New Coaching Staff Clicking With Veteran Marauders

A mix of veteran players and a new coaching staff will hopefully be the right recipe for success this year for the Marauder gridiron gang. Senior quarterback Dan O'Connor, a second year starter, will be leading a squad with some significant playing time under their belts, but on the sidelines will be an entirely new assistant coaching staff and a head coach in his third season.

"It was time for a change" head coach Keith Comeau said of the decision to bring in a new cadre of assistants. "This will give us a change of perspective, and will hopefully give the kids something they haven't heard before."

New defensive coordinator and former New York Jet Joe Todd has brought in a new playbook, Comeau said, with fronts and coverages not seen before at Stone Park.

"The kids have really taken to it," Comeau said. "We're going to find some new ways to bring pressure."

Offensively the Marauders will continue a transition they began at the end of last season. Expect to see O'Connor taking more snaps from the shotgun formation with the goal being to "get the ball to some of our skill players and make some big plays for us," Comeau explained.

Some of those skill players to be watching out for include Shane Lowe and Mikyle Hill. Lowe, a junior, will be playing his third season on the varsity squad after taking a leadership role at the summer training camp in Maine. Hill, also a junior, will be a second year starter and in Comeau's opinion should have been considered for all-conference honors for the performance he put forth on the field as a sophomore.

The team lost some "major parts of the offense" to graduation last year in the persons of Nick Walsh, Bernie Gerard, and Dave Sheehan. Despite the loss, Comeau is hopeful that several others will step up and be as productive as they were.

"We have a bunch of younger skill guys that we expect big things from," the coach said.

The Maruaders will also face the continuing disadvantage of being the smallest team in the Bay State Conference. Despite a record of only three wins over the past two seasons, Comeau said he feels that "for the most part we have been competitive over the past few years."

Other teams may have complete offensive and defensive lines, he said, but players in Dedham have been playing on both sides of the ball since they were young and are used to it.

Due to a lack of numbers, Dedham High may not be able to put a freshman team on the field this year. Of a class of more than 200 ninth graders, only 14 have signed on to play. Team officials are hopeful another a half dozen will join before the start of school.

Further complicating matters, Veteran's Field is undergoing a renovation and being used as a staging ground for the new Avery School construction. As a result the team will have to play an entire season of games away from their home turf.

A number of members of the football and field hockey teams made their displeasure known at a recent School Committee meeting, but Comeau said he explained to his athletes that there were factors beyond their control and that they had to resign themselves to the unfortunate fact.

In the meantime, Westwood High School has offered use of their facilities for the 2010 home football games. Field hockey will play at Nobles. Comeau said he didn't expect the short drive to the Wolverine's home stadium would deter many fans from attending the games.

"I think a majority of them will travel to Westwood," he said, "if we have some success early on that's going to convince even more people to come watch us."

Comeau also said he plans on having that early success with a season opener against Braintree on Sept. 11. The Marauders have had two tough losses to the Wamps over the past two seasons where the games got away from them at the end, but Comeau insists that his boys will match up well against them again this year.

"Hopefully we can take the next step against them and build some momentum heading into our season," he said.