Q&A with Ashland coach Andrew Mackay
One of the season's big surprises has been the play of Ashland, as the Clockers enter this week's game with Norwood 4-0.
However, it's not the perfect mark that stands out so much as how it has come about. Ashland owns two seven-point wins and two one-point wins. The Clockers earned one of the latter this past weekend with an 8-7 victory over a good Hopkinton team.
On Tuesday, we spoke with Ashland coach Andrew Mackay to get a rundown on his team.
Here is an edited version of that conversation.
MassVarsity: It's been kind of amazing how every single game has been close but you're winning them all. What has this been like for you in terms of being able to win games in this fashion?
AM: Well, certainly, it takes years off my life, personally. I think it started a little bit last year. We had a young team, but we had some great senior leaders, and we kind of ended up on the wrong end of a lot of these games. We were in every single game, we played some great teams, but I don't think we necessarily knew how to be in those situations. This year, we've performed well in those situations. I'd like our guys to play a little bit better so they don't have to be in those situations. I just think a lot of credit has to go to our kids for being more prepared and more focused, and just being tough kids.
MV: Are you more senior-laden this year, or are you still young?
AM: Yeah, we only have 10 seniors this year. We have a small senior class. In general, we went from being a really young team to being a young team.
MV: All those wins are big, but when you look at a team like Hopkinton, which was so successful last year and is still really good this year, how much did it mean to the kids to come away with a "W" there?
AM: I think any time you can beat a rival, I think it's huge for your kids and your program. We're really happy for our kids because they worked really hard preparing for that game. We just hung in there. Nothing really went right on both sides of the ball for both teams. It was kind of a sloppy game. But I'll give our kids this: they're pretty resilient, and they do enough to hang around. They were ready when the moment was called, and we had a couple kids step up. Like I said, hopefully we can continue this little run here.
MV: I haven't seen you guys play in person. What do you guys like to run on offense and defense, in general?
AM: We're very multiple in general. Offensively, we can be spread, but we'll also have a spread with a fullback, so we can be your more traditional power team, as well. Defensively, we run a stack defense.
MV: Who on offense has been playing well so far and sort of leading you guys?
AM: Well, it's funny you ask that. We play a million kids. We play two quarterbacks. Last week was the only week we didn't have six different kids carrying the ball. We're piecing it together a little bit. Our two quarterbacks are our two leaders: senior Jackson Hornung and junior Dominic Cavanaugh. In the air, with receptions, it's been senior Nathan Sickles and junior Kevin Russell. And then our leading rusher is junior James Merloni.
MV: On your offensive line, is it more of a veteran unit or is it a mix?
AM: It's a mix. We've got a mix. We have three seniors and two juniors.
MV: Obviously, you guys haven't been scoring a million points a game or anything like that, but do you feel like it's been an effective unit in terms of picking up first downs and moving the ball when you need?
AM: Outside of last week against Hopkinton, who has a very good defense, we had three straight games of over 350 yards. We kind of just weren't finishing drives. But we've been very efficient with the football in terms of eating up clock and playing our type of tempo game. But we've got to start finishing drives. We kind of lost it a bit n Friday night.
MV: How about your defense? Who have been some of the guys who have been most consistent for you there?
AM: Sure, we've been led by senior inside linebacker Brody Assencoa. He leads our team in tackles, and he's just sort of our heartbeat. On the defensive line, it's been junior Ryan Dwinnells. In the secondary, it's been safety Jake Latessa.
MV: It seems like that's been a really strong unit for you. Only one team has scored double-digits on you. Seems like a good place to start when you have a defense like that.
AM: I think we're just growing. A lot of these kids didn't play for us last year. They've been pretty coachable. If we can continue to be coachable and have some fun, I really like how they're progressing.
MV: Obviously, the Tri-Valley League Large, there are real competitive teams. What's it like playing in a league like this getting ready for the playoffs?
AM: This is our first year in the Large. All new to us. It's been good. I think you put it best. All the teams are competitive. Every night, you're signing yourself up for a battle. Holliston's obviously been the class of the league for a while now. We'll have to cross that bridge when we get there. Just impressed by the competitive nature. There are no guarantees. We get Norwood this week, and they look like a really good team on film. There are no light games. You've got to kind of bring your lunch pail every single week and try to figure it out.
MV: Any kids who are getting college attention that you want to mention?
