The Silver Lake High football team might not be in the playoffs anymore, but they did have a strong performance against a playoff-caliber team.

Last Friday night, the Lakers hosted the Nauset Warriors and shined on both sides of the ball en route to a 28-0 victory. With the win, the Lakers improved to 5-5 on the season.

An early interception by Drew Keiran gave the Lakers the ball around midfield, and they capitalized on the field position. Ben Lofstrom capped off the drive with a short touchdown run and Keiran’s extra point made it 7-0 Lakers.

In the second quarter, Keiran had another interception, once again giving the Lakers solid field position. This time, they scored on a 35-yard touchdown run by Matt Gabra; Keira hit the extra point, putting the Lakers up 14-0.

Defensively, the Lakers had three first half interceptions; Owen Thompson got one on a deep ball as time expired.

The Lakers started the second half with the ball and Jake LaFerrara caught a touchdown pass from Lofstrom to complete a 60-yard drive. Nauset blocked the Lakers extra point attempt, making it a 20-0 game.

With Gabra excelling on the ground, the team also moved the ball downfield early in the fourth quarter. In the red zone, Lofstrom then hit Sean Waters with a short touchdown pass. The Lakers went for two and Waters caught another pass from Lofstrom, giving the Lakers a 28-0 lead.

The Lakers defense continued to shut down Nauset and Kyle Cipullo blocked a punt, giving the Lakers the ball back; with the game out of reach, they put in their second offense.

The Lakers have one last game left on their schedule: the annual Thanksgiving Day bout against the Pembroke Titans (10:00 a.m. start time).

Pembroke is the home team this year but surely, the Lakers have to be the favorite to win this one. Pembroke is 2-8 this season and coming off a 42-6 loss to Dedham, a team who did not make the playoffs this season.

Yet another member of the Silver Lake High baseball team will one day be an NCAA Division 1 college baseball player.

Halifax native Nolan Hughes still has another season as a member of the Lakers baseball program, but after that, he knows where he is going to play. Earlier this month, he committed to play college baseball at Fordham University in New York City’s Bronx borough. Hughes will be attending the school on a partial scholarship for baseball.

As a junior last season, Hughes was dominant on the mound for the Lakers. He went 7-1, posting a 1.02 ERA. He also tossed a one-hitter against Whitman-Hanson, helping the Lakers capture their Patriot League Keenan Division title.

Coming to the decision now ensures Hughes will not have to worry about it during the school year. For him, it was a long process. Initially, Hughes committed to Bryant last September. However, when Bryant’s coaching staff left for Rutgers University in New Jersey, Hughes decided to look elsewhere for a place to play.

The Lakers have had plenty of talented baseball players over the years, who ended up playing college baseball. Currently, Kingston native Anthony Videtto plays Division 1 college baseball at UMass Amherst, as does Halifax native Jason Johndrow, a member of the University of Hartford’s team.

Hughes is not the only active member of the Lakers baseball program committed to a Division 1 school either. His classmate Mike Quigley, another talented pitcher, is committed to UMass Lowell.

Fordham, where Hughes will presumably start his NCAA career in 2021, is coming off a strong season. They went 38-24 last season, including 20-4 during their home games.

Meanwhile, the Lakers baseball team went 15-6 last season, fell in the first round of the Division 1 South playoffs, but is expected to have a plethora of returning talent this season.

A pair of Kingston natives are set to play roles on a local college football powerhouse this upcoming season.

The Harvard football team has not had a losing season since 1998 under the direction of Kingston native Tim Murphy as its head coach. For the third consecutive season, he is not the team’s only Kingston connection. Rather, junior defensive back Mike Silva hails from Kingston as well.

Murphy has been Harvard’s coach since 1994 and in that timeframe, his teams have won the Ivy League Championship nine times. His record at Harvard is an impressive 174-75 and overall as a Division I college football head coach, it stands at 206-120-1.

A 1978 Springfield College grad, Murphy got his start coaching at the collegiate level as a part time assistant at Brown in 1979. The next year, he hired on as an assistant offensive line coach.

The following year, he took the offensive line coach job at Lafayette before holding the same job at Boston University for three seasons. From 1985 to 1986, he served as the University of Maine’s offensive coordinator before taking their head coaching job in 1987. He held that post for two seasons before becoming the University of Cincinnati’s head coach from 1989 to 1993. He has been with Harvard ever since.

