A late August football practice wound down for the Mt. Hope Huskies. With half the team balanced on one padded knee, head coach T.J. Delsanto and crew huddled to discuss special teams personnel.

Delsanto inserted his desired players and as the team snapped into action a brief sun-shower doused the field. The light rain dampened the grass and the 45 or so purple helmets glistened as the storm clouds passed. To the south of the field a faint rainbow stretched above the trees.

In recent years the Huskies have seen more rain than rainbows.

Two years of mismatched play at Division One yielded two more years of mediocre returns at Division Three.

Mt. Hope High School quarterback Matt Urban barks out signals to his teammates during the annual Injury Fund contest Thursday night.

But a confidence-building finale last Thanksgiving Day on eventual Division-Two Super Bowl champion Barrington's home turf laid the motivational groundwork for the offseason. Combined with continued work leading into the season, this young team rich with experience believes this is the year the sun will finally shine over Bristol.

"Our goal right now is to get to the playoffs," said junior quarterback Matt Urban. "And once we get to the playoffs, it's getting to the Super Bowl. I have a lot of faith in this team this year."

"I hope that's everybody's feelings right now," said Delsanto. "That's my feeling, but then again it was last year too. The division has gotten a little weaker as a whole. Tolman and Shea both moved out and the two teams that moved in, Chariho and Middletown, are teams we'll be competitive with. "When you think about playoffs, last year it was Tolman and Shea... Johnston should be good this year, East Greenwich and Burrillville. After those three teams it is as much us as anyone else."

Matt Urban

Perhaps the biggest reason for excitement around the Mt. Hope camp is the team's signal caller. Matt Urban, a sophomore last season, was electric as a member of the defensive backfield, a kick returner and wide receiver. Before season's end the athletic Urban was the focal point of the offense and found himself barking snap counts for the Thanksgiving thriller.

Coming into his junior campaign, Urban is unquestionably marked as one of the most dynamic talents in Division Three. He is certain to be the main man in Mt. Hope's Wing-T attack. The question is, at what position.

"Matt's such a great athlete that we wanted him to touch the ball as often as possible," Delsanto said. "He'd get limited touches anywhere but at quarterback. As the quarterback he's almost like a running back because if the pass play breaks down he has the ability to pull it down and run with it. He has the speed and moves to be successful doing that."

He also has the mindset to be successful at the position.

Said Urban, "As quarterback I can help the team as a leader and by moving the ball down the field and if it comes down to it, and I need to take control of a game, I can do that. But, this isn't necessarily my team. I think we work together as a team and we have a lot of seniors and leaders - I'm one of those leaders. I lead by example."

Urban tried in vane to organize summer workout sessions for his teammates but was successful in orchestrating a promising summer skeleton-league performance.

These attributes led to him being named one of the team's three captains.

Seniors Mark Valcourt and Mike Devlin were also awarded the distinction.

"Matt is an intense kid who is talented physically but also works really hard on the field," said Delsanto. "I think he instills confidence in the kids.

"Devlin and Valcourt are experienced and carry themselves that way. Kids see that. Valcourt always runs hard, he's always hustling whether its in practice or the game. Devlin is more an emotional leader who gets the guys pumped in the huddle. They're also all good students."

Starters

The Huskies seemingly always have had the skill players to execute the complicated Wing-T offense. This year however Delsanto believes he may have the line play as well.

"We've got more depth on the offensive and defensive lines this year than we've had in the past," said the coach. "We've always had about a hundred backs and a couple linemen. This year we've got more linemen than skill position players."

Nick Walsh, Jason LaFlash and Devlin will likely find themselves in starting roles once again this fall, possibly with the likes of impressive sophomores Vin Morrow and Bill Walerysak.

"Other than a few positions, I don't think that we've finalized our starters," Delsanto said. "It's not entirely undecided but I wouldn't say anything is set in stone just yet."

At the skill positions, Urban will find targets in tight end Justin Davis and wide outs Justin Cabral and Anthony Simmons.

Lining up behind Urban will be Valcourt and fullback Andrew Carlson.

Carlson and Valcourt also will be two of the team's linebackers. Derek Creador returns to defensive end along with Davis. Cabral and Simmons likely will man the corners for the Huskies.

"We have a lot of returning starters this year on defense," said Delsanto. "But there are other positions like defensive tackle that we have so much depth at, kids are just rotating in and out right now."

Another interesting decision still under coaches' review is Urban's defensive availability.

In the past, Delsanto has opted to rest his quarterback when the opposition had the ball. But the multi-talented Urban may be too valuable to keep outside the lines.

"We're struggling with that right now," said the coach. "I think we're going to have to use him at safety and on kickoff return. In obvious run situation when we have the opposing team's offense pinned deep, we'll get him out of there for a rest."

Last year's squad was worn down defensively by its opponents. The offense struggled to put the ball in the hands of their playmakers. That shouldn't be a problem this year. If the offensive line does an adequate job of protecting Urban, the Huskies should be a solid offensive team and be able to keep the defense rested and motivated.

Outlook

The Huskies have battled through some difficult seasons and finally look poised to return to the upper echelon of their league. Seventy-five players were issued pads this summer, including 30 freshmen. The upswing in participation should coincide with an upswing in winning. With a young but seasoned group led by Urban, the Huskies hope this season will end five years of raining frustration and at last yield a rainbow.

By Adam Cote

sports@eastbaynewspapers.com