The Ludlow High School varsity football team is well into their season now but they’ve had a rough start. The Lions are 4-6, but with the return of many players from the disabled list, senior captain Jeremy Lamontagne believes that they will start posting some more wins.
Due to many injuries, the Lions have struggled their past few games, but Lamontagne returned to his running back position on Oct. 4. He had been on the disabled list out from dislocating his shoulder and bruising his ribs.
“If everyone comes back healthy and then there is no reason why we should lose anymore games,” says senior captain and quarterback Mike Marshall.
This is Marshall’s first year as starting quarterback. “It is an honor, I have one the the best wide receivers (Connors) and a great running back and defensive line,” he says.
Senior wide receiver Michael “Jamal” Connors had a strong start to the season with his statistics showing him to be one of the best defensive players in Western Massachusetts. Connors says that “It feels good, and it’s an honor. I put a lot of work into being my best.”
The hardest game that Connors has played was against South Hadley, the 2nd best team in Western Massachusetts.
Every player, no matter how good they are, always has that competitor that is tough to play against. The hardest game that Marshall has played was against Commerce. He says, “they have two kids going to Uconn, they have a good defense and they hit hard.”
One game that Lamontagne didn’t like missing was against Pathfinder. “I feel it was more painful to watch then it would’ve been to play. It was a heartbreak,” he says.
The Pathfinder game was a heartbreak to Lamontagne because Ludlow lost 21-0. Ludlow managed to beat Pathfinder last year and with a healthier squad, the competition would have been much closer. This is Ludlow’s second biggest loss of the season following the Oct, 6th game against South Hadley when Ludlow was defeated with a 49-0 loss.
Things turned around on October 19th when the Lion’s shutout Dean Tech.
Winning their first game of the season “feels great, it feels good to finally shut a team out instead of always getting shut out,” says Marshall.
After the 34-0 blowout over Dean Tech, and a 94-yard touchdown pass from Marshall to Connors to ensure a 46-22 win over McCann Tech Oct, 27th. The Lions now have a taste of winning and certainly don’t plan on that changing.
On the football team’s Senior night Nov, 9th. The Lions managed to shut out Franklin Tech 22-0 adding another win the their record.
As the season comes to an end, on Thanksgiving, Ludlow will head out to Legion field to face off against Palmer at 10:30am.