Reading's Defense Clicking

Don't look now, but Reading's defense is starting to put eye-popping numbers up just like its offensive friends.

The Rockets haven't allowed a single point in their last two victories, and for the season they haven't allowed more than 14 points in a single game. Their 6.6 points against per game is by far the best in the Middlesex League, and when a team puts up nearly 40 points a game, it's easy to see why that formula has led to a 5-0 overall record.

But if you ask head coach John Fiore, he'd be alright with any kind of result as long as it had a W attached to the left hand column.

"I'm OK if we score one more point than the other team," said Fiore. "I'd be happy."

Connor Sheehan has led the defense at cornerback and the defensive line that fuels the rest of the group. It's kind of like a domino effect, where if the defensive line is playing well then the linebackers can rush or drop into coverage and the corners don't have to cover for so long.

"The key domino being the defensive line," said Fiore. "If they are playing well then the other positions just naturally follow."

But shutouts don't come from one group on the field, according to the head coach. It comes from a total team effort in all phases of the game: offense, defense and special teams.

"We take a lot of pride defensively," he said. "We are always trying to play hard on defense and trying to play smart of on defense. We are always trying to get one more stop than the other team. It's nice to get the shutouts, but shutouts are more of a function of other two phases of the game playing well at the same time."

The Rockets put their undefeated mark up against Lincoln-Sudbury on Friday on the road. This will be the first out of league game the Rockets have had in weeks, so the familiarity of the league opponent will be lost.

Fiore expects to become real familiar with a strong L-S running game and offense, which switches between the Wing-T and the spread offense throughout the game.

The defense will have its hands full, said Fiore. But if they keep playing smart and giving Brian Bourque and the offense short field position, then Reading becomes a tough team to overcome.