This wasn’t the typical Reading football season under John Fiore.

The 2023 squad struggled to a 3-8 record, ending with a 39-0 loss to Stoneham on Thanksgiving Day. It was just the third time in 20 years that a Fiore-coached squad suffered a sub-.500 record.

This year has been more like it. A 35-21 win over Arlington last Thursday boosted the Rockets to 5-0 and they are comfortably ranked No. 1 in the latest MIAA statewide power rankings for Div. 3.

“This definitely feels a lot better,” Fiore said. “First and foremost, we are healthy. We also had much better attendance in the offseason in the weight room and that’s to the credit of the players. I think the 3-8 record was a wakeup call about what it takes to be successful.”

No coach can accurately predict a win-loss record in August, but Fiore had a sense things were going to be different. There were several small tell-tale signs which provided reason for optimism.

“I just loved the unselfish attitude of the kids in the preseason,” Fiore said. “Even when we made mistakes, they were correctable ones and the kids were great about it. I just love the fact that this team took on that approach.”

Reading opened the season with wins over Melrose (35-6), Danvers (28-6) and Cumberland (29-22) to set the stage for the first big Middlesex Liberty challenge against perennial contender Woburn. The Rockets showed some serious moxie and eventually pulled away for a 28-6 victory.

“That was a tough game, it was nip and tuck and we didn’t go up big until late,” Fiore said. “We also lost our starting middle linebacker and offensive guard (Ben Diemer) early in the game which was tough because Ben is the leader of our defense. Robbie Savio and Riley Learned came in and really stepped up when we needed it most.”

There was no time for celebration as a solid Arlington team was up next in an unusual Thursday night game. Fiore fretted about the potential change in the way they normally do things given one less day to prepare.

“To have to face a team with one of the best offensive lines coming off a short week was tough,” said Fiore, whose team beat the Spy Ponders, 35-21. “We were missing some people and not having the full week to get them healthy made it tougher. But our guys really responded, they pulled together, played hard and made enough plays in the end to get the win.”

Something Reading is 5-for-5 this year.

Hurricane Hugo

If you want to see the definition of a workhorse running back, Tabor Academy’s Hugo Djeumeni fits the bill. Against one of the top teams in the ISL in St. Sebastian’s, Djeumeni carried the ball 51 times and finished with 406 yards as Tabor defeated St. Sebastian’s 40-34 on Peter Bourque’s 33-yard TD pass to Dameer Phifer as time expired.

Djeumeni is just the second back in state history to have two 400-yard games, the other being former Worcester South standout Angelo LaRose. His 406 yards is 15th on the all-time list, matching former Brockton great Peter Harris, who turned the feat nearly 20 years ago to the date against Xaverian.

RIP Coach

Sad news to come out of the south shore as longtime high school coaching icon Ron St. George passed away over the weekend. One of the state’s greatest coaches, St. George put together winning programs at East Bridgewater, BC High and Cardinal Spellman, While at Spellman, he led the Cardinals to four league championships and two Super Bowl appearances in his 12 years there, His 275 wins are 10th in state history.

SWEET 16

1. St. John’s Prep (5-0): Step one of the journey to the Catholic Conference went along swimmingly.

2. Catholic Memorial (4-1): Knights always find a way to get it done against Xaverian.

3. King Philip (5-0): KP had little trouble with Sharon to extend its current winning streak to an EMass-best 18 games.

4. Needham (5-0): Provided the Rockets take care of business against Braintree this week, it sets the stage for a potential BSC showdown with Weymouth.

5. Xaverian (3-2): If there is any consolation, the Hawks lost to Springfield Central and Catholic Memorial during the regular season in 2023, then proceeded to run the table on the way to the Div. 1 state title.

6. Marshfield (4-1): Too much Tor Maas, Jake Brilliant and Davin True for Silver Lake.

7. Scituate (5-0): Sailors are not in the mood to mess around this year as the scoreboard attests.

8. BC High (4-0): Eagles successfully handle upstart Malden Catholic in its Catholic Conference opener.

9. Methuen (4-1): The Shane Train runs over another opponent.

10. Weymouth (5-0): Back on the field this week against Framingham.

11. Natick (4-1): Redhawks have allowed just seven touchdowns in five games this season, three coming against highly-touted Needham.

12. Andover (4-1): It wasn’t easy but Golden Warriors’ coach E.J. Perry got his 100th win.

13. Central Catholic (3-3): Those early-season killer contests have certainly made the youthful Raiders a tougher team heading into the home stretch.

14. Reading (5-0): Back-to-back wins over Woburn and Arlington puts the Rockets in control of their own destiny in the Middlesex Liberty along with Winchester.

15. Franklin (4-1): First-year coach Todd Kiley has really done a nice job in righting the ship after a season-opening loss.

16. Duxbury (4-1): Dragons returned to the gridiron with a vengeance.