Matt Williams: Moving the Chains: Treacherous trio of tight ends primed for monster seasons

Sep. 16—Call it the influence of growing up watching future Hall of Famer Rob Gronkowski spike footballs. Maybe it's a consequence of what looks dangerous and unique in a spread offense ... or maybe it's just a cosmic coincidence.

Whatever the reason, 2022 should feature some of the best tight end play we've ever seen on the North Shore.

An afterthought for many years — more or less a third tackle unless someone dared to run a waggle pass — the tight end has morphed into one of the most diverse, important positions in football. Just like Gronkowski when he was with the New England Patriots, tight ends of today are tasked with multiple responsibilities. At practice, they push the sled with the linemen so they're ready for run blocking, then rush over to get their pass catching reps in so they're ready to move the chains running crisp routes.

"It's the best position," said Danvers High captain Aris Xerras. "Where else can you get a pancake block on one play and catch a touchdown pass on the next one?"

Xerras is one of a handful of tight end specimens playing in these parts. Going 6-foot-2 and 233 pounds with 4.78 40-yard dash speed, he's as strong an ox for blocking purposes. Though he didn't bust out in the passing game in Week 1, he's had a 50-plus yard TD catch in a scrimmage and is the kind of weapon that can dictate coverage, which leads to other Falcons being open even when he's not targeted.

"He's in incredible shape and one of the hardest working guys we've had," Danvers head coach Ryan Nolan said of Xerras. "I think he's going to have a monster year."

A little ways up Interstate-95, Masconomet boasts one of the best tight ends in the state in senior captain Tyler McMahon. He made three catches (one of the circus variety) for 51 yards in the Chieftains' season opening loss and caught five TDs last year as a junior.

He's 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, with a little less beef than Xerras and a bit more speed at 4.68 seconds in the 40. Whether McMahon lines up at the end of the spread formation or caps off a more traditional I-set (the Chieftains run both), he's got a unique ability to get open for passes coming out of a three-point stance.

"When in doubt, throw it up to him. With his base and his frame, odds are he's going to be able to go get it," said Masconomet quarterback Matt Richardson, a fellow Chieftain captain who has started under center for three seasons.

Having a weapon like McMahon (and speedy Owen Barrett outside) makes Richardson's life easier. So, too, does all the experience he's gained the last two years.

"I've grown from playing more. Sophomore year I was always nervous; now I feel like I'm ready for anything, not worried at all," Richardson said. "It's much easier to read coverages, for sure, and I feel like I can throw the ball further."

Also an outstanding defensive end, McMahon enjoys the contact and physicality of his position as much as he does scoring six points. Spending three seasons, plus most of every summer, throwing with the same QB has made him a better prospect and makes Masco a dangerous team.

"Trust is a big thing for me and Matt and I have built it since freshman year. We were slinging it back then and we've done it all these years. Hopefully we can show that this year," said McMahon.

Defensively, good tight ends are a matchup nightmare. Say one has his hand on the ground ... do you put a linebacker on him, figuring he's blocking because a safety would get run over? Or do you keep a defensive back there in case it's a pass pattern the 'backer can't cover?

"That pass and block option ... when you don't know what we're going to do at any time, it's pretty tough," McMahon said. "How they respond does a lot to decide what we might then do against different coverages and what they show us."

The area's biggest red zone threat might be the tallest of the tight ends: 6-foot-5 Jayden DelTorchio at Pingree. The Gloucester native's wingspan is monstrous and, of his 17 catches last season, seven went for touchdowns. He's 220 pounds and runs a 4.8 40, rounding out a very dangerous tight end trio.

Don't believe me when it comes to lauding these tight ends? Believe some of New England's sharpest college football minds.

McMahon, for instance, is being recruited by both the University of New Hampshire and the University of Maine from the Colonial Athletic Association. Stonehill is interested as well, and he visited Boston College's season opening game against Rutgers, too.

Xerras' recruiting trips have taken him to UNH as well as Harvard, with an offer from the NESCAC's Bates.

DelTorchio also visited BC's opener (along with Pingree teammates Hudson Weidman and Chris Colby) and is also getting interest from Columbia, UMass Amherst and UConn.

There've been a lot of great tight ends on the North Shore over the years: Mark Bavaro of Danvers might be the greatest of all-time at his position as far as high school goes (and maybe the pros, too, until Gronk came along).

