As Winchester Goes For Four, Are You A Believer?

Admit it, Winchester's 3-0 start has your attention. But the calendar still says September so you're forgiven if you don't totally buy into the Sachems' success. Maybe Friday will help.

Winchester hosts two-time Middlesex Liberty champion Lexington Friday night in a role-reversal game at Knowlton Stadium. It may be a small sample but the Sachems (3-0, 1-0) are in first place in the league while Lexington (1-2, 0-1) is in last place. Reading and Woburn are also 1-0.

Two numbers might give Winchester fans reason to pause. The first is last year's 42-19 score that was part of Lexington's 5-0 league title. While All-Scholastic quarterback Sal Frelick may be gone, Anthony Bianchi has stepped in and scored six touchdowns, good for second best in Division 1. The second is that all three of Winchester's wins have come against teams with losing records. Again, a small sample size.

In the Sachems' 41-15 win over Arlington last week, Jimmy Gibbons ran for 202 yards and two scores while quarterback Tony Florentino threw for two scores and ran for a third. After three weeks the Sachems offense is clicking to the tune of 33.7 ppg.

Next town over, Reading hosts Belmont in another Liberty contest. By Saturday morning the Liberty race will be a little clearer and the Sachem fans will have a better idea just how good the 2018 team is. Here's a look at games around the area as we say good-bye to September.

Belmont at Reading, 7 -- After a mistake filled loss to Acton-Boxboro, the Rockets rebounded with a huge win over Lexington. Effort was the key word coming out of Reading and a similar performance Friday should put the Rockets at 3-1 heading into a showdown with Woburn.

Stoneham at Wakefield, 7 -- Two weeks into the season this didn't look like much of a game. But the Warriors rebounded last week with their first win of the year, 16-9 over Wilmington. Does that mean Wakefield can stop/slow Stoneham's run game? Wakefield's depth and stamina will be tested.

North Reading at Triton, 7 -- The Hornets can score in bunches. And Triton is 0-3 with losses of 55-0, 49-0, and 49-6. If you had been thinking of going out to the movies some Friday, this isn't a bad week to do it.

Lynnfield at Winthrop, 7 -- Not sure what's the most surprising number in the Pioneers' start. Is it the three losses? Or is it the 9.3 ppg scoring average? This the fourth straight road game for Lynnfield and it won't be an easy one, despite Winthrop's 1-2 record.

Austin Prep at Lowell Catholic, 7 -- Bill Maradei's 266th win actually put the Cougars at 1-0 in the Catholic Central Large and in first place. Can Dylan Cann rush for another 302 yards this week?

Northeast at Lynn Tech, Saturday at 10 a.m. -- With Zach Sanderson and Sean O’Brien both running for better than 100 yards the Golden Knights are tough to beat. But Tech (3-0) has scored 85 points the last two weeks meaning the Northeast defense will be challenged.