Marblehead 2022 Thanksgiving Football

4 ESSEX MEDIA GROUP THANKSGIVING FOOTBALL 2022
WEEK 2
Lynnfield and Marblehead help
remind us it’s more than a game
By Ryan VeRmette
maRBlehead Weekly neWs
As quarterback Myles O’Neil knelt the
ball for the final time, Marblehead players
jumped up and down and put their hands in
the air, letting out shouts of pure emotion as
they ran towards their teammate
Jack Scogland.
Though not many in
the stands at Piper
Field knew it, the
Magicians
played
with
heavy hearts that evening. Earlier in the day,
Scogland’s father passed away unexpectedly.
The lineman’s father was a youth baseball
and football coach for nearly all of the players
on Marblehead’s roster. Lynnfield head coach
Pat Lamusta found out just before kickoff
and knew that after the game, win or lose, his
team needed to be there for Scogland.
After hands were shaken and everybody
started to empty from the stands, Lamusta
told his team to bring it in at midfield as
Marblehead head coach Jim Rudloff
did the same. Each coach spoke with
the other team in the combined
huddle before Lynnfield and
Marblehead fists were raised
#6 Andy Palmer, Marblehead
with the ball, #29 Brooks
Keefe blocks Lynnfield player
#20 Jared Bernabei at the
Marblehead vs Lynnfield game
at Marblehead High School on
September 16, 2022.
PHOTO | PAULA MULLER
up into the air together for a breakdown.
“Family on three… one, two, three,
family,” both teams shouted.
Though both teams may not have been
familiar with each other or even know one
another, everybody came together to support
Scogland and lift him up because, as Lamusta
notes, it’s bigger than football.
“That’s tough to fight through; it’s an
emotional rollercoaster for a team to go
through,” Lamusta said. “They’re a very
strong team, they’re going to make it through,
but the point of the breakdown was to remind
everyone that there’s something bigger here.”
Though Lynnfield lost the game by a
score of 26-18, Lamusta recognized that the
outcome was secondary to everything else
going on that night. There will always be
more football games to be played, and though
football is everything for these kids and
coaches, the stats, the scores, and the wins
and losses all become an afterthought on an
emotional night such as this.
Despite learning of his father’s passing
hours before the game, Scogland, who is a
lineman for Marblehead, told coach Rudloff
that he was going to suit up.
Not only was he available for the game,
he ended up playing on both sides of the
field in what was truly an amazing display of
courage and determination. His play on both
sides of the line of scrimmage was crucial
in Marblehead’s victory that evening and
he even proceeded to block a point after an
attempt by Lynnfield.
“Amazing kid, it was amazing that he was
able to do that,” said Rudloff. “He’s one of
the first guys in for us; oddly enough, the kid
that plays in front of him was the first one
hurt, so he goes in and plays both ways the
whole game.”
It was an incredible performance by
Scogland, and after the game, Marblehead’s
players yelled out in happiness, and in
sorrow, and in joy, and in grief as they
huddled around Scogland, each taking turns
hugging him, and holding his helmet close to
theirs.
Football is family, not just to Marblehead,
but to every team that they see standing on
the other sideline, and the Pioneers recognize
that.
“We’re kind of a larger football family,
and we wish them well as they navigate this
difficult time,” Lamusta said.
“A lot of class on the other side of
the field,” Rudloff said in response to the
Pioneers showing of support. “The Lynnfield
kids were phenomenal, they played a great
game but even more so, their behavior and
their composure, and the way they just
embraced us after the game, I’ll never forget
that.”
While the Pioneers fell to Marblehead,
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
FROM OUR Y FAMILY TO YOURS!
Good luck to the Marblehead Magicians & Swampscott Big Blue!
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