St. John's Prep coach Brian St. Pierre always has good usage of his tight ends, no surprise with his experience in the NFL in Pittsburgh (speaking of the Steelers, hello ex-Pentucket star Pat Freiermuth). The Prep's best recent tight end was Jake Burt, who played at BC and appeared in all 10 games for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League this past summer.

The most productive tight end season ever was probably Marblehead's Will Millett in 2014 when he had 1,097 receiving yards and a record 13 TDs. Ironically, his younger brother Bo played tackle for Marblehead, then became a tight end in college at Bowdoin.

But have there been three tight ends at this high a level all playing at the same time? That I'm not sure about ... and that doesn't even consider the rest of the area's potential all-stars at the position. Hence why I've dubbed '22, potentially, the year of the tight end.

----I can confirm that the 43-yard field made by Peabody junior Dom Scalese last Friday is not a school record ... Luke Murdoch made a 48-yarder in a 42-20 win over Cambridge in 2002.

Still, 40-plus yard field goals don't fall off the turnip truck. As best I can recall (aided by the archives of The Salem News and Twitter), I have witnessed four at the high school level: Murdoch's, Scalese's, a 40-yarder by Peabody's Austin Leggett in a loss to Danvers in 2018, and a 41-yarder by Luke "Legatron" Samperi of Beverly against those same Tanners in 2016 (give that one extra credit, since it came on grass at Hurd Stadium).

As the unofficial historians of North Shore football, Phil Stacey and I would like to start a definitive list of the longest field goals in North Shore history. If you are aware of your favorite team's school record for longest kick and/or can think of a long boot, please let us know via e-mail (salemnewssports@gmail.com) or with a message at any of our Twitter accounts. If you have a scrapbook or cutout from the boot that you could send us a photo of, that's great. If things are a little more vague, even if you can recall a specific year or opponent, that helps tremendously and we'll try to track down a boxscore to verify.

----How significant was Salem High's 45 point outburst on opening day in Chelsea? It was the Witches' most points in a game since Thanksgiving Day of 2017 (when they scored 47) and also more than Salem scored in the entire Fall 2 season in 2021 combined.

Going back to 1990, 45 is by far the most points Salem has scored in a season opening game. It's possible the 45 are the most points they've scored in an opener ever — and almost certainly the most on Week 1 in the post-Cold War era.

With big-armed Corey Grimes at the controls, Devante Ozuna moving the chains and Pat Connaster and others looking like top tier receivers, I wouldn't expect Salem's offensive production to dip anytime soon.

----The Cape Ann League will be divided into two four-team divisions this fall. The Kinney includes Newburyport, Pentucket, North Reading and Triton while the Baker features Hamilton-Wenham, Ipswich, Amesbury and Lynnfield. Since there are only eight teams in the league (Manchester Essex and Georgetown continue to play independent football schedules), each team will play the other four in the opposite divisions and those games will count in the standings — that's a departure from what we typically see in split leagues and, we think, a good development.

----Much was made of the very high participation numbers at St. John's Prep (a staggering 235 boys) and some of its Catholic Conference brethren. Deservedly so, since participation numbers are down at almost every other school (not just in football, but in most sports).

Peabody, however, is up a bit with 90 players coming out in Grades 9-12. I asked head coach Mark Bettencourt if that rise might be connected to the team's shift to a spread offense; slot receivers encourage different body types to play football, right?

"There are more positions for smaller kids to get on the field, but really the shoutout has to go to our youth program," Bettencourt said. "My son plays in it and they do an incredible job making the game exciting, getting every kid involved and having fun. Billy Woods and his volunteers from 1st grade to 8th grade have done an amazing job and our numbers do reflect that."

----Looking for a silver lining as Northeastern Conference teams take on Merrimack Valley foes, with Danvers playing Haverhill Thursday, Beverly hosting North Andover Saturday morning and Marblehead getting those same Knights next week? 2021 was a good year for the NEC against one of the state's best leagues: they were 4-2 against the MVC. That's a big improvement from the MVC's decisive 13-4 mark against NEC foes from 2017-19.

Moving the Chains, a column on North Shore high school football, appears in The Salem News each Friday during the fall. Contact Matt Williams at MWilliams@salemnews.com and follow along on Twitter @MattWilliams_SN