* Hats off to Brian Aylward. The legendary Tewksbury football bench boss collected his 200th career win in Friday’s 25-21 thriller over Lowell at Docuette Stadium as the Redmen improved to 3-0 on the season.
Reaching the 200-win mark, in any sport, is no easy feat. Aylward, who took over at the helm in 1997, entered the fall boasting a 197-111-1 all-time record. Tewksbury has knocked off Winthrop (34-6), Methuen (28-6) and Lowell (25-21) and holds the No. 1 spot in the debut edition of the MIAA Power Rankings for Division 4.
The Redmen, despite playing in a conference that pits them against schools of a much larger school size, have always been a tough out under Aylward’s guidance. He is known by some as the “master of formations” and is widely recognized as one of the all-time great coaches in state history. Aylward, a former standout at Tewksbury High, won a Super Bowl in 1985 as a player before earning one as a coach in 2013. He also appeared in Super Bowls in 2011 and 2018.
The Redmen have been knocking on the door of returning to that stage. Last year, Tewksbury was one win away from advancing to Gillette Stadium, falling in the semifinals to Duxbury in a 28-21 loss. Tewksbury experienced a similar fate in 2023, ending its season in the same game against the same opponent. The Dragons won that contest, 19-7. Thus far, it looks like the Redmen have the weapons to make a shot at getting over the hump. Sophomore quarterback Will Harrison (556 passing yards, six touchdowns) has been excellent. Ben Christopher (103 rushing yards, 151 receiving yards, four touchdowns) has been a two-way threat on both sides of the field. Emeka Olu, Jonny Sullivan and Jake Burns have rounded out an offense that has proven itself as highly capable.
* How about the girls volleyball standings? What a start it’s been for Chelmsford (10-0), Andover (8-2), Central Catholic (9-2) and Methuen (9-3), which are all in a crowded MVC 1 that will undoubtedly be a dog fight until the very end. Through all of each team’s successes, the Lions have emerged as the favorite.
Not only have they beaten those three aforementioned squads, but they did so in rather convincing fashion. Chelmsford has rallied to victories over Methuen (3-2), Andover (3-1) and Central Catholic (3-1). In their seven remaining games against other opponents? The Lions have relinquished only one set. Chelmsford may have one of the deepest lineups in the area, with top performers Kyra Ward, Bonnie Politzer, Alicia Marcal, Ellen Griswold, Bri Cairns and Tiffany Vu, among others, filling the stat sheet each night.
* Over in Lowell, the Red Raiders have not skipped a beat on the boys soccer pitch. After an undefeated regular season a year ago culminated in a crushing first-round loss to eventual champion Newton North, Lowell (8-0-1) is off to a flying start. After turning in a 1-1 tie with Everett in the season opener, Bill Bettencourt’s team has allowed only three goals in eight games. Ikaro Da Silva is a big reason why, who was one of the best keepers in the state last year and has been nearly impossible to beat so far this season. Look for Lowell’s match against undefeated Central Catholic (7-0) on Oct. 21 to be one of the best league bouts of the fall.
* Has any high school football team in Mass. had it tougher than Central Catholic? Talk about a gauntlet of a schedule for the Raiders (2-2). Central Catholic have played a pair of teams out of state (Archbishop Stepniac and Bishop Hendricken) while meeting two Catholic Conference heavyweights in BC High and St. John’s Prep. Led by quarterback Caden Smith, Central has yielded two impressive wins thus far, the latest coming in a 20-19 thriller over Bishop Henricken on Saturday. It doesn’t stop there. The Raiders have Xaverian on Friday before hitting league play against a red-hot Andover team on Oct. 24.
* Andover (7-0-1), in its quest to return to its fifth straight appearance in the Division 1 field hockey state final, has been perfect so far. But all eyes will be on its matchup with Uxbridge on Monday night. Uxbridge, who moved up to Division 3 this fall after winning four straight Division 4 titles, is making the trek to Andover HS on Monday for an exciting non-league game. The Spartans boast eight — yes, eight — Division 1 college commitments on their roster. Head coach Bridget Morris and her team will be tested on Monday. Shannon Paul, Caroline Vaughan, Caroline Samaras, Chloe Broderick and Ella Sewall, among others, have been strong for Andover.
* Congratulations to Methuen/Tewksbury swim & dive head coach Jason Smith on earning his 150th career win. The Red Rangers are off to a 3-2 start this season and feature a sibling duo relay team of Ella and Ethan Corthell, along with Alan and Dylan Dang.
* While it won’t be as hectic as last week, Week 4 of the cross country campaign features three tri-meets and one dual meet. Last week, cross country fans were treated to a pair of quad meets and a tri meet that yielded a handful of impressive performances. Steven Oppedisano (14:58), Shane Leslie (14:58) and Sahil Gandhi (14:58) netted identical times in the quad meet between Andover, Billerica, Tewksbury and Lawrence. Kyla Breslin ran a lightning-fast 17:02.9 to rule the girls quad meet between Central Catholic, Methuen, Dracut and Lowell.
* It will be a race to the finish line in the MVC 1 golf standings, with Andover (6-1), Central Catholic (6-0), Billerica (6-3) and Chelmsford (6-1) all earning six wins in league play. Led by Jacob Carlson, the Lions have settled in just fine in their debut season in the top division. They played in MVC 2 last year and won the MVC team title.
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