Marauders Have Big Shoes to Fill

The Marauder varsity football team have very big shoes to fill on the gridiron this year. After a historic performance from last year’s team, this group just hopes to stay afloat in the Tri-Valley League.

The team lost the offensive core of the most potent offense in the TVL, and it has shown early in the season. Ryan Flaherty, Jack Tannous, Mikey Brennan, Steven Mammone, and Tyler Martel were all major contributors on the offensive side of the ball. Three of them are now suiting up on Saturdays instead of Friday nights. Captain Connor Freeman remains as the workhorse in the backfield, and hopes to fuel the offense for the majority of the season. Junior quarterback JoJo Powers has shown some promise, but is battling through multiple injuries. Dillon Donohue and Frankie Desario have been competing for the starting spot.

The offense has struggled to get the ball in the hands of the receivers in a timely manner. Whoever starts as quarterback needs to get the ball out faster and relieve the big offensive line, led by senior captains Kevin O’Leary and Jack Flanagan.

Defensive ends Elijah Brown, and Cleevance Labathe were major losses on the defensive side of the ball. The Marauders secondary is strong with senior captain Pat Glennon, Chris Schimdt, and Matt DeVirigilio. Matt DeVirgillio also plays a large role on the offensive side of the ball. Unfortunately, the linebacker core has lost their captain, Justin Kelley, who is out with a broken collarbone. This has forced senior Ryan Davis to shift from defensive back to linebacker.

Special teamer Brendan Walsh has come back to the field this year with hopes of gaining a starting spot on either the defensive or offensive line. He is clearly grinding every day in practice alongside Zach Spinllo at defensive tackle. Walsh is also competing for starting kicker. Kicking is a newfound talent for Brendan, who claims “If I keep working at it, I think that I can play division three football. Honestly, my main goal is to be a backup kicker on a division three national champion team, but I have to win this starting spot first.”

The Marauders have fallen to 1-3 on the season, all three games within their reach. Although their record may not reflect it, they still have a shot to make the state playoffs. In order to qualify they must run the table, and win the remainder of their games. Their qualification is not entirely in their hands though. Medfield also has to lose one game, on top of Dedham not losing any. The team retains their confidence that they will accomplish this challenge, and return to the playoffs for the third consecutive year. Consecutive winning seasons is something not many Dedham High alumni can say they have experienced.

The Marauders have been struggling for the past 30 years, so three consecutive years of playoffs would be a celebrated accomplishment.