In the premier game of the weekend, BC High earned a 30-13 win over Xaverian.

The Eagles are now 5-0 and have a game with St. John’s of Shrewsbury up next.

We wanted to talk to BC High first-year coach Paul Zukauskas about this weekend’s game and his team.

Here is an edited version of that conversation.

Adam Kurkjian: A fun couple of days in the Zukauskas household, huh?

PZ: You want to move on and treat every week the same, but it felt good Friday night. Just really happy for the seniors, after going through a lot the past few years. Hadn’t beaten Xaverian in a while. It felt great for the kids who had stuck it out through the years, and finally able to get Xaverian.

AK: When I think of BC High, you know all about this, and how much BC High is an offensive line program. To win the game on the ground like you did, that must have been gratifying. How did you get across to your linemen, hey, at BC High, we have top offensive linemen?

PZ: As a coach before, at Lawrence Academy, too, you really want to control the line of scrimmage on either side of the ball. There’s a great history at BC High, and every year is so different. You want to get across to this team, you want to be better up front, and be more physical, and be able to run the football. At times this season we’ve been able to do that. Other times, not as strong. I’m kind of a big believer that it doesn’t matter how you win. If you throw it, great. If you run it, great. It felt great, because they have a great defensive front, some of the best players we’ll play against on defense. I think the kids really came through with the challenge of playing a team like that. They had some really good front-seven players. Really good.

AK: I think sometimes when you play a team every year and go a long time without beating them, sometimes the kids don’t believe they can actually do it. How did you get across to your team that you could beat Xaverian, you just haven’t done it in a few years?

PZ: I think a lot of the message was for BC High, a special team with a special group of seniors that are winners. Their record over the years might now show it, it doesn’t matter. All that matters is this season. They worked really hard this offseason, and is a tough group of kids. They didn’t really need too much hype. They knew the stakes, and they’re competitors. A lot of those kids played on state championship teams, whether it was baseball or rugby. They’re a very competitive group. I didn’t need to really motivate them.I really think that class is wired that way. They want to win, and they put in the work to win. It wasn’t too crazy in terms of message.

AK: I wasn’t at the game, but I watched a couple of the videos. It seems like the kids were not just happy about the win, but just having fun. How was it to have fun playing football, and not forget that aspect of it?

PZ: It’s really important. As a coach, you want to have fun with it. It’s not, we’re not solving world problems, and it is a game. It is high school. So you do want to have some fun with it. Football is not a particularly fun sport. There are a lot of players that will never tough the football that have to do the work that’s equal parts of someone that does have the football in their hands. It’s a tough game. If you can have fun and put it in the proper place, and also be disciplined and getting your work in, I think that’s important. I also kind of believe that our captains and some of the other seniors, they’re really good about, let’s put in the work, and also have some fun and joke around. They’re very close-knit kids, and some have been around with each other since seventh grade. Enjoying each other and enjoying the experience, I think is important. Really don’t want to take that out of them, and if you have some fun and win, it’s even better.