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First-year North High School football coach Dan Chery has made one thing abundantly clear when it comes to this season for the Polar Bears: He isn’t paying attention to the wins and losses. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to win – he does. It’s simply a matter of philosophy.

“If,” the 38-year-old former Sutton football head coach told the Worcester Sports Scene, “you go in and try to build a program on winning and you lose your first three games, you have nothing. If you lose your first game, you have nothing. Basically, we’re building this program on core values these kids picked in June. They picked values that would dictate how our team worked, the direction of our team.”

Those values – determination, discipline and selflessness – are what players and coaches at North are most focused on. They are evident at practice, when the players take to the practice field by themselves, no coaches in sight, and start going through their drills.

“Put your helmet on,” one player directed another at the start of practice earlier this week. When the player didn’t don his helmet, the order came again. “Put your helmet on.”

Chery is clear, this football team belongs to the players. He and his coaching staff are their to help them find their way.

“At the end of the day, I am just a shepherd,” said Chery, who was born in Brooklyn, grew up in Leominster and played football at Wilkes University and Mount Ida College. “I played my football. I’m done playing football. It’s not about the wins and losses. How I will define our program is how well our kids can practice our core values on and off the football field.”

Make no mistake, while he may not be focused on the scoreboard (the Polar Bears dropped their first game of the season last week, 14-6, to Uxbridge, and head to Oxford Saturday for a 1 p.m. Contest), Chery expects his team to compete and to put into practice the values they chose on their own. He demands it not only during games, but in practice as well.

In a conditioning drill this week, during which players had to line up in a three-point stance before sprinting to a spot called out by the coach, Chery sent the entire team back to the starting point several times because of false starts or other missteps.

He does not accept excuses and won’t cut someone any slack because they’re cramping up during a drill.

“The coach is tough,” senior wide receiver and corner back Andrew Spiyee said, “but it’s all for a reason. I can see it now.”

Even if not every player does, Chery is confident they will somewhere down the line. Perhaps it’s also rooted in his own upbringing, by parents who didn’t have much in the way of material things, but loved their children unconditionally. Chery shared a twin bed with his younger brother until he was 12. He knows about humble beginnings, and it’s no stretch to think at least some of the players on the North High football team experience something similar.

“As a staff, it’s about how can we practices [the core values] on and off the football field, how can we get them to do those things,” he said. “Those are the type of values you’re going to use in the workforce, when they become fathers and husbands, they can use them at home with their families today. They can use their values to change the world they live in. However, talking about it doesn’t get it done. This is something coming from the kids: ‘Stop talking about it, let’s be about it.’

“Practicing [the core values] off the field makes it so much easier to do it on the field. If you can’t be determined in the classroom, there’s a good chance you’re not going to be determined on the football field. If you’re not disciplined, if you can’t be disciplined in the classroom, if you can’t be disciplined at home, you’re probably not going to be disciplined on the football field. If you can’t be selfless in other things in your life, you’re probably not going to be selfless when it matters the most.”

Chery has nine seniors on this year’s squad helping to make sure the team’s core values are followed.

There’s quarterback Christian Hines, a three-year starter of whom Chery said, “I don’t think he realizes how much of a leader he is, yet.”

Kimali Olivo plays running back and wide receiver, while Steve Neufville does double-duty at tight end and outside linebacker.

Davanyel Romero is a defensive end “with a motor that doesn’t stop running,” according to his coach.

But the “heart and soul” of the team, Chery said is running back Carey Burrell.

“Just the energy he brings every day,” the coach said. We ask the kids to bring attitude, energy and effort, we’ll do the rest. Every day he shows up with that. We noticed if he has a bit of an off day our team seems to have a bit of an off day, also. He’s another one of our football players that doesn’t realize how much of a leader he can actually be.”

All the seniors have embraced the culture being established on the team, Chery said.

“It’s a … phenomenal thing that we’re building a team here,” he said. “When I got there, I believe we just had a collection of football players. We’re now building a football team, which is a beautiful, beautiful thing. It’s coming along slowly, but it’s great.”

Eden Ankomah, a junior defensive tackle and guard, is among the underclassmen Chery has his eyes on.

“He’s going to be a very, very, very special football player,” the coach said. “He’s another kid that just doesn’t see his potential, yet. We’re hoping we can have football pay for his education.”

In the end, Chery said, what is being built goes way beyond X’s and O’s, wins and losses. And it isn’t about anyone other than the kids.

“I don’t care about the accolades, the wins or losses. I care about the kids,” he said. “I don’t coach for any other reason. Believing in a kid pushing a kid to be the best he can be, making sure he understands there’s a lot more to what he can be. That’s what we’re here for.”

North plays the Oxford Pirates Saturday at 1 p.m. In Oxford.

Other scheduled games include:

Saturday, Sept. 28 at St. Peter-Marian, 12 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 5 vs. Blackstone-Millville Regional High School, 3 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 12 at Burncoat, 12 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 19 at Holy Name, 12 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 25 at Doherty, 6 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 2 vs. Quabbin, 2 p.m.

