August 30, 2022 - Story and photos by Joshua Ross
In sports, the saying goes “you’re only as good as your last game.” Well in this case, your last regular season game. This past Thanksgiving, the Hingham Harbormen upset eventual Super Bowl winners Scituate Sailors in an epic turkey day rivalry game.
“They had played all their starters, which we didn't think was gonna happen,” says senior captain Tony Fabrizio. “And to beat them as our last game last year gives us a lot of momentum coming into this season knowing that we can compete with those higher level teams.”
Fabrizio, along with fellow senior captains Brendan Hill, Johnny Heffernan and Ronan O’Ciardubhain, anchor a defense looking to build on the success they had at the end of last season. The proved they have the talent to compete with the best in the league, they now have to maintain that consistency throughout this season.
“I think building our skills in general,” explains Hill. “The players, we're all getting more confident. Beating Scituate last year, now we know that we have the capability of being a super bowl team. And I think we all have a lot more confidence right now coming into this year. The momentum's a lot different from was than last year because we're all just really into it right now. It's fast paced and it’s going to be a great year from us. We're working really hard on offensive and defense. No one plays both ways, so everyone's just going hard (on their side of the ball) and it’s going to show up in games for sure.”
The question remains will this momentum translate into wins this year?
“I hope so,” head coach Mark Nutley says optimistically. “I mean, we got a lot of guys that played in that game. Day one at camp, we were talking about it (when) we would warm up in the end zone. I was like this is where it happened. Right here's the fumble recovery. We left that field that day, we could have beat anybody that day the way those kids played. And they were excited. The energy around us was great, was awesome. I said ‘that's the type of energy we need to play with every day.’ We need to practice like that everyday.”
While Nutley points out that many of his players, on both sides of the ball, are returning, there will be some new faces in some key positions this year, starting with quarterback.
“So right now they're battling out between (juniors) Jack Nicholas and Matt Morell,” explains Nutley. “Jack, got some little bit of time last year, threw a touchdown against Barnstable. Matt, I don't think at any varsity time last year, I don't recall. But, they both had great summers. They both worked out. I know Matt was definitely killing it in the weight room - (he’s) bigger, stronger. They went to a bunch of camps. They do everything good for us. Whether its throw the ball or kind of take control of the offense. Make good decisions. So it should be an interesting camp for both of them. They’re kind of going back and forth with each other.”
Who ever the quarterback will be, they will be handing the ball off to a new group running backs. The Harbormen lost a 1,300 yard rusher in Cian Nicholas, in addition to quality carries from Henry Crean and third down/goal line force Will Griffin. Those yards will be hard to replace. Nutley has a group that he is confident will get the job done.
“(Junior) Will St. Pierre got some carries last year for us, which is good. (Senior) Matheus Neves, who's got some carries for us too. (Senior) Nick Kraus was our punt return last year. Did some kickoff returns for us as well. He’s electric. The kid’s got great hands. So we're excited. We got some play makers,. Definitely some new play makers.”
The constant in the offense will be the line. Returning 4 of 5 starters from last year, including recent Amherst College commit senior Angus Bernstein who's coming back from injury. The line will be big and experienced and has a big task in protecting their new quarterback and opening lanes for the new running backs.
Looking to the other side of the ball, the defense will be returning most of their starters. Their big loss from last year is captain Will Griffin at linebacker. Missing this year at the corners as well is the McGorry brothers who transferred out of Hingham. But you can hear the excitement in Nutley’s voice as he talks about the potential of his defense this season.
“If the two brothers didn't leave, we would've had all five defensive backs back,” explains Nutley. “Ronan’s (O’Ciardubhain) back in the middle, (senior) Brian Bernard's back in the D-line. (Senior) Mike Schwartz is back in the D-line. Matt Kelly, who played a lot of D-line for us is there. So, three of the four D-lineman are back and they're all bigger than ever. Bigger and athletic and quicker than ever. Then (senior) Jayce Mellish who played a lot of linebacker for us last year is going to fill the linebacker spot. So again, a lot of guys with a lot of experience, playing defense for us. No points. We give up no points we are fine.”
The coach isn’t the only one who is banking on the defense to lead the way this year.
“ (Our) defense is gonna be very dominant this year,” Fabrizio says confidently. “You got some big boys on the D-line. Kids that can cause some havoc. And then we got all our linebackers besides Will Griffin, but we’ll see who gets the other linebacker spot. And then our secondary is Brendan (Hill) and I at safety and then (senior) Theo Smith, who played outside linebacker last year, is going to play corner for us this year. Pat Ryan is also very skilled athlete. He's a junior. So I think our defense is gonna be a pretty dominant defense in the MIAA this year.”
It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement and expectations, but Coach Nutley is looking at one game at a time.
“So the goal right now is just take care of Rockland week one,” he says. “I mean, that's priority one. They’re obviously a State Champion. They got a lot of athletes back. We played 'em this summer in 7v7. Doesn't mean much, but we played 'em there. They’re talented. They got some talent. So right off the bat, it doesn't get easy for us.”
That being said, it’s not bad to have some season goals set for his team.
“You know, when the final eight teams come out of Division 2, we want to be one of those eight teams,” Nutley goes on to say. “Cause we think, if you look at Division 2, it's probably the toughest division around. You got Catholic Memorial, Milford, you got Mansfield, you got Marshfield. It's pretty good. It's a pretty good division. We gotta play our best football to be one of those top teams.”