Q&A with Central Catholic coach Chuck Adamopoulos

In a game that made perhaps the biggest news of the past weekend, Central Catholic went to Everett and shocked the top-ranked Crimson Tide, 23-20, to advance to the Division 1 North final.

The Raiders will face St. John's Prep, a team that already owns a win over Central this season, 31-12, in the second week of the regular season.

Regardless of what happens in Danvers when those teams meet this week, what Central was able to accomplish in Everett remains a major accomplishment for a team that was not expected to do all that much this season.

We reached out to Central coach Chuck Adamopoulos this week to get his thoughts on his young team, the Everett game, and what lies ahead.

Here is an edited version of that conversation.

MassVarsity: Obviously, a big one Friday night. One of the things we talked about early in the year, juniors all over the offensive line, junior at quarterback, juniors everywhere, really. Did you expect that they'd be able to step into a place like Everett and play like seniors?

CA: You ask me in the middle of September, I would have said no. It's funny, the North Andover game (a 14-7 loss), we played really good defense that night. If you look at their scores, we held them to 14 points in a game where we really didn't do much with the ball. We were stuck on the field a lot. Defensively, we felt pretty good. But offensively, we were definitely a little panicky at that point. We just kept every week getting better. Part of that was newness at quarterback and the line. Not that the line is great now — it still has a ways to go — but each week they got better. As we kept playing, each week things were just clicking better. We've been pretty sound defensively all the way through. But by the time playoff time came, we played very well against Lexington. Lexington's a good football team. They scared me going into it. We played really well that night. Going into the Everett game, I thought we had a chance. We told the kids, it's going to take our best effort, but we can't give up big-play touchdowns. That game last year when we played them (a 37-29 Everett win), we gave up some big plays in the first half and made a comeback late. It was a crazy game, because last year we played great defense for three straight plays, and then they'd hit it for a 60-yard touchdown. We felt if we could minimize that and not just three-and-out on offense, you have a shot. Partly, I wanted to see just how far we'd come along. To go into that place, not get intimidated . . . We always watch film after practice as a team, and typically we wait until the end of the week to put on another video. Whether it's a motivational thing, or whatever, but a few times I showed them highlights of 2013 when we won there. I showed them highlights of 2015 when we won at Homecoming and beat them in the North finals. We showed them stuff so they knew Central Catholic has won there before. So we just pushed that. We're going down there to win the game. As the game went on, they got more confident. And it helped that we scored to start the game and had a lead to go up, 7-0. We then had a turnover on a screen pass where they picked it off, changed possession, and they went up top and beat us for a touchdown pass. And then the next drive, the very next play they had the ball, they had another touchdown, and it's 20-7. At that point, we're either going to break right there and get killed, or hang in there. We had a great drive to go down there and score to cut it to six at the half. I think the kids felt at halftime that they could win the game.

MV: Who are some of the guys who have developed as leaders on the team? I know you have a couple seniors on defense, especially, that have been there the whole way.

CA: Cam Boes has really played consistent, rock-solid all season at outside linebacker. He's played well at tight end, too, but he's played awesome at outside linebacker. He played both ways last year, so he wasn't a surprise. He's really stepped it up, and he's been a big leader on defense. Played really well the other night. Had a couple of sacks. He's been a key. Joe Howshan is just the leader. Joey's been playing injured all year. That's why we haven't used him too much on offense. That's why we've saved him to defense. He's been a great leader back there. We've got some other kids that have really stepped up. I've got two inside linebackers that are both first-year starters there. A kid named Lewy Baez-Troncoso has played really physical for us at inside linebacker. The other kid, Mark Kassis, who's a junior — Lewy's a senior — but the other kid, Kassis, has played really well. We're very happy with our inside linebacker play. To get back to our seniors, Boes and Howshan, and then Michael LeFebre at corner and receiver has played well. The kid that's really blossomed this year who got a few carries last year but was really our fourth running back, AJ Caggianelli, has really kind of burst on the scene. I think he's been potentially the MVC Player of the Year with the type of season he's had. He's been outstanding at outside linebacker and running back. He's played really well, been really explosive for us, which isn't really shocking, because he's worked so hard at track. He was one of the top decathletes in the state last year. His game has really taken off this year. So kind of an unsung kid, he's the only senior on the offensive line, this kid named Nick Gaiero, who's played very steady for us. He's kind of an undersized tackle. He played very well at defensive tackle the other night for us. He's been a senior that's really stepped us for us.

MV: Then up next, the Prep, you've already played them this season. I watched them on Friday night when in the win over Acton-Boxboro. They look like a machine.

CA: They're very good.

MV: They're very good. I guess the message to the team is if you can beat Everett, you've got a shot against anybody, right?

CA: Legitimately, at the beginning of the year, I thought we'd have trouble being on the level of Everett and St. John's. And even a couple games in I thought we'd have trouble, as evidenced in we lost 31-12 to St. John's. I'm really proud of how the kids have come along. For some of them, they have to learn how to practice to be good. For a few of them, that took some time. Some of them, it started to click, where they learned how to practice and therefore improved. We started some guys at the beginning of the year that, frankly, other years would not have been playing for us. Some of those guys now are starting to really come along, and they're starting to play with confidence.

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