By Marvin Pave, Boston Globe West Notebook
September 19, 2013
Worcester, MA --- Tom Cullen calls the bound notebook -- a 100-page compilation of special-teams plays he has collected at clinics or from watching football games -- his "bible."
In his first year as an assistant coach at Worcester State, working for his brother Brien, the Lancers' 31-year head coach -- Cullen took a page out of his bible last weekend, paving the way for a 15-14 comeback win over Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
His call for a fake field goal resulted in an 8-yard scoring pass that gave the undefeated Lancers a 9-0 lead.
Freshman Carrick Driscoll was the holder and junior Zack Skerry, who played at Milford High for Cullen, was a tackle-eligible on the right side.
"At practice when we tried the play, I would kid Carrick that he never threw to me," recalled the 6-foot-2, 245-pound Skerry. "We kind of joked about it."
Skerry, who primarily plays defensive end and is the team's third-leading tackler, found space in the back center of the end zone after the other receivers flooded the right side.
"I was the decoy, but I wound up uncovered," said Skerry, who did a good job reaching with both hands to snag the low throw before the ball could hit the turf. "It was definitely surreal. I hadn't scored a touchdown since I played Pop Warner."
Worcester State, which plays its MASCAC opener Friday night at Bridgewater State, needed a 22-yard touchdown reception from junior Jack Sprague of Hudson with 37 seconds left in regulation to erase a 14-9 deficit.
"Jack's a bulldog out there," said Brien Cullen, who was a football captain at St. Mary's High in Milford and at Worcester State when it was a club team. He is the program's only head coach since its inception as a Division 3 varsity squad in 1985.
Senior Alex Blakeslee of Shrewsbury booted a 33-yard field goal, and his clutch punting -- five of eight were downed inside the 20 -- were also crucial to the victory. Blakeslee handles all the kicking for the Lancers, and was averaging 57.5 yards per kickoff.
Cullen has several other area players playing key roles.
Senior wide receiver AJ Scerra of Marlborough caught 11 passes for 76 yards against WPI; Sprague's cousin, Dana Barry of Hudson, is the other starting wideout; and Ayer's DaShawn Taylor, a sophomore running back, is averaging 4.9 yards per carry.
"A.J. is one of our captains and a playmaker with great hands and quickness, our version of Wes Welker," Cullen said of Scerra, who was an All-East pick by d3football.com last fall. And of Barry and Taylor, he noted, "Dana has come back after being injured last year, and DaShawn does a great job running between the tackles."
On defense, Medway's Bryan Narcisse, a junior defensive end, was leading the Lancers with nine tackles for losses and four sacks, and Nick Doria, a senior linebacker from Watertown, had chipped in with 12 tackles.
"Bryan gives us a great 1-2 combo with Zack. He's a real special player and a game-changer," added Cullen, "and Nick has really stepped up for us. ''
Tom Cullen, who spent the previous five seasons as head coach at Milford High, also supervises the defensive ends for his brother.
"We've always talked about coaching together someday," he said. "The opportunity arose last winter and it was a no-brainer. Great to be with him."