Plymouth (MA.) High School football team 1993
Plymouth (MA.) High School football team 1993
Standout Damond Silva
The Plymouth High School varsity football team team lost the Division 1A Super Bowl to New Bedford High School at Nickerson Field in Boston, Massachusetts in December of 1993. Plymouth High School represented the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts, which is forty miles south of Boston Massachusetts. Nickerson Field was the former home of the American Football League team the Boston Patriots and the United States Football League team the Boston Breakers. On June 19, 1983, the Boston Breakers played in front of 15,530 fans against the Tampa Bay Bandits at Nickerson Field.[16] Former President Donald Trump owned the USFL team the New Jersey Generals. Despite the loss Plymouth High School was Plymouth County Football Champions in 1993.[19]
The Program
1993 Football Team
The Plymouth "Blue Eagles" played their home games at Mario Romano Field, which was located on the school campus on Obery Street in Plymouth. Their games were filmed by CAP Sports, which was owned by Carl Pratt. Their games were broadcast on public-access television. Plymouth North High School was torn down and replaced by a new school in 2012.
The Plymouth High School sports program consisted of 2,200 students.
The program was split with the two campuses, Plymouth South and Plymouth North, being located miles apart.
In their 1993 home opener, they defeated Brockton High School. Brockton High School was regularly featured on the ESPN program, "Scholastic Sports America", which was hosted by Chris Fowler. In their traditional Thanksgiving day football game, Plymouth High School beat Silver Lake Regional High School. Plymouth High School won the 1993 Old Colony League and they were also 1993 Plymouth County Football Champions. The head coach of the team was Kent Stevens. One of the assistant coaches was Dwayne Follette.
Tragedy As Season Began
From Pop Warner To Nickerson Field
On the second day of practice during agility drills, player Patrick McQuade collapsed and had to be revived by CPR.
Ken Stevens had was quoted about the experience in 1993 by the newspaper the Orlando Sentinel:
That's the first time I have ever had to perform CPR.
It's something that you hope you never have to use, but it is certainly a good thing to know.
He was always in super physical condition.
He played football and was a very good wrestler.
He wrestled all summer so he stayed in good shape.
He never had a problem with his heart.
His teammates seemed to handle themselves pretty well through the whole situation.
But I think it was fortunate that as Patrick was going through the tests, the upgrades that we would get on his condition were a little better each time.
Starting defensive player Damon Gesce told the Boston Herald in 1993:
It's tough not having him (on the team), but he's in our hearts.
Boston Globe All Scholastic
Andy Santos & Phil Correa In Football Jackets (L to R)
Defensive players Ed Daley and Damon Gesce made the The Boston Globe All Scholastic team. Other key players or starters on the team were Adam Johnson, Jeffrey Christani, Justin Miller, Ben Russo, Damond Silva, Eric Telford, Skip Martin, David Delancey, Nathan Harding, Andrew Santos, Scott Huber, Jason Morgan, Keith King, Eric Beaton and Anthony Schena. The head coach of the team, Kent Stevens, graduated from Plymouth High School in 1964.
Damond Silva scored a critical touchdown in a regular season win over Brockton High School.
Gesce had two interceptions in a regular season victory over Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School, including one he returned 102 yards for a touchdown. Plymouth also beat New Bedford and Duxbury High School during the season, which ran from September to December. Anthony Schena led the team in touchdowns. The quarterback was Brendan McDavitt. McDavitt threw the ball on average less than 15 times a game.
Loss In Super Bowl
Nickerson Field Former Home Of USFL Franchise
Blue Eagles running back Anthony Schena ran for 127 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries in a 13-0 regular season win over New Bedford High School. When the teams squared off again in the Division 1 Eastern Massachusetts title game at Boston University's Nickerson Field in December of 1993. Schena tore a ligament in his left knee and was held to 47 first-half yards on 11 carries. New Bedford High School beat Plymouth High School by a score of 45 to 10 in the Super Bowl. This was Plymouth's last season in Division 1 high school football. Top rated Everipedia editor Matthew E. O'Neil contacted Andrew Santos in April 2022 and Santos responded:
We had beat that same New Bedford squad 13-0 earlier in the season.
The difference in those games was the field conditions.
Our 13-0 shut out win was on a soggy grass field.
It had rained all day and was still misting at night.
Physically Plymouth was bigger and stronger than that New Bedford team.
So field conditions played to Plymouth's strengths that night.
The Super Bowl was played on old school Astro Turf.
Not the field turf they use now with the rubber pellets that absorb impact and you still wear cleated shoes to play.
Nickerson Field in 1993 was a layer of green plastic carpet with concrete underneath.
The kind of surface you'd play mini golf on today and that's about all lol.
New Bedford had speed everywhere.
They were the faster team.
All the players wore basketball sneakers on that surface in the Superbowl.
New Bedford had the speed advantage on offense Plymouth couldn't match up with.
I truly believe that was the difference in those two games that year.
Team Split In Half
Plymouth Lost Div 1 Program In 1994
Following their loss in the Division 1A Super Bowl, the program was split in half the following year.
Since 1994, Plymouth North High School and Plymouth South High School have fielded their own football teams.