Rocky Nelson Quotations

Last year we opened with Swampscott and Medford and beat them pretty easily. In both cases the starters were pretty much out of the game by halftime. That didn't help us going into Burlington (a 28-25 loss). We needed to change. Everything we do is to try and get ready for Middlesex League competition.

Now we are ready to open our Middlesex League season. This worked out well and this is where I thought we would be.

If you are fortunate to win the coin toss you go on defense and find out what you have to do. This was a great emotional win for us. I've been involved in a lot of great games, but this will rank right up there.

He's got some experience at quarterback. I expect him to step up and I think we will be fine. We expect to run the ball most of the time anyway.

Our attitude and work ethic have been great with this group. This pre-season went above and beyond my expectations. But, we have inexperienced players who do not have a lot of (varsity) game experience. But, I feel good about being able to compete.

Playing teams like Acton-Boxborough and Billerica should prepare us better than in the past for our league season. That can only help us. But we also have to stay healthy.

Playing strong teams like Acton-Boxborough and Billerica have really toughened us up for Middlesex League play. A year ago we weren't ready for league play. Now we're in game shape. We'll definitely be a contender for the league title. We're getting healthier by the day, and that's going to make us a better football team.

We have all the faith in the world in Mike.

We were sleepwalking for a while, but we got after the team at halftime and challenged them. They responded. We played some great defense.

We needed to change. Everything we do is to try and get ready for Middlesex League competition.

We get on a bus for every game. We miss Connelly Stadium, but we definitely need a new high school and our kids never complain. They walk across Montvale Ave. and over a hill to the elementary school and then walk back after practice. But we're a closer team because of it.

We are a better football team with Mike Duggan at wide receiver. He gives us more athleticism at wide out. And Danny at quarterback allows us to pass more. We did have some bugaboos in the Reading game.

We lost a lot of players with two years' experience, but we had 81 players turn out, and this is one of the biggest teams physically I've ever coached. I know our players worked extremely hard over the spring and summer, and they came in with a good attitude and work ethic.

We have to eliminate big plays on defense, and we have to eliminate the mistakes on offense that we made the first two weeks which stopped ourselves. We certainly can't do that on Friday night.

We saw what teams like Chelmsford and others do by scheduling tough non-league games. Chelmsford got blown out by Gloucester, but still won their league. Non-league games don't hurt you, but they certainly can get you ready for your league season.

Duggan is the ultimate team player. His natural position is receiver. His punting and our punt coverage have been consistent all season long and have been instrumental in our getting good field position.

The schedule says we have to play Burlington first, and there's nothing you can do about that. They are the defending Middlesex League champs, with a great program and great players and coaches, and I think this game will have great implications on how the Middlesex League turns out.

I've watched (Dan) Walsh play several times, and I saw him in camp this past summer, and I know he's an outstanding athlete. He throws the ball well to his receivers, and he can also run the ball as well.

I've never seen that in 36 years with two injuries like that (in one position) in the same game. McLaughlin has a fractured collarbone, but could be back in four-five weeks. Young's is a little more serious; his is broken.

Ryan was a triple threat for us. He could run, pass, and kick. He was a great receiver as a junior and a very athletic quarterback. He threw well over 100 passes for us and never got picked off. Ryan was a competitive kid who had a great high school career.

Reading was ready to play and they did a great job defensively. The first half we had unbelievable field position but we did nothing with it.

They knew that we couldn't throw it and they ganged up on us.

They completed some passes on that first series and scored, but I felt we would be OK. Then we moved the ball on our possession and I had some good vibes after that.

I don't know if they were looking ahead. But we respect them. They had a great win over Lexington and were very impressive. They have some outstanding backs and appear to have changed their offense. We can't overlook anyone.