Derek Robbins sees the 2019 season as a “get back on the map year” for the Worcester Tech football team. With two wins over the past two seasons, and a campaign that ended prematurely last year amid hazing allegations, the Eagles are looking for a fresh start. And it’s not just about football, either.

“This is a refocusing year,” the 44-year-old, first-year head coach, who replaces former coach Paul Dowd, told the Worcester Sports Scene recently. “Getting back to what makes Worcester Tech one of the best schools, definitely in the city, definitely in Central Mass, if you look at the building, the programs and the faculty there. It’s a special place.”

Robbins, an assistant coach for high school programs in West Boylston and Westborough who works for the Justice Resource Institute, said he has been inside Worcester Tech High School “a minimum of three days a week.” From the beginning, he liked what he saw.

“The school community is really what I was surprised by,” he said. “The people in that building really love Tech, and really love everything about he kids that attend Tech.”

Robbins’ focus is on how to build on that. Victories would be nice, particularly for a program where crooked numbers in the win column have been hard to come by. But for the Eagles this year, it’s also about something more.

Coming off an abbreviated 2018 season that ended with the team 1-8 amid allegations of hazing involving some of the players, Worcester Tech is putting a huge emphasis on character and about representing the school in a good light. There isn’t a lot of talking about what happened, more about moving forward.

“My approach has been we’re not going to pretend anything didn’t happen, but going forward how do we build the program so nothing like that ever happens again,” Robbins, a Clinton resident who married his high school sweetheart and whose son is going through the ROTC at Norwich University in Vermont. “The focus is on how we treat team members, family members, about how we conduct ourselves walking down the hallway.”

Players, the coach said, have been receptive.

“They want to not only turn around football life, but what people think of Worcester Tech in general,” Robbins said, adding the lessons from football can carry far away from the gridiron.

For some of the Worcester Tech players, that is important.

“These kids, a lot of them aren’t going to college. A lot of them are going right into the job force,” Robbins said of students at a vocational school. “… It’s really what it’s like to be in the workforce. There’s going to be people at work you may not get along with. You’re going to have go along with plans your boss laid out you think, ‘There’s a better way to do this.’ It’s a great opportunity to use this sport teach kids this is what you need to do going forward. It means something to treat people good, and treat them how you want to be treated. It really gets 11 guys, then 22 guys, then 54 all pushing in the right direction.

“It sounds a bit corny at first, but the kids see it when we get out on the practice field. That’s how I teach the game. I think I’m pretty real with the kids. I don’t like using big cliches and things you can pick of a coaches’ board. I really think if you are real with the kids and say, ‘You’re going to be an auto mechanic, but you’re not going to be the only auto mechanic in the garage. You’re going to need to work with people,’ I think the kids have responded as well.”

The message appears to be getting through.

“It’s not only about becoming football players, but actually becoming a man,” 17-year-old Worcester Tech Eagle Jakob Lufkin, a senior offensive and defensive lineman, said.

As his teammate, 17-year-old senior starting Quarterback Andrew Enlow put it, “Coach gets stuff done.”

Players, Enlow said, are learning a lot more than X’s and O’s.

“He teaches us to be supportive of one another, to trust each other,” he said.

Of course, there is football to be played, and Robbins admits it’s been “tough sledding” for the Eagles in recent years. This year’s squad is senior-heaving, with about 22 active seniors on the team. Look for Enlow and Lufkin to be among the team’s standouts this year. Senior outside linebacker Alagie Trawally and senior linebacker Craig Martin are also among those to watch.

Martin, Robbins said, “is a lunch pail guy every coach loves to have,” while Trawally is a potential surprise because last year he only played on one side of the ball.

As he works to spread a message to his players, Robbins does so with an entirely new coaching staff. He isn’t the only one new to the coaching staff. Brian Green of Auburn is the offensive/defensive line coach and defensive coordinator. John Lacaire, who teaches at Tech, is the head junior varsity coach and coaches running backs and linebackers on the varsity squad. Joe Belsito, who coached with Robbins at West Boylston, is the positions and special teams coach.

“I joke with my guys, because we’re going to be the least-known coaching staff in New England by far,” Robbins said.

As for team expectations, the coach said school administrators and the athletic department, led by Director Dave Shea, are on the same page.

“I think they share what my thought is and my feeling, that if we take care of all these other things, the winning is definitely going to come. It just does,” Robbins said. “If we’re doing things the right way, and the kids buy in, I think that’s more powerful to turn a program around than a coach who can come in and act like John Wayne. If you give the kids a platform, tell them, ‘This can be your team. Right now it’s my team, so I need to turn things in a certain direction, but I need to empower you to take this team where you want to take it.’”

The Eagles play their first game Saturday, Sept. 14 against David Prouty at Foley Stadium in Worcester. Kickoff is at 3 p.m.

