Salem's Clifford shows he belongs

There aren't too many New Hampshire boys who make it in big-time football, so Pete Clifford knows he's representing more than just himself and Salem High.

"It's a pretty big accomplishment," the junior said of earning a starting position on the offensive line at Michigan State. "New Hampshire football is not nationally renowned. We have a lot of kids from Ohio, Michigan and Florida. To be from New Hampshire, it's a great thing to start at a Big Ten school.

"Teammates get on me, 'New Hampshire, is that even a state?' They get on me for my accent and because I always cheer for the Sox."

His fellow Spartans don't get on him for his toughness, work ethic, attitude or versatility, though.

He's playing with a bad knee after tearing his MCL in practice a couple days after the season opener. He missed the next three games and was supposed to be available in an "emergency only" against Illinois. There was an emergency. The left guard broke his foot on the first series.

"I had to hop in and play almost the whole game," he said.

The word "hop" having a dual meaning in this instance.

Playing in a little pain won't stop Clifford, who has been limited to back-up duty until this fall.

The last two weeks have been memorable ones. Although the slumping Spartans (they've lost four straight after a 3-0 start) have come up short, he's started before 111,349 fans at Michigan's famed Big House and then over the weekend he and the Spartans fell to No. 1 Ohio State, 38-7, before a crowd of 73,498 in East Lansing.

By comparison, Gillette Stadium's capacity is only 68,756.

Most of his opponents have always been the best of the best. Clifford came up the hard way. Lightly regarded until late in his career (he nearly went to St. Anselm's and wasn't even an Eagle-Tribune All-Star!), he went from a curiosity for his prodigious size to more of a prospect.

He made major strides his senior year under Jack Gati then worked relentlessly on his footwork and stamina as a senior basketball player.

He prepped at Bridgton Academy in Maine and started to attract some Division 1 attention, but still, there were skeptics.

Slowly but surely he's showed he belongs.

"Every week you're playing the best in the nation," he said. "You're playing Michigan, Ohio State, Notre Dame, the rest of the Big Ten. There are no weeks off. Every week you're playing the biggest, fastest and strongest in the nation."

To compete, he knew there could be no shortcuts and he hasn't taken any.

"When we were recruiting Peter, we were looking at a kid who we thought was a project," explained Spartans offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland. "We saw some things we could work with. He's been a pleasant surprise. He's a lot further along than we thought he'd be. He's made himself into a football player. He's a blue-collar kid who I like to coach. I don't think anybody I coach works any harder."

Clifford said, "It feels pretty good starting. I just worked my butt off. ... I knew I'd get there."

He brings the same enthusiasm to practice he displayed in basketball at Salem, when he'd stand to his full 6-foot-7 and in a booming voice holler "Let's go Saaaalem!" so loudly that fans would all but have to put their fingers in their ears.

A rarity on the college level, he might have been too big. The man-mountain slimmed down from a high of 333 to his current 300 pounds. That improved his quickness and gives him perhaps the best endurance among all Spartan offensive linemen.

His smarts - Clifford has a grade point average just shy of 3.0 and is a two-time All-Big Ten Academic honoree - have enabled him to master four positions. He's played everything on the offensive line except center.

"Sometimes that's not fair to Pete," said Stoutland. "He probably could be more productive if I left him at one position."

But Clifford's not complaining ... just working and starting and doing the Granite State proud.

Take a bow area runners

The performance last weekend at the New England Cross Country Championships was one of the best ever by area runners.

Senior Tim Galebach of Harvard, who didn't run last year and ran very little as a sophomore, placed third out of 307 harriers. Running his first race of the fall, the Andover High product completed the 8K Franklin Park course in 24:48, becoming the first Crimson runner ever to break 25 minutes at Franklin Park. Galebach is obviously a talent but he snuck up on some people given how little he'd run competitively of late.

