Difficult exam awaits Panthers.

Byline: Jim Wilson 

COLUMN: FOOTBALL

It has been a storybook season so far for Marlboro High. Now the Panthers just have to write the happy ending.

No. 5-ranked Marlboro (9-0) heads to Doyle Field at 7 tonight to take on Leominster High, its toughest test since an opening-night win over Lawrence Central Catholic. The Panthers are hoping they can continue their quest for a perfect season.

"They're going to be one of the best teams we've played all year, it doesn't matter what their record is," Marlboro co-captain Neal Vigeant said. "The teams they lost to were tight games and they were against very good programs."

Leominster is 4-5, but the losses came to powerhouses Everett, Holy Name, St. John's, Wachusett Regional and Brockton. The Blue Devils have been turning things around the past few weeks and played their best game last Friday with a 35-20 win over Shrewsbury High, snapping the Colonials' four-game winning streak.

Meanwhile, Marlboro clinched its first playoff berth since 1981 with a win over Milford two weeks ago. However, turnovers and a poor effort resulted in a scare against North Middlesex Regional before the Panthers eked out a 14-10 win.

Marlboro coach Sean Mahoney said that near-loss might have been the best way to ward off complacency heading into the most important part of the season. Mahoney said he has felt good about his team since last year, when the Panthers rebounded from an 0-4 start to win five of their last seven games. With 22 seniors returning for 2009, things were looking up.

"Pretty much everyone has been bigger than us, but I think our strength is having athletic kids," Mahoney said. "They fly around and they've been pretty good assignment-wise and protecting the ball -- that's why we're 9-0."

Vigeant and quarterback A.J. Scerra have fathers who played on the 1979-80 Super Bowl team at Marlboro, so they and fellow co-captain A.C. Carter have been instrumental in bringing back "Marlboro Pride." They have led the march into the weight room and stressed offseason conditioning and are watching it pay off with a bid for a perfect season.

"We wanted to start a tradition, bring all the younger kids and introduce them to the seniors and make it a family, keep it close-knit," said Carter, who recalled his eighth-grade season when he and Vigeant were practically the only members of their class in the weight room.

Carter has blossomed into one of the top players in Division 1. His work in the Panthers' defensive backfield has led to offers from the University of San Diego and Holy Cross. Carter, who also has 867 yards rushing, is hoping to make his college choice soon, but still is waiting to hear from a long list of coaches who have interest.

Marlboro and Leominster will display plenty of weapons tonight, which should test the defenses.

After scoring just once in three weeks, the Blue Devils' offense exploded last week with running back Malik Daniel scoring twice and rushing for 181 yards as Leominster piled up nearly 400 yards.

"Our offense was the best it's been all year against a very good Shrewsbury team, so we feel like we're playing our best right now," Leominster coach John Dubzinski said. "Marlboro has a lot of great skill players and a lot of kids played against us when they were sophomores, so it's going to be a good game."

Dubzinski credited his players with not giving up. Now, with games remaining against Marlboro and Fitchburg, the Blue Devils could find themselves in the middle of the Division 1 postseason hunt.

"We just didn't come out of the gate strong like we wanted to," senior lineman Ryan Demar said. "We didn't show up to play a couple of games and those are games we have to show up for because our schedule is so tough.

"We just want to try and control the ball on offense and keep it away from them as much as we can. Hopefully, our offense plays like it did last week."

But to finish strong, the Blue Devils need to deal the Panthers their first loss in what will be the final home game for Leominster's seniors.

"They spread it out a lot and they have a bunch of good backs, and any one of them can take it to the house," linebacker Gideon Toxla said. "We have to contain them. You can never really stop players (like Carter) -- you just have to limit how many times they can make big plays."

NAME: MARLBORO HIGH SCHOOL; LEOMINSTER HIGH SCHOOL