Meanwhile, Silva, a Milton Academy product who appeared in four games at Harvard last season and recorded a tackle, could see an expanded playing role this time around. After all, the team lost its two starting safeties to graduation following last season: Zach Miller and Cole Thompson. Plus, defensive backs Wesley Ogsbury and Tyler Gray, who each appeared in all 10 games last season, will be graduating. That said, Harvard will look a little different in the secondary and have spots up for grabs.

Harvard’s first regular season game this year will be Saturday, Sep. 21 on the road against the University of San Diego.

It is hard enough for a local athlete to earn the honor of being named a league All-Star or an All-Scholastic by a media organization. However, it is far more rare for one to be recognized at the national level — especially when they are not even a senior yet.

Even so, this was the case for Alexa Connors, a junior on the Lakers girls swim team this past winter. The standout swimmer was named to the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association’s All-American team.

Connors earned the cut in the 500 freestyle despite the list encompassing the entire country and being limited to just 100 spots. Overall, she was one of just two Massachusetts natives to earn the honor. Her 4:53.14 time in the 500 freestyle ranked 58th in the country and the highest of any New England high school girls swimming athlete since the other five states did not have anyone selected.

Last winter, Connors won the MIAA Division 1 state championship in both the 200 and 500 freestyle respectively (1:50.84 and 4:53.14). She also shined regionally, winning the 200 freestyle at the 2019 New England 15-18 Age Group Championship meet. That time, she finished it in 1:52.35.

As Swim Swam reported earlier this month, Connors will also continue her swim career after she graduates from Silver Lake next year. She is committed to the University of Richmond (NCAA Div. I) as of earlier this month. At the school, Connors has the potential to make a serious impact. Her personal-best time in the 500 freestyle would rank seventh all-time in the record books at Richmond.

While Connors has that to look forward to in the future, she also has a chance to shine for the Lakers once again next winter and defend both of her state titles.

A recent Silver Lake High graduate and standout player on the boys’ lacrosse team this past spring recently earned high praise within the region.

Sean Daly had a standout career for the Lakers as a four year varsity player, but it was his strong performance his senior year which landed him his most recent honor. The multi-time Patriot League All-Star was one of two players to earn Honorable Mention in Wicked Local’s MIAA South region Senior of the Year Award.

Ultimately, the award went to Will Kenney of Hingham and both Daly and Eddie Fettuccia of Norwell were the two runners up.

Over the course of his Lakers career, Daly helped establish the program as a perennial playoff contender. His freshman year, the team had a rough 1-17 where they only won the final game of the season against a winless Milton team. However, the program continued to improve and made it to the playoffs three straight seasons with him as a top scoring player in each of those years.

Daly earned the Lakers Team MVP award twice and finished his high school career with 249 career points: 146 goals and 103 assists. He also helped the team set a franchise win record this season (15). By the end of the season, the team was ranked 33rd in the state on MaxPreps. Daly was also a part of an attack which averaged 13.4 goals per game this past spring.

Although Daly might be best remembered for his lacrosse career at Silver Lake, he was also a productive soccer player for the Lakers.

Daly is committed to play lacrosse next season at Franklin Pierce, a Division II school in New Hampshire which competes in the Northeast 10 Conference. There were numerous teams interested in his services including the UMass Amherst, a Div. I program.

The Silver Lake High baseball team saw one of its members recognized at the statewide level this past weekend.

When the Boston Herald released its 2019 Spring All-Scholastic rankings over the weekend, a junior pitcher from the Lakers staff made the cut. That would be Halifax native Michael Quigley. It is his first time receiving the honor.

Quigley, who was a third-year varsity player this past spring, had a dominant campaign not only on the mound, but at the plate as well.

As a pitcher, the righty went 7-3 with a 1.94 ERA in 54 innings pitched. Over that same span, he struck out 73 batters, saved two games and tossed a no-hitter.

However, as the Herald notes, Quigley’s numbers are far better if the Lakers early season struggles are ignored.

Over the final 48 innings he pitched this past spring, his ERA was a miniscule 0.46–making him among the state’s most dominant arms.

At the plate, Quigley also got the job done. He collected 23 hits in 59 at-bats, good for a .389 batting average. In the process, he also knocked in 15 runs. That said, he should also be an asset to the team’s batting order next season.

At the moment, Quigley is committed to play Division I baseball for UMass-Lowell when his high school career comes to a close.

According to Perfect Game, Quigley’s pitch has topped out at 85 miles per hour, but he has been clocked at 92 when throwing in the infield.

Next season, pitching should absolutely be a strength for the Lakers.

Not only do they have Quigley expected to return next season, but Nolan Hughes as well.

A Patriot League All-Star this past spring, Hughes’ return means the team should have back two of their three primary starting pitchers. This should be a major advantage for them.