The remaining schedule is below:

Sept. 20 at Murdock, 7 p.m.
Sept. 27 at Southbridge, 7 p.m.
Oct. 5 at Blackstone Valley Tech, 2 p.m.
Oct. 11 vs. Assabet, 6:30 p.m.
Oct. 18 vs. Monty Tech, 6:30 p.m.
Oct. 26 vs. Holy Name, 12 p.m.
Nov. 1 vs. Bay Path, 4 p.m.

The New England Patriots made their first move in the Antonio Brown saga over the weekend, plucking the embattled wide receiver right from under everyone’s noses almost immediately after he was released by the Oakland Raiders. In order to fit him on the team, however, they had to make another move.

On Monday, they made two.

The Pats waived safety Obi Melifonwu, the former Grafton High standout, UConn Huskie and 2017 second-round Raiders draft pick, and cut tight end Lance Kendricks.

The defending Super Bowl champs, fresh off Sunday night’s 33-3 shellacking of Brown’s old team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, had to clear space to add Brown. An insanely talented wide receiver, Brown is seen by his fiercest critics as a cancer for whichever team he plays and by his fans as one of the most talented players in the game. He now has Patriots fans dreaming of an undefeated season and yet another Super Bowl championship.

Nagged by injuries, Melifonwu, the 56th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, landed on injured reserve twice with the Raiders. The team waived him in August last year. Three months later, in November, he signed a two-year contract with the Patriots. He was with the team when it won its sixth Super Bowl title in January with a 13-3 victory over the St. Louis Rams.

Melifonwu was among the players listed as inactive for Sunday’s game.

Reached by phone for comment Monday night, Melifonwu’s agent, Sean Stellato said his client was “waiting until the dust settles” before commenting, but said, “We’re just taking everything in stride.”

Being on the Patriots was a huge opportunity for Melifonwu, Stellato said, adding, “He’s grown tremendously.”

“Every experience is an opportunity to get better,” Stellato said.

As football fans in New England know all too well, with success comes high expectations. That is what longtime Doherty High football coach Sean Mulcahy faces year in and year out with not only one of the top high school football programs in Worcester, but in Central Mass as well.

Although Mulcahy appreciates the sentiment from what he calls “outside expectations,” he and his staff are gearing up for another playoff run this year.

“We want to get better every week,” Mulcahy said in a phone interview with Worcester Sports Scene this week. “We can’t look ahead, because when we start comparing ourselves to other teams, that is when we will trip up.”

Since winning the Division 4A State Title in 2013, the Highlanders have made the postseason every year. Mulcahy, who has been coaching the Highlanders since 1990, credits it to an “all-in” effort from the top down.

“We have great assistant coaches and they work very hard, not just during the season, but in the off-season as well,” he said.

In a time in which football has seen declining numbers, the Doherty program, Mulcahy said, has seen just the opposite. Over 100 students in grades 9-12 have come out for football.

“It’s a good problem to have, I hope I have enough uniforms,” the coach joked.

Mulcahy said the success of the program belongs to the commitment and buy-in from the players, past and present. The post-high school successes of former players Yawin Smallwood and current Denver Broncos defensive back Isaac Yiadom are seen as a reason for players to play for Doherty, where in the past they may have gone elsewhere.

“Success breeds success,” Mulcahy said.

On the field in in 2019 the Highlanders will be led by tri-captains Josh Brunelle, Anthony Franco and David Adarkwah. All three have a family pedigree with the Highlander program. as all have had siblings played for Doherty.

Brunelle, a defensive end and offensive lineman, has been drawing interest from several colleges, and as Mulcahy puts it, “He’s college ready.”

Adarkwah, who was a ball boy for the 2013 state championship team, also plays both offense and defense. On the defensive side, he plays end. Adarkwah will play tight end on the offensive side.

Franco plays the skill positions on both sides of the ball, using his speed to play receiver and cornerback.

Mulcahy said the team will go as far as junior quarterback Noah Callery will take them. The Highlanders graduated 1,000-yard rusher Tajon Vassar in 2018 and Mulcahy is looking to Callery to lead the offense.

The Highlanders open up the 2019 campaign with a home game against Algonquin Regional High School Friday, Sept. 13, at 6:30 at Foley Stadium

2019 Doherty Football Schedule

Friday, Sept. 13 Algonquin 6:30 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 20 at Leominster 7:00 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 27 Shrewsbury 6:30 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 4 at Worcester South 6:00 p.m
Friday, Oct. 11 at Grafton 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 18 at Tantasqua 7:00 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 25 Worcester North 6:00 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 1 at Shepherd Hill 7:00p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 27 Burncoat TBA

Several high school teams in Worcester start their fall seasons this week, with football just around the corner, and they do so with health officials keeping a close watch on the threat of Eastern equine encephalitis. The deadly virus could threaten outdoor activities such as high school sports, particularly those at dawn and dusk, but for now it’s game on until the city says otherwise.

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