Another surprise was first-year Boston College cross country runner Cory Ahern of Londonderry, who sat out last fall with mononucleosis. The ACC Runner of the Week was clocked in 24:54 to place sixth.

Methuen senior Steve Plouffe helped powerhouse UMass Lowell beat many bigger schools and capture the title. The captain was the second River Hawk runner and 10th overall in 25:05.

Other highlights included Boston University's top runner, senior Phil Shaw of Andover, placing 30th in 25:26, UMass junior Ryan Durkin of Andover placing 70th in 25:50, Merrimack sophomore Jefferson Welch of Haverhill placing 106th in 26:03, Stonehill senior Tim Catoggio of Bradford placing 125th in 26:12, Keene State sophomore Jason Garrity from Masconomet placing 144th in 26:29, Keene State freshman Jared Samuel of Londonderry placing 162nd in 26:37, and Bates sophomore C.J. Murray of North Andover placing 167th in 26:41.

Northeastern sophomore Brittany Moriarty of Andover, a former middle distance runner, was the top local performer on the women's side, running the 5K course in 18:56 to take 65th in the 314-runner field. Bates senior co-captain Kathryn Moore of Pelham was 67th, a second behind Moriarty, while Tufts senior Samantha Moland of Londonderry was 117th in 19:25.

Fielding making his mark

Sophomore linebacker Jason Fielding from Methuen leads Westfield State with 63 tackles (28 solo) in six games. Fielding, who played his high school ball at Central Catholic, has also recovered three fumbles and intercepted a pass.

Senior midfielder Kate Anderson has notched two assists for the 7-4 Westfield field hockey team. Anderson is a quad-captain from Georgetown.

Senior forward Janelle LaRose of Andover and Central and sophomore back Kerri Bennett of Methuen play soccer for the Owls. Junior Morgan Hosking of North Reading is second on the volleyball team in kills.

Pettoruto stars for Nichols

Sophomore forward Lauren Pettoruto of Windham has two goals and five assists in 15 games for the Nichols field hockey team. Freshman defender Melisa Bianchi of North Reading has appeared in 10 games for the Bison. Sean Dorgan, a freshman back from Methuen, has played in four games for the soccer team.

Grange smashes records

Casey Grange of Methuen continues to pump in the goals at a record clip for the Bryant women's soccer team. The former Central Catholic star has 15 goals on the season and 36 on her career, which are both new school marks. The old standards were 13 and 34, respectively. The Bulldog captain has also contributed eight assists this fall to lead her club to a 12-6-1 record. She's the second-leading scorer in the Northeast-10.

Teammate Alaina Iannazzi, who also hails from Methuen and Central, has started in all 19 games. The sophomore defender has scored a goal.

Senior midfielder Bryan Gravel of Londonderry is the leading scorer for the 6-5-3 men's soccer team with four goals and three assists.

Junior defender Krissy Levis of Andover and freshman forward Colleen Wilson of Windham are members of the Bryant field hockey team. Levis has appeared in 13 games with one start while Wilson has contributed an assist in eight games.

Four-year volleyball mainstay Jessica Cegarra is third in the Northeast-10 with 3.59 kills a game. Cegarra is a senior middle hitter from Danville.

Volleyball hotbed

Cegarra is one of a slew of local volleyball hotshots strutting their stuff in the Northeast-10.

Bentley junior co-captain middle hitter Christina Sadowski of Salem (third blocks, seventh hitting, seventh kills), St. Anselm junior tri-captain Alana McNeil of Lawrence (eighth kills, ninth hitting), St. Anselm sophomore setter Samantha Regan of Danville (eighth digs) and Southern New Hampshire sophomore outside hitter Brianna Doucet of Danville (ninth digs) also rank among the league leaders.

SNHU is recruiting our region hard. In addition to Doucet, the Penmen feature tri-captain senior libero Colleen Eddy from Central Catholic, sophomore setter Amanda Dzioba of Salem and sophomore outside hitter Meagan Schadlick of Salem.

