SuiteSports Game of the Week: St. John's at Shepherd Hill

Shepherd Hill, and it's powerful offensive line, hosts our Game of the Week against St. John's Friday night.

By Connor Evans (@RonnocEvans)

This week’s Suite Sports Game of the Week is a heavyweight matchup between two Central Mass powerhouses. The St. Johns Pioneers (1-0) will head to Shepherd Hill (0-1) and attempt to pick up huge back-to-back wins to open the season, after defeating Catholic Memorial last week.

Shepherd Hill, despite being the host, may have to work uphill a bit. The team faces controversy as former Holy Name star running-back Kevin Mensah is being barred from the field by MIAA rules. In order to show support for Mensah, Shepherd Hill head coach Chris Lindstrom sat out the Rams' season-opening loss to Shrewsbury.

Expect to see the same thing again this week.

Ed. Note- Since the publishing of this story, coach Lindstrom has announced he WILL coach, and that both schools are making progress on getting Mensah back on the field.

St. John's is also dealing with a distraction off the field, as at least one player was involved in a racially-charged group chat that occurred after Doherty junior Mike Oppong took a knee during the national anthem Friday night. 

Central Mass High School Football Road Trip: Shepherd Hill

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

From now until the Massachusetts high school football season begins on September 9th, I'll be no the road checking out some of the most promising teams in Central Mass.

We begin today with the Shepherd Hill Rams, a team that enters 2016 with lofty expectations after an eventful 2015. The Rams didn't qualify for the postseason last year, thanks to a slow start against a brutal early slate, but rebounded to play some of their best football late, and built the foundation for this year behind a newly expanded offense and defense.

Add in the fact that Shepherd Hill received a transfer from All-State running back Kevin Mensah, to go with its already loaded offense, and hopes couldn't be much higher in Dudley.

All this couldn't have come together at a better time for Shepherd Hill, as realignment has placed the Rams in the new Division 2 Central, which also happens to be the largest classification in Central Mass. How will the Rams stack up against regional powers like Leominster and St. John's? Here's our camp report.