Marblehead Football

Apologies to International Pix readers who come to this space for Patriots rants and other global issues....for those of you not from Marblehead, come back next week. For those of you who have been part of one of the great local seasons in some time for Marblehead, here's a little post in honor of the local gridiron gang....

Full disclosure......the Juniors on this squad had the misfortune of having been coached by the Pix when they were 7th graders. Fortunately for them, they have been coached up far better since then. If the balance of this post focuses a little more on that class and on a certain official nephew (#20) of the Pix.......it's just because those are the kids I know personally.

Let's start with the Seniors....whose team this really is. Quarterback Hayes Richardson is the star of the show. As the leader of the spread offense, Richardson has piled up points on Header opponents this year like Tiger has piled up "transgressions". Hayes can sling it, but he can also tuck it and run as well as any ball carrier on the team. Very few people in life have the opportunity to lead their team eighty something yards with two minutes left on the clock against their blood rivals with the entire season on the line. As this post may be read by a younger audience than usual, let's be delicate with the vocabulary describing what some men refer to as a part of the anatomy that is associated with "guts". Let's just say the number two is involved, say Hayes has them and leave it at that.

Two of Richardson's favorite Senior targets are Flynn McCormack and Alex Haigis. Haigis had a monster game against the blue. Fans will remember #9's touchdowns, but the catch the Pix will never forget is the jump ball Haigis somehow came down with at the 50 yard line on the last drive of the game. Alex had two defenders draped on him and the ball looked like it might even sail out of bounds. Simply put, if Haigis doesn't make that grab, the season was over.

The two young men opponents least want to see arrive in their area code are #52 Matt Evans and #38 Evan Comeau. They are beasts. They are animals. You can usually identify either of them not by their numbers, but by the way they move. They just don't look like they are incumberred by pads....until the moment of impact. At that point there is a distinct sound from the field, like there's a hidden microphone in their shoulder pads. These kids will wreck you. At one point against the "little blue", Comeau was hit out of bounds after a carry, flipped in the air, bounced off his head and landed on his heels getting up in one fluid motion. The Pix thought he might need a breather. Instead, Comeau let out a primal scream to the sideline that brought to mind a scene from "Braveheart". But there was also a gigantic smile on this kid's face. Years from now when Comeau remembers his favorite moment of this season and perhaps of his young life, the Pix would be surprised if that precise moment doesn't come to mind.

The Pix isn't sure what class Marcell Hardmon is, but #26 has emerged as the primary ball carrier for team and has been the perfect complement to Richardson's arial arsenal. Watching Marcell run, it took the Pix a few games to figure out why he was so successful. Here it is: he gets faster after the first would be tackler hits him. Just like Ali got better after taking his first punch, Hardmon accelerates through contact. And like a lot of good running backs with a low center of gravity, he's hard to find....until you see the back of his jersey running to the end zone.

Some Juniors.....let's first talk about "the Freak". #70, Nick Broughton. Parents aren't supposed to have favorite children, but coaches can have favorite players. Among several others about to be mentioned, Nick was one of the Pix' top kids. It has taken a while for his temper to catch up with his size and ability, but the Swampscott quarterback's last memory of the Thanksgiving game was having the Freak land on him. As the Pix stood next to Mrs. Broughton after the final play, it can neither be confirmed nor denied that the air got a little dusty for a moment or two.

Swampscott coach Dembowski has to hope the Perlows don't have any sons younger than Matt. After brother Sam ruined the little blue's thanksgiving a few years back by taking a pick six to the house to win the game, his younger brother carried on the family tradition of hazing Swampscott by opening the game with a nice reception over the middle. The real moment came, however, when the blue were once again advancing the ball against a completely gassed Marblehead defense. The Magician's "D" hadn't been able to stop anything much in the second half. Matt was hastily inserted into the line when a fallen Marbleheader had to be carried off the field due to dehydration and exhaustion. Perlow blew past his man right at the snap and took down the Swampscott QB.....and all the air came out of the blue baloon. Their fans stopped cheering after that play. It might have been the defensive play of the season.

When #15 Ryan Stanojev came out of the womb, the Pix thinks he must have stiff armed the doctor and scampered off down the hall. The Pix still remembers a third and 15 in our own territory years ago when "stiff arm" Stano got the call and fended off 3 different defenders for the first down. Fast forward four years and you can still see the left handed ball carrier expertly use his right hand to elude tacklers. Used primarily on defense this year, Stano is a ball hawk and an all around athlete. Loo k out for #15 to get a turnover tomorrow.

#42 Josh Freedland is another kid the Pix has been watching all year. The same week Josh blocked a kick and returned it for a touchdown, the "Reporter" listed "the Professor" on the high honor roll. The Pix isn't sure, but he thinks it was Freedland who lowered his shoulder and denied Swampscott on 4th and inches giving back the ball to the offense with a little over 2 minutes left in the game. #42 is deceptively fast and strong. The Pix would be shocked if Josh wasn't a co-captain next year.

There are many players the Pix would like time to write more about (super lineman Liam Gilliand comes to mind). With time for just one more, the Pix has to give it up for the official nephew, #20, Will Quigley. Quigley's interception on the second play of the Swampscott game set the tone for the day. His touchdown reception over the middle was seen in high definition by all the "midget" players who were crowding the end zone fence along with their fathers. The Pix looks forward to two more seasons of following #20. Will's biggest fan, the General, will be watching tomorrow's game from the ultimate seat in the sky box.

Like all youth sports that culminate at the high scool level, there will be an emotinal investment being made from the stands that is hard to put into words. For whatever reason, football is the greatest of all the sports in this way. The Pix thinks it is because football is the sport that requires the kids to make the greatest physical and emotional investments. You can see it in the players' eyes at the end of games. There is nothing left to give. As the Seniors take off their uniforms tomorrow, for most of them, it will be for the last time. If the Pix could be in the locker room, he would tell them that in life, what matters most is not the destination, but the journey. The journey. These young men have been on and have taken their fans and family on a journey that few ever get to go on. We thank you for the ride.

Last week the Boston Globe wrote that Rockland merely had to "find the Manning Bowl" for them to get to the next round. They found the Mannning bowl. They found coach Rudloff. They found Evans, Perlow, Hardmon, Demarco Dooley and the Freak. They found Comeau, Gilliand, Forman and Freedland. They found Quigs and Stano. They found Hayes Richardson and they found a beat down compliments of the 5000 or so screaming Marbleheaders who will now make their way to Foxboro. For their efforts, the Marblehead High School football team will set foot on the same turf as some of the greatest players in the history of the game.

The Pix would simply like to salute the team, the coaching staff and everyone involved with the program. Good luck, boys. You have made your parents proud. You have made your town proud. Hopefully you have made yourselves proud. Go get them.