Keegan Sullivan is Scituate’s Swiss Army knife
SCITUATE -- To Keegan Sullivan, 2018 is a vivid memory. Then a freshman, he watched as his older brother Aidan carried Scituate to its first Super Bowl title with a 3514 victory over Nipmuc in the Div. 5 title game. Now the Boston Herald All-Scholastic is looking to carry on his family’s legacy, just using his own method.
“This is my last year of high school football,” said Sullivan. “I’m a senior, which is pretty crazy. Time flies, but I just want to have the most fun that I can out there with some of my best friends, and just make some great memories.”
Sullivan is primarily known for his talents as a pass-catcher, but his dynamic playmaking ability has allowed him to excel at several positions. During the Fall II campaign, he racked up 46 carries for 405 yards rushing, while hauling in 14 passes for 208 yards. In just five games, Sullivan finished with 11 total touchdowns, two of which came via punt return.
“Keegan can do so many things well,” Scituate football coach Herb Devine said. “I think that’s the big difference. If I need him to play running back, he can flip a switch and boom, he’s a running back.
If I need him to play the outside X or Z positions for us, he can do that. If I need him to play slot, he can go inside and do that. Any position I put him at, whether it’s at punt return, kick return... defensively, he can go from corner to safety to outside linebacker. He’s just so talented, that’s what I think separates him from other really good players at that spot, that he can do it all.”
On defense during Fall II, Sullivan registered 19 total tackles to go with three fumble recoveries and an interception.
Injuries stunted what had originally been a promising start to the Fall II season for Scituate, but the Sailors still managed to finish 3-2, and retained most of their core players for another run.
Most recently, Sullivan and his teammates left their mark at the Northeast 7v7 tournament. During the South Regional Championship in July, Scituate upset Xaverian in the semifinals, before topping Foxboro for the title, with Sullivan scoring the winning touchdown at the end of regulation.
Expectations have been ramped up around the
Irish Riviera, but the upcoming season schedule presents no shortage of obstacles for the
Sailors. Due to an increase in enrollment,
Scituate was moved up to the Div. 4 ranks following the
MIAA realignment this past spring.
The Sailors will now open their season at home against a Bay State Conference heavyweight, Milton, on Sept. 10. Then, the Sailors will travel to Duxbury the following week, before closing their out-of-conference slate of games with a tilt against Malden Catholic on Sept. 24. After that, it’s on to Patriot League (Fisher Division) competition.
“It will be a big challenge,” said Devine. “So we’ve got to play our eight games, and we’ve got a pretty good nonleague schedule (during) the first three games to gear us up for the long run. We just want to play well, week after week, and start it with that first game at home with Milton.” Could the Sailors make another run to Gillette? That is the ultimate goal, but Sullivan and the squad know that there will be plenty of fierce competition along the way. “That would be icing on the cake,” Sullivan said. “We have a tough road ahead, for sure. We’ve got to take it game by game, week by week. But I think we have a lot of good talent that will be on display. I think we can make a run for it, but we’ve got to put in the work. We have been with our summer lifting, but now the real stuff starts, and I’m real excited for what we can do.”