Casper can't be stopped

Stephanie Casper, a junior forward from Andover, leads the 7-8 Northeastern field hockey team in scoring with eight goals and five assists. ... Freshman Rich Berberian from Pinkerton is golfing at South Carolina-Aiken, the three-time defending Division 2 national champions. The reigning Eagle-Tribune MVP from Pinkerton Academy tied for 17th out of 95 golfers with a 4-over 75-74-71-220 at the Raines Invitational.

Brown update

Freshman soccer forward T.J. Thompson of Atkinson has recorded one assist while appearing in five games at Brown.

Another talented frosh from the area, football receiver Buddy Farnham of Andover, is the Bears' third-leading receiver with 10 catches for 151 yards. Senior All-American linebacker Zak DeOssie of North Andover (53 tackles, 7.5 tackles for a loss) continues to do it all for the 1-4 Bears.

Gilbert fights for time

Junior striker Jaime Gilbert of North Andover is coming off the bench for the vaunted North Carolina women's soccer team. Gilbert, who started her first two years, has contributed two goals and two assists in 432 minutes for the 16-1 Tar Heels. ... Sophomore goaltender Brendan Fitzgerald of Boxford has started two games for the 10-2-1 Duke soccer team, which is ranked fourth in the country. The Groton graduate is 2-0 with a 1.00 goals-against-average and has made four saves in 180 minutes of action.

DiPietro sinks Clark

Sophomore forward John DiPietro of Haverhill snapped a scoreless tie with 4:52 to play in the second overtime as the UMass Boston men's soccer team upset 20th-ranked Clark. The host Cougars entered the game with a flashy 8-0-1 record. DiPietro (7 goals, 4 assists) is the leading scorer for the 9-5 Beacons. Another Haverhill resident, junior defender Matt Kitsos, also starts for UMB. He picked up his first point of the year with an assist in a 5-4 win over St. Joseph's of Maine last week.

Freshman setter Kathryn Mears of Haverhill and sophomore libero Francis Carrasquillo are reserves on the UMB volleyball team.

Senior Mike Grenier of Methuen helped the Hobart varsity eight place third in the collegiate division at the Head of the Genesee.

Pallotta finds the net

Emily Pallotta racked up 39 goals and 57 assists in her brilliant career at Andover High and the transition to the college game has been a smooth one. The freshman midfielder has netted three goals and four assists for 12-3-2 Boston University, which is ranked 10th in Division 1 nationally. Pallotta, who is tied for the second leading scorer for the Terriers, broke a scoreless tie at the 78-minute mark last week against Binghamton.

Captain Kyle

Tri-captain Kyle Rushton, a starting midfielder from Windham and the Derryfield School, has contributed one assist for the 5-4-1 Bates soccer team. Aaron Schleicher, a junior from Londonderry (seven starts, 1.74 goals-against, .696 save percentage), starts in net for the 5-4-1 Bobcats.

For the women's team, sophomore forward Jen Marino has come off the bench to score three goals and four assists for the 9-3 Bobcats. The super sub from Methuen is tied for second on the team in scoring and had an assist in the 2-1 win over 7-0-1 Williams.

Junior defensive back Kevin Reyes of North Andover has made 12 tackles, intercepted two passes and broken up three passes for the Bates football team. Freshman quarterback Tom Beaton of West Newbury has carried three times for five years, completed 1 of 2 passes for six yards and punted eight times for a 28.0 average.

Flinn running well

Boston College senior Jessica Flinn from Timberlane placed 16th at the 17-team Iona Meet of Champions at Van Cortlandt Park. Flinn crossed the line in 22:10.9 (4:41 per mile).

Also at BC, Merrimack College and Pentucket Regional graduate Matt Lovett is working as an assistant trainer.

To contribute information about a local college athlete, e-mail Michael Muldoon at mmuldoon@eagletribune.com.

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