ISL preview: A new era for prep school football thanks to realignment

The Independent School League as we knew it no longer exists Realignment has come to the New England Prep School Athletic Council and it has split the ISL into two groups The council has shifted to three classes A B and C and Massachusetts has programs represented in all three with the ISL having members in B and C Class A consists of two groups with Group comprising six Connecticut schools from the Founders Conference and Dexter-Southfield an independent initiative based in Brookline Class A Group consists of the eight members of the Northeast Prep League including Phillips Andover Deerfield Academy and Williston Northampton in Massachusetts Class B includes five ISL members Belmont Hill Buckingham Browne Nichols Milton Academy St Sebastian s and Tabor Academy The schools are also joined by St Paul s N H and Trinity-Pawling N Y which are independent members in Class B but will effectively be league rivals with the five ISL schools Group C is also divided into two groups with the Evergreen Conference making up Group while the rest of the ISL is in Group Austin Prep Berkshire Pingree and Worcester Academy are the Massachusetts representatives in Group while Brooks Governor s Academy Groton Lawrence Academy Middlesex Nobles Rivers Roxbury Latin St George s RI St Marks and Thayer Academy make up Group The goal of the alignment is to create fairer competition but teams are mainly focused on ignoring the noise and playing their respective styles of football Belmont Hill is coming off a - season in which it won the Bob Souza Bowl Head coach Anthony Fucillo noted his squad has lofty goals again this season but a tough schedule and numerous players finding new roles will make it an intriguing year We re trying to find out who the guys are Fucillo mentioned We graduated seniors and starters last year and we have a lot of young guys who haven t played a lot of football for us My biggest goal for this organization is to make sure we are competing and playing tough This is the toughest schedule Belmont Hill has ever had The outcomes take care of themselves I just want to see the guys go out and compete Particular key players for Belmont Hill are quarterback Reis Little Amherst College and left tackle Nick Fiumara UNC Middlesex School went through a important turnaround in improving from a - season in to a - record with a Joe Lang Bowl achievement This is the second year for head coach Scott Woodward and he expects the gang to be led by its veterans and a strong defense We have a few great senior leadership Woodward noted We have seniors and the majority of them could have been picked as captain Our offensive line has the likely to be good We will hang our hat on our defense and then hope the offense scores chosen points A key contributor will be running back Frankie Forrest who Woodwards referred to as the gang s bell cow Middlesex head coach Scott Woodward left and Belmont Hill s Anthony Fucillo talk during a joint practice Photo By Matt Stone Boston Herald Buckingham Browne Nichols went undefeated in ISL play and won the league before falling to St Paul s in a tight battle in the John Pappas Bowl The Knights will need to replace star running back Bo MacCormack who finished his career as Massachusetts all-time leader in rushing yards was a two-time ISL MVP and is now competing for Boston College Knights head coach Mike Willey revealed replacing MacCormack will be a daunting task but he trusts his current players to attack the task with enthusiasm Replacing Bo will be like the Herald trying to replace Danny Ventura it s not happening Willey noted paying homage to former Herald high school sports editor Danny Ventura You don t replace them you just go different directions You have to move forward and figure out what s best for the group in this particular year Willey explained the schedule is daunting but that the scheme is used to having intense games every week Belmont Hill s Declan Curtin left and Middlesex's Brenden Mccullen compete during a joint practice Photo By Matt Stone Boston Herald The schedule that we have it play it truly is eight Super Bowls Willey mentioned I think our guys will be focused and will really want to show who they are and how hard they work every week Particular players to watch for BB N are quarterback Damon Taylor athlete Sam Kelley Brown and defensive back wide receiver Ethan Ortega Another venture that had a strong was Tabor Academy which went - and won the Kevin MacDonald Bowl Tabor is the only ISL unit that has played in securing a - domination over Williston Northampton Our kids really play for each other head coach Jeff Moore commented On defense we play fast and physical which is something we preach here On offense we are extremely explosive and things can happen really fleetly We have chosen guys in the initiative that we are really excited about When adversity strikes our kids don t flinch Particular players to watch for Tabor are quarterback Peter Bourque Michigan Brendan Farhat Temple Carter Gooden UCLA Brady Scott Xander Odenyo Trey Grant UNH and Kaiden Drinkwater