Blue Knights Football Coach Wants Consistency in Lunenburg

LUNENBURG – When Anthony Nalen, the head varsity football coach, was hired to the high school’s new coach in May of 2020, he was stepping into big shoes. The Everett native was replacing legendary Lunenburg coach Steve Boone, who stepped down in December of 2019 after 15 years of success that included seven postseason appearances and a berth in the Central Mass. Division 8 championship in 2018.

Although COVID made his first year difficult, Nalen was able to lead his squad to a 5-0 record during the COVID shortened Fall II season in the spring. He wants the 2021 Blue Knights football team to be playing its best football by the end of the season.

“Our goal, like last season, is to consistently improve over the course of the season,” he said. “We hope to be eleven times better on Thanksgiving than we were in week 1.”

Nalen has 14 seniors returning to the team this fall. “We have a ton of seniors this year,” he said. “We look to lean on Phil Arpano at the quarterback position and Trae Bush at middle linebacker on the defensive side of the ball. Our entire offensive line returns from last season along with all three running backs. Brian Melendez led the team in sacks last season and we look for him to help in the trenches this year coming off the edge.”

Nalen said his team captains, Bush, Melendez, Colin Sprague, Frank Nelson, and Dawson Powell will serve as the team’s core leadership. He also has solid underclassmen, who he expects to make solid contributions to the team. “Jaden Jenkins and Eric Smith will be two that could have monster years,” he said. “Both started as freshmen and have settled in as sophomores through the first week of camp.” Jenkins led the team in touchdown receptions and Smith led the team in passes defended at the cornerback position last season.

Prior to coming to Lunenburg, Nalen had 11 years of coaching experience under his belt. He coached at Randolph, Bishop Connolly in Fall River, Saugus, and Epping, N.H. His best year was at Bishop Connolly when he was named the Mayflower Athletic Conference’s Coach of the Year in 2015 with a 9-2 record. His team had a 7-0 regular season conference record, good enough for the third seed in the Division 6 South’s playoff bracket that year. He hopes to bring that same success to the 2021 Blue Knights.

The other seniors are Logan Bush, Jonathan Coppenrath, Nikolas Moreira, John Nelson, Ruben Parrillla, Duncan Poitras, Zach Weigold, and Daniel Wright. There are 10 juniors on the roster, including Jeremy Abell, Dylan Adamson, Benjamin Bartow, Brady Burns, Sean Delaney, Joseph Dinan, Maximos Katis, Brandon McNiff, Michael Nguyen, Chase Petricca, Cooper Shaw, and Zachary Shaw. There is seven sophomore with Jaden Jenkins, Manuel Lafountaine, Lucas Hunter, Antonio Romano, Derek Schlupf, Eric Smith, and Matson Vancelette; and there is five freshman with Blake Buiwit, Quinn Joseph, Jack Smith, Elijah Wright, and Jake Zivojinovic.