SUPER BOWL PREVIEW
Plus Mastrodonato on one player’s amazing story
DUXBURY — Four years ago, veteran Duxbury football coach Dave Maimaron made a curious decision in committing to a scrawny freshman as his quarterback.
A freshman who happened to be his son, Bobby.
It left some of his players scratching their heads and sent athletic director Thom Holdgate from his office to the football field to “protect the coach and make sure he’s not looking through rose-colored glasses out there.”
“I’ve been here 15 years,” Holdgate said. “And I’ve never seen a freshman quarterback. Not until Bobby.”
Holdgate trusted Maimaron, a well-respected coach credited for being a pioneer for the spread offense, which has since exploded in Eastern Mass. But when Maimaron pulled that 135-pound freshman and stuck him behind center to run a varsity offense, it was the responsibility of the AD to review that decision like Congress checks a president.
At first, Bobby Maimaron was on the sidelines only as a backup, “in case of emergency,” remembered then-starting quarterback Sean McCarthy. But when McCarthy severely sprained his ankle the third game of the season, Bobby took over.
He threw two touchdown passes and Duxbury beat Silver Lake, 290.
Four years later, Bobby’s TD pass total has reached 118 — the most in Massachusetts history. He will lead a strong Duxbury team into Gillette Stadium for tonight’s Division 2 Super Bowl against Shrewsbury.
“They’ve got talent, no question,” said Silver Lake coach Chris DiGiacamo. “But Bobby is really the big difference.”
Who is going to question Dave Maimaron’s coaching decision now?
But four years ago? Different story.
McCarthy had been a four-year player, was named a team captain and, as a senior, was hoping to get recruited to play in college.
“I spent the whole offseason getting ready,” remembers McCarthy. “I had been talking to college coaches. I was in the middle of getting recruited. It mattered a lot for me to be on the field.”
Maimaron understood that. And he was “extra cautious of the public perception.” So McCar- thy, who would eventually play one year at Tufts, was given his job back. By his estimations, he barely deserved it. Playing through a high ankle sprain, McCarthy said he couldn’t make quick movements and his agility suffered.
The coach eventually changed
his mind and gave the starting job back to Bobby for the second and final time.
Four years later, Bobby Maimaron, a senior who will play football and lacrosse at Williams College next year, credits his teammates in 2013 for leading the team when he was just a freshman trying to survive.
And he credits McCarthy for being “super supportive” when he needed it most.
At first, not everybody on the 2013 team felt inspired by the quarterback change.
“I had a lot of friends and parents, they really questioned what coach Maimaron was doing,” McCarthy said. “I understood it. I was hurt and was not playing at 100 percent. After the third game of the season, I got injured, I tried coming back and even when I came back on Thanksgiving I was probably at 80 percent. But my friends would be in the huddle and they’d tell me, man, it’s really weird having Bobby in there, having a freshman. Then after the season, parents would mention it to me. They’d say, ‘I can’t believe coach Maimaron did that. He was playing favorites.’ “For me, it’s understandable to question it. But it would be one thing if the coach made that decision and we lost games. Then it would be more justifiable to question it. But Bobby played valiantly, did everything the coaches asked of him and he grew a lot. He is a great kid. A great teammate, great leader. I couldn’t have asked for anyone better to hand off the reins to.”
Considered a calm but spirited leader, Bobby Maimaron’s eventful freshman year prepared him for a record-setting career.
“I couldn’t be more proud of how he carried himself, on the field and in the community and in school,” coach Dave Maimaron said. “He’s such a good kid, stays out of trouble, has great friends. I just know I’m lucky.”
Holdgate, the AD, can exhale about the situation now.
“It’s just satisfying that a coach went on a limb and made a choice that people maybe didn’t quite understand when he first did it. It’s nice to see it work out,” he said. “I’m so proud for Bobby, who has grown to be a great human being.”
If there’s one thing Bobby wants his dad to remember about his son’s high school years?
“Getting a Super Bowl trophy,” Bobby said. Said McCarthy, “I’ll be cheering him on.”