The type of heavy lifting required by the seniors of the Dedham High football team this fall could not be accomplished in the weight room. With so few among their ranks, strength was needed to carry such a large leadership burden on limited sets of shoulders.
And no one was willing to try to shoulder more than captain Mike Sabatino.
"When you think of the characteristics of a leader, you think of dedication, loyalty, unselfishness, that’s been Michael all year," said Dedham coach Dave Flynn. "It’s all about team with him."
Sabatino is part of a senior class that began with just eight players and has been reduced to six that will play in the 84th annual Thanksgiving Day meeting with Norwood after season-ending injuries to starting running back Trey Williams (knee) and two-way lineman David Jenkins (concussion), Sabatino’s fellow captain.
It has been a trying campaign for the Marauders, who head into their final game at 1-9 with an extremely young roster that has been thinned not only by injuries but suspensions stemming from a locker room incident.
Sabatino has used the opportunity to set an example for underclassmen, like sophomore offense tackle James Coughlin, one of eight sophomores that will start on offense again the Mustangs.
"It’s been a little hard with the team mostly being sophomore and juniors, the seniors have had to stick together," said Sabatino. "I’ve seen a lot of the kids grow up since the beginning of the year."
The loss of Jenkins has necessitated position switches on both sides of the ball for Sabatino. At 6-feet, 225 pounds, Sabatino entered the season as a tight end/defensive end but has moved to tackle on offense and defense to help plug the holes left by Jenkins.
"He did it willingly, without a word, and he did it for a team," said Flynn. "Every one of these boys knows that. They look at him and there is just the utmost respect for what he did for a program to help kids line up and play as hard as they can every week, and I’ll never forget that."
And he has done it all through despite being at less than 100 percent throughout the year. Projected as a two-way starter as junior, he missed the entire season after injuring his leg in a scrimmage, something he has yet to fully recover from.
The type of heavy lifting required by the seniors of the Dedham High football team this fall could not be accomplished in the weight room. With so few among their ranks, strength was needed to carry such a large leadership burden on limited sets of shoulders.
And no one was willing to try to shoulder more than captain Mike Sabatino.
"When you think of the characteristics of a leader, you think of dedication, loyalty, unselfishness, that’s been Michael all year," said Dedham coach Dave Flynn. "It’s all about team with him."
Sabatino is part of a senior class that began with just eight players and has been reduced to six that will play in the 84th annual Thanksgiving Day meeting with Norwood after season-ending injuries to starting running back Trey Williams (knee) and two-way lineman David Jenkins (concussion), Sabatino’s fellow captain.
It has been a trying campaign for the Marauders, who head into their final game at 1-9 with an extremely young roster that has been thinned not only by injuries but suspensions stemming from a locker room incident.
Sabatino has used the opportunity to set an example for underclassmen, like sophomore offense tackle James Coughlin, one of eight sophomores that will start on offense again the Mustangs.
"It’s been a little hard with the team mostly being sophomore and juniors, the seniors have had to stick together," said Sabatino. "I’ve seen a lot of the kids grow up since the beginning of the year."
The loss of Jenkins has necessitated position switches on both sides of the ball for Sabatino. At 6-feet, 225 pounds, Sabatino entered the season as a tight end/defensive end but has moved to tackle on offense and defense to help plug the holes left by Jenkins.
"He did it willingly, without a word, and he did it for a team," said Flynn. "Every one of these boys knows that. They look at him and there is just the utmost respect for what he did for a program to help kids line up and play as hard as they can every week, and I’ll never forget that."
And he has done it all through despite being at less than 100 percent throughout the year. Projected as a two-way starter as junior, he missed the entire season after injuring his leg in a scrimmage, something he has yet to fully recover from.
"At first it was a hard to get back into the flow of things, but as the season as gone on my leg has started to loosen up and I’ve felt good," said Sabatino.
Joining Sabatino in playing their final game for the Marauders on Thanksgiving will be Connor Curran, James Sheehan, Corey McNaughton, Dan Williams and Nick Romig. It likely won’t be the last competitive football for Sabatino, however, as Flynn says he has drawn interests from programs like Plymouth State.
Norwood enters the contest with a deceiving 2-8 mark. Six of the Mustangs eight losses have come by eight points or less and Norwood not only took Bay State Conference Herget leader Natick to the wire in a 14-10 defeat but knocked off Carey Division champion Weymouth, 28-7.
Both Flynn and Sabatino said a win would not only be significant for the outgoing senior but for the program going forward.
"It would give a sense of gratitude to the eight seniors that showed dedication and commitment to a football program and a younger generation and new culture of kids coming in," said Flynn. "These kids were from the old regime that struggled and we want to send them off with a game to remember. We have talked about it all week, it’s a game that you sit around talk about with your kids and grandkids and watch the video every now and them…everlasting memories and it would give these kids that, and it would also catapult these younger kids into a future for this football program "
"It would mean everything, with all the stuff that we have been though, to end it on a high note and set them up for next year," said Sabatino.
