Knights open football season Saturday

By Bill Doyle | CFP Correspondent

WORCESTER – Senior Colin Johnson can do it all, on game day for St. Paul Diocesan Junior/Senior High School football team. 
The 5-foot-9, 170-pound Worcester resident plays running back and wide receiver on offense, stars at cornerback on defense and also handles the placekicking and punting duties.
But his versatility doesn’t end there. Prior to Saturday home football games this fall, Mr. Johnson and the other captains will do the readings during the 8 a.m. Mass that the Knights will attend as a team at the school.
“I remember our captains my sophomore year reading to us,” Mr. Johnson said, “and it adds to that leadership role. So it will be fun.”
Mr. Johnson attended Mass on the mornings of home games for St. Peter-Marian Central Catholic Junior/Senior High School as a sophomore. Last fall, St. Peter-Marian and Holy Name Central Catholic Junior/Senior High School merged to form St. Paul in the former Holy Name building, but the football season was postponed by the pandemic until the newly formed Fall II season last March and April. The Knights posted a 5-0 record then, but they couldn’t attend Mass together because of COVID restrictions. They will be able to now, however.
So, St. Paul will hold Mass for the football team for the first time at 8 a.m. Saturday, followed by a breakfast. The Knights are scheduled to open their season at noon, at home, against Nipmuc Regional High School of Upton.
“It’s a good way for our team to come together,” Mr. Johnson said. “It kind of adds a family aspect to it. We’re able to come together, pray to God before and get our heads in the right mindframe before our games. It helps us lock in a little and realize who we’re doing it for and we’re able to go out and perform.”
Who are they doing it for?
“For God,” Mr. Johnson said.
“I think the familial bond you feel during Mass is special,” St. Paul head coach Mike Donovan said, “and to get a group of 14- to 18-year-old boys and grown men sitting together for Mass is a really special way to start the day and locks us in and we hear a message and get ready to go.”
Mr. Donovan ranks Mr. Johnson as one of his most versatile players in his 14 years as a football coach.
“He’s very serious and very competitive,” Mr. Donovan said. “He’ll joke around with his buddies, but in any (football) drill he’s in, he wants to win. He puts a lot of pressure on himself, but it shows in what he produces out there.”
Mr. Johnson said he’ll play as many positions as his coach wants because they give him more opportunities to get on the field. Most of all, he enjoys playing cornerback, a position where he defends opposing wide receivers.
“I like the challenge,” he said. “At times you’re going to fail, but the times you do win, it’s really rewarding (such as), pass break-ups, picks, good coverage.”
During the Fall II season, he intercepted two passes.
“I should have had four,” he said. “I dropped two.”
With no football last fall, Mr. Johnson played Senior Babe Ruth baseball. He started in right field for the St. Paul baseball team last spring and he will be one of the captains this spring. His goal is to play baseball in college.
The St. Paul football team has only 35 players on the varsity and junior varsity combined. That’s not a lot, but it’s seven more than the Knights had during Fall II. The school has no freshman team.
Mr. Donovan was happy that his seniors got a chance to play football last March and April, even though there were only five regular-season games and no playoffs, but he’s glad to be playing a full schedule in the fall again.
“It’s been great,” Mr. Donovan said. “All football coaches are creatures of habit and to be back in the fall feels like things are right.”
In March and April, masks were required on the field, but they’re optional this fall.
Under realignment, St. Paul will switch from Pod 7 during the Fall II season to Division 6 this season. Burncoat is the only opponent on this fall’s schedule that the Knights played during the Fall II season. The Knights are scheduled to host Nipmuc, Oakmont, Burncoat, Littleton and St. Bernard’s, the latter on the night before Thanksgiving Day. They’ll visit South, Blackstone Millville, Auburn and Doherty. Playoff and consolation games are scheduled for Nov. 6 and 13.
“We’re excited with the group we have,” Mr. Donovan said. “We’ve got a tough schedule this fall and we look forward to figuring out who we are each week. I know that’s coach-speak, but it’s definitely a tough schedule. We’ve got a lot of teams we haven’t faced before and it will be a tough challenge.”
Mr. Johnson, safeties Jack Yasko and Ryan Gentilucci, and middle linebacker Liam Grow, all senior captains, are among the seven returning starters from a defense that allowed only 7.6 points a game last season. Asante Easter has impressed Mr. Donovan in his performance as defensive coordinator.
The Knights must figure out a way to replace the graduated Issaih Agnew-Beatty. The 5-foot-8 speedster was invited to be a preferred walk-on for the UMass-Amherst football team this fall after leading the Knights in rushing and scoring. His 13 touchdowns tied for third in Central Massachusetts.
Speedy Jack Lizewski, a 5-foot-11, 175-pound junior, is the leading returning running back. He rushed 35 times last season for 236 yards and two touchdowns. He’ll run behind the blocks of senior two-way linemen Marcos Perez-Burgos, Deegan Miller and Liam O’Coin.
Junior southpaw Tevin Mazyck will start at quarterback and Mr. Donovan likes his arm. Mr. Johnson, Mr. Gentilucci and fellow senior Ben Koranteng are the top receivers.
Does Mr. Johnson expect to make the playoffs?
“Yeah, always,” he said.