And it was every bit as threatening.
The coach assembled a great football team.
John, his left-handed quarterback, was smart and athletic.
He could run with the ball and throw it.
Coach’s running back trio was incredible.
Gary was the workhorse, an absolute beast.
He was about five-ten and 205 lbs.
He ran hard, shook off runners with ease, and had breakaway speed to boot.
He was the most dominant runner of the three and the difference-maker on the field.
He was a very smart runner who could square his shoulders and dish it out when he had to.
Then there was Mike.
But he was everything you wanted in a third running back.
His initial burst was lightning.
Ben carried the load when Gary was put on a three-game academic suspension mid-season.
It made a difference.
In addition to being a great high school football player, Ben was a great kid.
By doing that, he would earn the respect of his teammates and strike fear in his opponents.
But the team wasn’t just about offense.
They had a very disruptive defense that could create turnovers.
The team I watched in 2005 dominatedMayflower-Small.
When Gary came back, he reclaimed his dominance and took over games.
He was the real deal.
Ben was the perfect complimentary back, and Coach began utilizing Mike more often.
Even knowing that his playing time would be limited with Gary back, I believed him.
Surprisingly, Coach put him in the game more than I thought.
Maybe his time on the field when Gary was out changed Coach’s opinion of him.
Mike had proven he was no longer shying away from contact and had become a more aggressive runner.
John pitched the ball to Mike, and he burst around right end.
After shaking off some initial contact, he saw some daylight and wasn’t about to be denied.
Mike ran 44 yards and scored the touchdown he promised.
Coach and I continued talking about football, and he revealed some things I didn’t know.
Previously, because of the school’s sizeover 1,200 students, they were inMayflower-Large.
The MIAA allowed him entry intoMayflower-Smallfor the sole purpose of rebuilding the school’s football program.
Being inMayflower-Smalldidn’t minimize the team’s Super Bowl wins or individual accomplishments.
Two kids from that Super Bowl team were trying out for the varsity baseball team.
John was a southpaw pitcher who could hit and the right fielder you couldn’t take extra bases on.
Mike was a weak-hitting center fielder with incredible speed both in the outfield and on the basepaths.
Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental…
