Week 3: Can Reading Beat Lexington ... and Other Football Questions

There are great games this weekend for sure. Falmouth, with the state's longest active win streak (14), plays at Marshfield. Whitman-Hanson (2-0) will try and beat host Duxbury (1-1) and end the Green Dragon's run of nine straight Patriot titles. And St. John's Prep will dedicate Fred Glatz Field when it hosts No. 1 Everett Saturday. But in our world, there's no bigger game than Reading (2-0) playing at Lexington (2-0) Friday.

Maybe you've forgotten what happened last fall. Lexington came into Reading and hammered the Rockets, 56-27. Two things stand out about that score. First, Lexington outscored Reading, 28-0, in the second half. And second, junior quarterback Sal Frelick scored five touchdowns in the win ... the key word there being "junior."

Frelick is back and after two games he's run for three scores and passed for four more. Reading's Jack Geiger is also back after scoring four touchdowns for the Rockets in last year's game. The winner of this one should go on to win the Middlesex Liberty title.

Starting with the Middlesex showdown, here's a look at what's up for area high school football teams.

Reading (2-0) at Lexington (2-0), Fri., 7 p.m. -- The pressure is squarely on the Rocket defense this week. Reading will score against Lexington but unless the defense somehow contains Frelick, the drive home on 128 North won't be pleasant. Then again, driving north on 128 on a Friday night is never pleasant.

Amesbury (0-2) at Lynnfield (2-0), Fri., 7 p.m. -- Anthony (4 TDs) and Tyler (2 TDs) Murphy are a winning combo for the Pioneers and it's hard to imagine Amesbury leaving with a win. Still, the Indians played Pentucket tough last week and had a chance to win so don't look at their record and make any assumptions.

Stoneham (2-0) at Burlington (0-2), Fri., 7 p.m. -- The Middlesex Freedom opener for both schools and the teams are closer in talent than the records might indicate. Burlington's defense has given up 33 and 32 points so far and the Spartans would love to score another 30-plus in this one. Stoneham's Tre Pignone has scored five touchdowns this fall and he's the fourth leading scorer in Division 6.

Arlington Catholic (1-1) at Austin Prep (0-2), Fri., 7 p.m. -- The Cougars are off to a rough start, losing two non-league games including last week's 37-8 affair at Greater Lawrence. But all that will be forgotten if AP can turn it around in the Catholic Central League, starting with AC. The biggest challenge is on defense where AP must contain Kordell Parrish and Michael Burke, each of whom has scored three touchdowns in the Cougars two games.

Wakefield (1-1) at Wilmington (2-0), Fri., 7 p.m. -- The Warriors are coming off a big win over Winchester, aided by the absence of the Sachems starting quarterback. This week they'll face a Wildcat team that scored 41 in a win over Dual County League foe Bedford. John Kenney leads Division 4 in scoring with five touchdowns and he ran for 217 yards in last week's win, so stopping the senior running back is the first task for Wakefield.

Arlington (1-1) at Winchester (0-2), Fri., 7 p.m. -- Without quarterback Liam Fitzgerald, the Sachems struggled to move the ball and lost to Wakefield. But the real problem for Winchester was the start, when the defense gave up touchdowns on the first two plays from scrimmage. Winchester's offense should have an easier time against an Arlington defense that has given up 64 points in two games.

North Reading (1-1) at Lynn English (2-0), Fri., 7 p.m. -- Definitely not a matchup of traditional rivals, but still a good game and played at one of the best high school sites in the state in historic Manning Field. The Bulldogs have wins over Beverly and Somerville while the Hornets suffered their first defeat last week against Hamilton-Wenham. Prince Brown and Matt Severance lead English with three touchdowns each.

Mystic Valley (0-2) at Northeast (1-1), Sat., 10:30 a.m. -- The Wakefield vocational school is still a work in progress but one thing is certain. These guys can score. With 76 points in the first two weeks of the season, Northeast has proven it can score, led by Zach Sanderson's five touchdowns. And that's bad news for winless Mystic, which has allowed 47.5 ppg this fall. As for Northeast's defense, it allowed 46 points one week, zero the next. So you tell me.