If you are driving on Day Boulevard in South Boston late in theafternoon, stop and look at the football team practicing there.
There are neither blocking sleds nor tackling dummies. There isno locker room. The players change at school and walk to practice.They leave their books under a tree if it rains. When practice ends,they walk to a bus stop for the ride home.
South Boston coach Steve Flaherty uses the outfield of a softballfield at Columbus Park for practice. The backstop serves as the goalposts.
'You just make do with what you have,' said Flaherty, who is inhis 15th year. 'If you want to do it, you do it. If you want tomake excuses, then you make excuses.'
Such conditions have made Flaherty's players appreciate what theydo have and have made them more of a team.
'This group of kids has been through adversity and has learned torely on each other,' said Flaherty. 'If one kid is having a bad day,then another guy will pick him up.'
There haven't been too many bad days for Southie. The defendingBoston North champion is 7-0 this season and has won 17 straightgames. Even without any of what some would call football'necessities,' Flaherty's team is ranked No. 20 in this week's GlobeTop 20 poll.
After whipping Brookline, 48-0, Walpole (8-0) remains No. 1 and istwo weeks away from a showdown with No. 8 Wellesley (8-0) for the BayState Herget championship. Lynn Classical (7-1) dropped from No. 11to No. 15 after its loss to Gloucester, 28-14. Lincoln-Sudbury (6-1)jumped two spots to No. 10.
Boston is the toughest city in Massachusetts in which to be a highschool athlete. In 1975, Boston's high school sports budget was $2million. Sixteen years later, the budget is just $1 million.
'It's a bizarre situation,' said Flaherty. 'On one hand, they sayget the kids off the streets and away from the violence and drugs,then there's kids who work hard six or seven days a week and they cutthe JV programs. I don't understand their values.'
But Southie has persevered. Al Minor, a senior running back, hascarried the load offensively. Jermel White has been a punishinginside runner and quarterback Ray Triplett threw two TD passes in a28-0 victory over Hyde Park Sunday.
'I am enjoying this year,' said Minor, who has more than 1,000yards rushing and 13 touchdowns. 'When we play together, I seem toplay better.'
When South Boston traveled to Manchester, there 'was a clash ofcultures,' according to Flaherty. His team made the trip to theNorth Shore community on a rented bus the city paid for because theschool drivers were on strike. When the players got off the bus,they must have thought they were on foreign soil. There was a band,cheerleaders, boosters selling food, a public address system and ascoreboard. Southie proved none of that mattered, though, as ithammered Manchester, 37-0, behind Minor's two touchdowns.
'I wish we had all that stuff {Manchester has},' said Minor. 'Butwe are starting to get some fans at the games. In the beginning ofthe year, I thought this team was capable of having a good year. Ithink we have the best kids in the city.'
The cardiac kids from Latin Academy were at it again yesterday.
Coach John Nee's club defeated host Madison Park, 16-8, improvingits record to 5-1, while Madison Park fell to 3-4.
Tied at 8-8, Latin got a 1-yard scoring run from senior MichaelHill with 1:31 remaining.
Of Latin's five wins, two have been in overtime and three havebeen decided with less than two minutes left in regulation.
The key play for Latin was a Robert Fronier interception at hisown 20. The senior defensive back returned the ball to the MadisonPark 1, setting the stage for Hill.
'The defense did a great job,' said Nee. 'They put us in aposition to win the game.'
