High school football championships are never decided in the fall. It’s always a 12-month journey of hard work and sweat. As soon as one season ends in early December, another one begins with daily workouts in the weightroom.
With all the hard work behind them, this year’s Marblehead High football captains — Bodie Smith, Brady Selvais, Colt Wales, Crew Monaco and Justin Gonzales — are eager to lead their teammates out onto the field Friday night, Sept. 6, against host Bishop Fenwick in the season opener at Peabody, starting at 7 p.m.
The football Magicians played in Swampscott’s 7-v-7 league this summer to get ready for the season. They also participated in the daylong 7-v-7 tournament at Xaverian High School in Westwood, hosted by Milton High coach Steve Dembowski. They went 11-1 in those South Shore scrimmages.
The Marblehead boys also ventured out to Springfield Central, where they finished second to Williston in that 7-v-7 tourney. They got a preseason look at Fenwick one month ago, when they took part in the Crusader games.
But now, the team can’t wait to get the season going after ending up 2023 with a 4-0 record in the Northeastern Conference (NEC) Dunn Division, and 5-5 overall. It was a remarkable finish considering they began the schedule with four straight losses. It’s another good reason for them to be optimistic this year.
“We are confident, but our motto for the season is simple. It’s don’t say it, just do it,” said Wales, who split the quarterbacking chores last year with Finn Gallup, who’s going into his junior year.
“The biggest thing that comes out of these (scrimmages) for the quarterbacks is to get a true read of the entire field by getting a full four seconds without any defensive rush,” added Wales, “while the defense learns coverages, and wide receivers find the open spaces on the field.”
Wales is competing once again against Gallup, his good friend, for the starting quarterback job. He also wants to play defense this year, and has worked out at safety this summer to get a head start there.
Besides these summer scrimmages, Wales has also attended the M2 Quarterback Academy in Pembroke to hone his skills.
The goal for any high school team heading into a new season is to win a Super Bowl. When Cole and his senior teammates were freshmen in 2021, they were first-hand witnesses to the varsity team’s run to the program’s first-ever state championship.
“We use that team as an example for success,” said Wales. “It was all about bonding for them to form a winning chemistry. They became a brotherhood, and as a result were constantly together on and off the
field. We (have) adopted that same philosophy. We (go) everywhere together, including a (summer) visit to Water Country.”
Crew remembers when new AD was his coach
Crew Monaco will be returning to the team as a slot receiver this year, but he too remembers his
freshman campaign. And little did he realize that his coach back then, who taught him and his
teammates so much about the high school game, would become the school’s new athletic director three years later.
“Kent Wheeler was our freshman coach, and he was very determined to get us to perform at a high level,” said Monaco. “He pushed us to get to that standard. His practices were hard, and when they were done, we were on our hands and knees gassed from all the work we just put in. But it made us realize how much we either loved or hated the sport. But for me and many of my teammates, we loved it. We wanted to bring that hard work and grit to the varsity level, and (Wheeler) definitely prepared us for it.
“I was very happy to hear the news that we were getting a new AD, and when I found out it was Mr. Wheeler I was very happy for him. I instantly knew it would be a perfect fit, because he has been around Marblehead High School sports for a while, and he also cares about them greatly. It just seems to me that the school nailed the pick for the new AD,” added the senior captain.
Monaco agrees with Cole that this past offseason has been one filled with building relationships on and off the field. “We wanted to become more like brothers than teammates,” he said. “We wanted to build something this year that will carry on for years to come. We have been talking about a common goal, which is obviously to win a ring. It’s not an easy feat, but the boys are hungry. We know we have a long way to go to get there, but we also know we have the team to do it. We have pushed each other with 6:30 in the morning workouts on the back field this summer. It definitely built character, because we had to run on the wet, morning dew grass.”
The senior slot receiver, who was a wide receiver one year ago, added that throwing multiple times every week during the 7-v-7 spring and summer tournaments (made) the offense better, and anticipates those improvements will carry into the season.
“It was really good to see kids wanting to get better by actually putting in the work and getting results,” said Monaco.
Monaco also plays on defense at safety, and he loves it. He had been taking some reps at outside linebacker this summer, as well. But wherever he plays, he says he will give it his all in order to leave no regrets on the field.
And of course, Monaco wants to follow the lead of the 2021 Super Bowl-winning squad. “That Super Bowl team really plays in my mind a lot,” he said. “Players like Josh Robertson. A.J. Andriano, James Doody and Craig Michalowski really motivate me to this day. I only heard great things about how they were terrific leaders on and off the field. They set a winning mindset and standard throughout the team.
“I talked to Josh this summer, and asked him what I can do this year to lead like them. He told me you have to make sure everyone has that common goal, and believes they can do it. But you also have to work at it, and it starts with you as a captain. When things get rough, you need to pick up the team. You must hold everybody on the team to a higher standard,” Monaco added.
“That Super Bowl team left a legacy on this town, and seeing them hoist the Super Bowl trophy at Gillette Stadium is something I want to recreate with our team.”
They collectively have known for a while as captains that they were taking that first step toward
reaching their December dreams with all of those workouts, camps and tournaments in the offseason.
But now, the real games begin, once again beginning Friday night in Peabody against the non-league Crusaders at 7 p.m.