AM: I think just one, a receiver, Ben College. The other kids we have are just kind of three-sport athletes. Being in a small school, every kid needs to play every sport for us to compete.
However, it's not the perfect mark that stands out so much as how it has come about. Ashland owns two seven-point wins and two one-point wins. The Clockers earned one of the latter this past weekend with an 8-7 victory over a good Hopkinton team.
On Tuesday, we spoke with Ashland coach Andrew Mackay to get a rundown on his team.
Here is an edited version of that conversation.
MassVarsity: It's been kind of amazing how every single game has been close but you're winning them all. What has this been like for you in terms of being able to win games in this fashion?
AM: Well, certainly, it takes years off my life, personally. I think it started a little bit last year. We had a young team, but we had some great senior leaders, and we kind of ended up on the wrong end of a lot of these games. We were in every single game, we played some great teams, but I don't think we necessarily knew how to be in those situations. This year, we've performed well in those situations. I'd like our guys to play a little bit better so they don't have to be in those situations. I just think a lot of credit has to go to our kids for being more prepared and more focused, and just being tough kids.
MV: Are you more senior-laden this year, or are you still young?
AM: Yeah, we only have 10 seniors this year. We have a small senior class. In general, we went from being a really young team to being a young team.
MV: All those wins are big, but when you look at a team like Hopkinton, which was so successful last year and is still really good this year, how much did it mean to the kids to come away with a "W" there?
AM: I think any time you can beat a rival, I think it's huge for your kids and your program. We're really happy for our kids because they worked really hard preparing for that game. We just hung in there. Nothing really went right on both sides of the ball for both teams. It was kind of a sloppy game. But I'll give our kids this: they're pretty resilient, and they do enough to hang around. They were ready when the moment was called, and we had a couple kids step up. Like I said, hopefully we can continue this little run here.
MV: I haven't seen you guys play in person. What do you guys like to run on offense and defense, in general?
AM: We're very multiple in general. Offensively, we can be spread, but we'll also have a spread with a fullback, so we can be your more traditional power team, as well. Defensively, we run a stack defense.
MV: Who on offense has been playing well so far and sort of leading you guys?
AM: Well, it's funny you ask that. We play a million kids. We play two quarterbacks. Last week was the only week we didn't have six different kids carrying the ball. We're piecing it together a little bit. Our two quarterbacks are our two leaders: senior Jackson Hornung and junior Dominic Cavanaugh. In the air, with receptions, it's been senior Nathan Sickles and junior Kevin Russell. And then our leading rusher is junior James Merloni.
MV: On your offensive line, is it more of a veteran unit or is it a mix?
AM: It's a mix. We've got a mix. We have three seniors and two juniors.
MV: Obviously, you guys haven't been scoring a million points a game or anything like that, but do you feel like it's been an effective unit in terms of picking up first downs and moving the ball when you need?
AM: Outside of last week against Hopkinton, who has a very good defense, we had three straight games of over 350 yards. We kind of just weren't finishing drives. But we've been very efficient with the football in terms of eating up clock and playing our type of tempo game. But we've got to start finishing drives. We kind of lost it a bit n Friday night.
MV: How about your defense? Who have been some of the guys who have been most consistent for you there?
AM: Sure, we've been led by senior inside linebacker Brody Assencoa. He leads our team in tackles, and he's just sort of our heartbeat. On the defensive line, it's been junior Ryan Dwinnells. In the secondary, it's been safety Jake Latessa.
MV: It seems like that's been a really strong unit for you. Only one team has scored double-digits on you. Seems like a good place to start when you have a defense like that.
AM: I think we're just growing. A lot of these kids didn't play for us last year. They've been pretty coachable. If we can continue to be coachable and have some fun, I really like how they're progressing.
MV: Obviously, the Tri-Valley League Large, there are real competitive teams. What's it like playing in a league like this getting ready for the playoffs?
AM: This is our first year in the Large. All new to us. It's been good. I think you put it best. All the teams are competitive. Every night, you're signing yourself up for a battle. Holliston's obviously been the class of the league for a while now. We'll have to cross that bridge when we get there. Just impressed by the competitive nature. There are no guarantees. We get Norwood this week, and they look like a really good team on film. There are no light games. You've got to kind of bring your lunch pail every single week and try to figure it out.
MV: Any kids who are getting college attention that you want to mention?
AM: I think just one, a receiver, Ben College. The other kids we have are just kind of three-sport athletes. Being in a small school, every kid needs to play every sport for us to compete.
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