MassVarsity

WESTFIELD — Last Saturday, Excel Sports Academy hosted a showcase for local athletes in front of dozens of college coaches. One of the best performers on the day 6-foot-2, 292-pound interior offensive lineman Joe LoChiatto . The Agawam native is transferring to Deerfield Academy, where he will repeat his sophomore year in 2019. In one-on-one reps against some of the top linemen in Western Mass., Connecticut, and other parts of New England, LoChiatto did not lose one rep. LoChiatto's assets include his strong hands, initial punch, and ability to maintain control once he gets his hands on you. According to ESA strength trainer Christian Ferrara, LoChiatto can dead lift 500 pounds five times without breaking a sweat, and said the lineman could get to 15 if he wanted, but Ferrara did not want to push it. We were initially skeptical of the claim until Ferrara showed us the video of LoChiatto doing just that. Needless to say, LoChiatto is someone to keep an eye on going forward. ...

CAMBRIDGE — It was a rainy, windy, and cold evening at BB&N on Monday, as the Knights and coach Mike Willey held a showcase for their players in front of college coaches from all levels. One player for the Knights whom everyone had their eyes on was North Andover native and mega-recruit Zak Zinter , who transferred to BB&N from St. John's Prep the previous season. At 6-foot-6, 300 pounds, Zinter casts an enormous shadow, and holds offers from schools all over the country. Although he is listed in the 247Sports.com database as a tackle prospect , he could end up at guard, or even center, at the next level, depending on how his body develops. Zinter is just one of several BB&N offensive linemen to hold Division I offers. Teammates Andrew Nee , a UMass commit, and Nathan Roach , who just picked up offers from UMass and Boston College, also make up what should be another tremendous front line for the Knights this season. With college teams clamoring for Zinter's...

SPRINGFIELD — This past Wednesday, some of the best players from Western Mass. descended upon the athletic fields at American International College for an Excel Sports Academy clinic. There were individual drills, and at the end of the workouts, there were 1-on-1's where wide receivers and running backs ran routes against linebackers and defensive backs. One of the linebackers who fared best was Springfield Central's Tyson Thornton, who basically insisted on using press coverage in every rep. Thornton, who is a member of the class of 2021, has made his mark in the front seven in his two years starting at Central, and proven over and over that he can do the same in coverage, too. Last season, according to the statistics provided by Maxpreps, Thornton made 62 tackles, including 17.5 for loss, along with 7.5 sacks for the Division 3 state champions. After the clinic, MassVarsity caught up with Thornton to get his thoughts on how the offseason is going and what he's loo...

Recently, Mansfield coach Mike Redding was inducted into the Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame. In Redding's time at Mansfield, the Hornets have won 15 Hockomock League titles and seven Super Bowl or state crowns. Since he came to the program, Redding turned Mansfield from a mid-tier program into one of the best in the state annually, challenging his players with a tough non-league schedule to go along with the always-difficult Hockomock slate. We spoke on the phone with Redding to get his thoughts on his time so far with the Hornets as he looks forward to the 2019 season. Here is an edited version of that conversation. MassVarsity: Congrats on the Hall of Fame selection. That must have been fun. Mike Redding: Yeah, it was a fun night having the family there, a lot of assistant coaches and some of the administrators. Good crew of people there to kind of share in it. MV: Yeah, that's great. So I guess the first thing I'd want t...