot-1, 225-pound bruiser who finished with 248 rushing yards, 263 receiving yards and 12 total TDs a year ago as a swiss-army-knife.
The offensive line will be young this year, but multi-year starter Ben Woodfin will lead the unit as a junior captain.
“We’re very young up front, but the kids who have stepped up have exceeded expectations,” said Melanson. “We scrimmaged Saugus the other day, who is absolutely huge this year, and our guys held their own and stood up well.”
Here is a complete Triton team preview:
Triton
Coach Ed Melanson: (1st year)
2024 record: 7-4, missed playoffs
Returners (19): Jason Navaroli, Sr., OL/DL; Braylon Lupa, Sr., QB/S; Everett Romano, Sr., RB/LB; Carl Lucy, Sr., RB/LB; Leah Smullin, Sr., WR/CB; Athan Eggleston, Sr., RB/LB; Ben Woodfin, Jr., OL/DL; Jordan Ortiz, Jr., OL/LB; Michael Haidaczuk, Jr., OL/DL; Liam Prendergast, Jr., WR/DE; Rich Lynch, Jr., OL/DL; John Wesley Clogston, Soph., TE/DE; Efe Uslusoy, Soph., WR/DB; Jeremiah Price, Soph., WR/DB; Edwin Huang, Soph., OL/DL; Luke Linehan, Soph., RB/LB; Sam Harding, Soph., QB/DB; Colin Roberge, Soph., RB/DB; Caden Connolly, Soph., OL/DL;
Newcomers (18): Jake Conroy, Sr., RB/LB; Carter Whitney, Soph., RB/LB; Kyle Farrell, Soph., OL/DE; Oskar Fryberg, Soph., TE/G/LB; Jacob Rulli, Soph., OL/DL; Christopher Farinato, Frosh., RB/DB; Elijah Foster, Frosh., WR/DB; Hugh Copland, Frosh., RB/LB; Declan Sherman, Frosh., RB/DB; John Porter, Frosh., OL/DL; Sebashian Garcia, Frosh., WR/DB; Leo Chaisson, Frosh., RB/DB; Royce Whitney, Frosh., RB/FB/LB; Demsey Spring, Frosh., OL/DL; Robert Merrill, Frosh., RB/DB; Jaden Price, Frosh., RB; Liam Callahan, Frosh., RB/DB; Chris DeLuca, Frosh., WR/LB
Captains (5): Carl Lucy, Athan Eggleston, Braylon Lupa, Everett Romano, Ben Woodfin
Roster size: 37
Returning leaders: Athan Eggleston: 84-484-3 rushing; Carl Lucy: 45-248-9 rushing, 21-263-3 receiving; Braylon Lupa: 98-182-1,510-15 passing, 47-220-1 rushing; Everett Romano: 12-202-3 rushing
Returning honorees: None
Assistants: Keith Kyle, Robert Bruce, Shawn McElligott, Chibueze Onwuka, Sean Smith, Louis Takesian, Jeff Wall