These are sobering, somber days at Tiverton High and especially for the young men of the school's football team. Already contending with some early disciplinary problems, which put the Tigers behind schedule in some ways during preseason workouts, the program was dealt a much more severe blow with the recent tragic death of beloved assistant coach Mike McCarthy.

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on one's perspective, life goes on and so, too, does the 2004 grid campaign.

Tiverton will have but a half of live action under its belt when the Tigers host Central in their Division Four opener Saturday morning, a very emotional event for obvious reasons.

The Tigers were manhandled by neighboring Portsmouth, Sept. 2, in the teams' Injury Fund scrimmage, 28-0.

Ross Replogle attempts a swing pass behind the block of Jeff Alves in Tiverton High's Injury Fund outing against Portsmouth two weeks ago.

Tiverton's Challenge Cup non-league contest against Toll Gate scheduled for last Saturday was cancelled due to events of the last week.

"We're gradually starting to come together," said Tigers' coach Bob Murray two weeks ago. "We still have a lot of work to do."

The Tigers have things to do in more ways than one.

Tiverton returns a number of key performers off of last year's D-Four playoff team, which lost Moses Brown in the semifinals after going 8-2 during the regular season and earning second place.

One of the most important of those back is senior Ross Replogle. Replogle will be the Tigers starting quarterback, a position at which he saw limited action last season backing up the graduated Butch Byrne and injured returnee, junior Dan Morganweck.

Senior running back Kurt Logan, Tiverton's most effective ground-gainer in 2003, is recovering from preseason hernia surgery and should be ready to take snaps.

Senior running back Jeff Alves and junior backfield mate Coleman LeHoullier should also provide Tiverton with solid efforts on the ground.

Seniors Kyle Luderer and Pat Carberry along with junior David Salibi will lead the receiving corp.

Seniors Ryan Kilby, Billy DeMello, Andrew Tavares and James Rosenthal return to help anchor the Tiverton offensive and defensive lines. Seniors Brett Arruda and Craig Doster and junior Dan Salibi also return to the Tigers' defensive secondary.

As for the division, Moses Brown, which lost to Narragansett in the state championship game, appears to be a team to reckon with once again. The Mariners lost most of their skilled position players but do return their offensive and defensive lines.

The biggest news in the division occurred off the field as league stalwart Classical, the 2002 D-Four champs, vaulted all the way up to D-One after statewide realignment.

Exeter-West Greenwich, which fell to Narragansett in the other semi a year ago, should also be a contender in `04.

Tiverton High Football

Division Four

2004 roster

Seniors: Jeff Alves, Ross Replogle, Pat Carberry, Dan Morganweck, Kurt Logan, Brett Arruda, Billy DeMello, James Rosenthal, Ryan Kilby, Andrew Tavares, Jonathan Silvia, Kyle Luderer, Craig Doster; juniors: Devin Beck, Coleman LeHoullier, David Salibi, Dan Salibi, Colin Fournier, Jacob Cabral, Brad Dowty, Randy Normand, Greg Noyes, Jonathan Bouchard, Alexander Walsh; sophomores: Trevor Lambert, Lucus Anselmo, Sam Borgueta, Ryan Hemingway, Zachary Leone, David Duclos, Jared Cavaco, Ken Griffin, Cory Viveiros, Ken Proulx, Keith Rinier, Adam Destremps, Shane Lopes, Matt Hughes; freshmen: Matt Silvia, Ryan Raposa, Nick Baisillon, Ryan Goyette, Dustin McMahon, Nick Farias, Corey Rego, Craig Cummings, Brandon Brousseau, Brixton Smith, Robert Banville, William Walker, Ian Toste, Ben Raposa, Josh Yousif, Chris Mello, Matt Levesque

Head coach: Bob Murray

Assistant coaches: Andy Gacioch, Chip McGrady, Bill Phillips, Sheldon Thibodeau, Mike McCarty

2003 record: 8-2, T-second Division Four

2003 playoffs: semifinals, lost to Moses Brown

2004 football schedule

September

Saturday, Sept. 18: Central at Tiverton, 10:30 a.m.; Saturday, Sept. 25: North Smithfield at Tiverton, 10:30 a.m.

October

Saturday, Oct. 2: Tiverton at Smithfield, 1:30 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 9: Tiverton at Hope, 2 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 16: Moses Brown at Tiverton, 10:30 a.m.; Saturday, Oct. 23: Narragansett at Tiverton, 10:30 a.m.

November

Saturday, Nov. 6: North Providence, 10:30 a.m.; Saturday, Nov. 13: Tiverton at Exeter-West Greenwich, 1:30 p.m.; Thursday, Nov. 25: Tiverton at Central Falls, 10:30 a.m.

BY MIKE REGO

mrego@eastbaynewspapers.com