Rockland High football has a new quarterback, but still same goals following state title

ROCKLAND — Last December, the Rockland High football team ended the season by defeating Abington at Gillette Stadium to win the Division 6 state championship.

But that was last year and now the Bulldogs have moved on.

“As fun as last year was, nobody cares as far as this season,” said Rockland coach Nick Liquori. “Come talk to me in December, if we’re back there in December then we’ll talk about it at that point. But we’re not really concerned about that right now.”

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“We’re kind of off of last season now, we’re focusing on this year,” said senior captain Lucas Leander. "We obviously want to do the same thing again, we have the same goal in mind, we’re off of last season.”

This year’s group is looking to leave its own mark on a Rockland program that has been rising the ranks in recent years. In 2019, the Bulldogs went to the South Sectional semifinals. That was followed up with a 6-1 record in the Fall II season in 2021. Last season culminated with the program’s first state title since 2000.

“They’ve taken what each group of previous year’s upperclassmen have given us and have expanded it and put their own stamp on it,” said Liquori. “I’m excited to see what level these guys bring while they deal with adversity, deal with having a bad practice or a bad play and regrouping and relying on each other more than (the coaches).”

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With all the talent back this fall, that goal is far from a pipe dream. Rockland did graduate some key pieces like quarterback and Super Bowl hero PJ Celestino (he played a role in all of Rockland’s state-title scores with a passing TD, rushing TD and a 99-yard kick return TD) and defensive stalwarts Brett Armstrong, Gabe Pinheiro and Matteo Vasquez, but there’s a lot of key players back.

Jacob Coulstring and Lucas Leander were First Team All-Scholastics last fall. Leary Costa was a Second Team All-Scholastic. All three play on both sides of the ball.

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Leander and Coulstring formed a thunder and lightning combination in the backfield. Coulstring, a senior, missed three games to injury last year but still rushed for 968 yards and 11 TDs. He’s Rockland’s chain mover. Leander, now a two-year captain, is more of a home-run hitter, averaging 8.6 yards per carry and 16.6 yards per catch as he tallied 1,284 yards of offense (565 receiving, 719 rushing) and 13 TDs. Both play in the secondary.

Costa is a force in the trenches. He helps anchor the offensive line and is a bookend at defensive end on the defensive side. Costa is joined as a captain and on the offensive line by Austin Clarke. Clarke is a key player on Rockland’s defense in the front seven.

“I always love the defense,” said Liquori, who played linebacker for the Bulldogs in the 1990s. “The kids fly around.”

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Rockland’s newest captain is quarterback Michael Moriarty. Moriarty was just announced as a captain before the Bulldogs first practice on Friday.

“He took that leadership role right up from the start, taking kids who weren’t in spring sports down in the weight room everyday,” said Liquori of Moriarty. “Then he worked on his own craft. He had a great flag summer. In a flag environment, you don’t really see much Rockland, we’re more ground and pound, but we went to the finals in the Northeast 7-v-7.”

Moriarty split reps behind center early in the 2021 season with Celestino, so he’s far from a complete unknown coming into the season.

“He has the best arm I’ve ever seen,” said Leander. “I’ve been playing with him since I was 7 years old. I just know what he can do. He did play a good amount last year too, so we know what he brings to the table.”

Making his job easier will be several offensive weapons around him. Jordan Depina, Joe Earner and Ian White should also get some carries with Leander and Coulstring. Gaven Wardwell and Terran Williams will be Moriarty’s top targets on the outside.

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“We’re still going to be predominantly run, but we might pass more than the six times we normally pass for in the past,” said Liquori. “It just gives us that opportunity to spread people out a bit more and then come back with the run.”

“We all love our balance this year,” said Leander. "We can run the ball and we can pass the ball, so that’s always good.”

Rockland’s non-league schedule consists mostly of Patriot League teams in higher divisions. Rockland opens on the road against Hingham (Sept. 9) and Silver Lake (Sept. 16). The Bulldogs lone home game in September is against Whitman-Hanson on Sept. 23.

Rockland opens South Shore League Sullivan Division play at Norwell on Sept. 30. On Oct. 7, Rockland hosts Abington in a Super Bowl rematch and then Middleboro the following week in what could be a hugely important game in the league title race.

Rockland ends the regular season at home against Saugus in a non-league game.

“As much as I talk about not wanting to focus (on last year’s title), understand how fun it was and how the ride was, but also what we need to do to get to that spot too,” said Liquori. “That’s at the forefront of their mind a little bit, but I’m trying to push it to the back of their mind because I want to make sure their motivation stays consistent. I think they understood what we need to do to get there.”

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Previewing the Rockland High football's team upcoming season