By Michael Muldoon
mmuldoon@eagletribune.com
November 30, 2008 02:17 am Mike Drouin's North Shore Tech football team is 9-2 and headed to the state vocational playoffs. You had better believe he's enjoying every minute of it. Having been an assistant at Methuen High during its recent 33-game conference losing streak and head coach of a winless North Shore team last fall, he's earned it. "It's just an amazing thing," said the 39-year-old former Methuen football captain, who now calls Salem, N.H., home. "It was a rough stretch (at Methuen and North Shore). The kids have really stepped up. It's hard to describe. I knew we'd be good, I just didn't think we'd win nine games." The Bulldogs will be playing in the vocational playoffs on Dec. 4 in Quincy with South Shore the opponent in what could be dubbed "The War of the Shores." Drouin will just call it nirvana. He says, "The school is buzzing." Last year he called "a complete nightmare." But it wasn't without its positives. His stepfather, Bob Petrillo, helped him out in his first year as a head coach. "That was pretty special," said Drouin, a gym teacher at North Shore who played his college ball at Plymouth State. "Football was always our bond." And that was a lot of football as Drouin said Petrillo was an assistant coach at Bedford High of the Dual County League for a whopping 36 years. The numbers are up — "at times there were 19-20 guys last year," said Drouin — and there are some talented new players. One of them is Methuen's Chris Baker. As a student at Essex Aggie, he's eligible to play at North Shore. Unusually driven for his age, the junior rises at 4:30 a.m. on school days. He walks a half-mile to get the bus stop at 6:23 a.m. Then it's off to Essex Aggie in the Hathorne section of Danvers. After school he takes the bus to North Shore in Middleton for practice and then back to Essex Aggie for the return trip to Methuen. He doesn't return home until about 6:45 p.m. "I think it was the best decision for me," said Baker, the sixth man last winter on the Essex Aggie basketball team. "I love the school. It gives you a great opportunity to do different things. In my eyes, it's all worth it. Some people say, 'You're crazy!' " Drouin said, "It definitely says a lot about his character ... the long bus rides, just the commitment to go to school so far away. I'm so glad he came out for football. He's a tough kid who loves to hit." Baker's goal is to start a landscaping and tree service (pruning, chopping down) business with a classmate. The prediction here is Baker and Friend Landscaping is a huge success. The lanky 6-foot, 160-pounder knows what he wants and how to get there. For example, concerned that his grades were subpar, he gave up football last fall. "I wanted to get my grades up," said the serious-minded Baker, who raves about playing for Drouin. "A low C average can't cut it for me. I've improved. Like anything, there is always room for more improvement." So this fall, getting back on the gridiron was a special treat. "It's been one of the best experiences of my life," said Baker, a starting defensive back and wide receiver who has two touchdown catches. "We're like a big family. At first it was a little intimidating (playing for North Shore), but they accepted me easily. They just welcomed me like I'm from North Shore."
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