HS football: Long time away almost over for Scituate

SCITUATE – The recently installed turf was blanketed with snow, and torrential rain was falling at Scituate High School Monday evening.

However, it was also the inaugural day of the Fall II season, which means that football is back here in Massachusetts, and the Sailors were indoors, practicing in two socially distanced units of 25.

As he glanced out at the stadium lights shining brightly through the downpour, Herb Devine, entering his 13th season as head coach of the Sailors, was eagerly preparing his team.

“I miss playing on it,” Devine said. “We haven’t played here in two seasons, it seems. We were on the road after the Super Bowl year, and last year in the fall, we didn’t get to play on it. We played it in the Thanksgiving Day game (in 2019), but I’m excited to have a Friday night home game.”

During a pedestrian 2019 season in which the Sailors played nearly every single game on the road while their new stadium was under construction, Scituate was bounced from the Div. 5 South tournament by sectional finalist, Canton.

The Sailors are expected to have quite a bounce-back campaign in this unique season, most notably due to a perfect balance of veteran leadership coupled with an influx of young talent.

After Scituate captured its first Super Bowl in 2018 with his older brother Aidan under center, junior Keegan Sullivan became the latest member of his family to be named a captain for the Sailors this year. Sullivan is expected to play key roles on offense as a receiver, and on defense at safety.

“We’ve been waiting all fall for this,” Sullivan said. “We were practicing seven-on-sevens. When we finally got our equipment last Saturday, the first thing I did was put my helmet on. Just get ready for this.”

As the walkthrough practice progressed with two groups on opposite ends of the gymnasium in accordance with the new MIAA regulations, things felt different in many aspects. However, to senior captain Jeremy Franzini, it was exciting to simply recapture a rhythm with his teammates.

“We knew it was going to be awhile before we could get back out here,” Franzini said. “So we were all anticipating, and had some passing leagues. We did pretty well in that, and I thought that’s where our team came together. We knew we were brothers, we have each other’s backs. We’re going to play together as one all year.”

In recent weeks, senior Nolan Startzell has taken multiple trips to Scituate’s practice field to work on his kicking. As he adjusted to working with the winter elements, Startzell would clear away patches of snow in an attempt to give himself better footing.

“We’ve definitely been building on a lot of our chemistry,” Startzell said. “Especially on offense, we’ve been doing a lot of work. I’ve seen plenty of the juniors and seniors putting in work during the offseason, and we aren’t taking any risks, in terms of slowing down.”

Scituate will open its season at its renovated facility March 12 against Patriot League rival North Quincy.

“Showing up Day 1 with the snow obviously is just different,” Devine said. “But all the administrative stuff that goes into getting ready during the summer, the fall, all the preparation and hoping you’re going to play… now that (we’ve made it), as I just said to the coaches, thank God we’re here. Day 1, being here as a coach, when you can actually coach your kids and see the helmets on, see the practice shirts on, that’s what it’s all about. That’s why we do this.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2NOoq23