To say Marblehead’s 2024 football season was unique would be an endzone-sized understatement. From a teachers’ strike to playing beneath the Fenway Park lights, Coach Jim Rudloff and company just about saw it all.
Let’s not forget about the magical turnaround, as the Red and Black began the season 0-2 (Bishop Fenwick and King Philip).
“We need to change how we prepare,” Rudloff said at the beginning of the season.
But you can’t make a comeback without a deficit. Marblehead turned its season around by winning seven of its last eight games and earning a trip to the Division 4 state tournament.
There, the No. 6 Magicians raced past No. 11 Norwood, 42-6, in front of the fans at SSG Christopher N. Piper Field. Yandel Garcia, Brady Selvais, Finn Gallup, and Colt Wales compiled touchdowns and Marblehead was moving on – but not without some drama.
Marblehead’s teachers’ strike began to have an effect on the football team. The next tournament game could be played at Grafton High, but union member Rudloff – a special education teacher at the school – wouldn’t be allowed to coach.
The end result was a 35-0 defeat in Grafton.
“It should never have happened,” Rudloff said of the strike impacting the Grafton game. “The adults got in the way of the kids. [I’m] not going to lay out blame to anyone, but we really screwed the kids on that, and that’s on all of the adults on all sides. That should never have happened. What we did was: We sent the kids into the biggest playoff game of the year and one of the best opponents we played, and we tied one of their hands behind their back.”
But the team looked on the bright side. Instead of the usual Thanksgiving Day game against traditional archrival Swampscott, the Magicians and Big Blue squared off at Fenway Park the Wednesday before Turkey Day.
Ending its season on a high note – and with no walk-off needed – Marblehead took a 28-0 lead in the first half en route to a 42-6 win.
Garcia opened up the game with a touchdown before Bernardo Bannis added another. From there, Marblehead hit a home run with Gallup tossing one to Selvais for a 48-yard score.
Defensive tackle Gunther Fehrenbach joined the fun and snagged an interception.
“That’s a coach’s dream,” Rudloff said of the lineman’s big play.
A few touchdowns later, that was all she wrote. Also included was a baseball-themed touchdown celebration from Selvais, who had his reasons.
“I’m only going to be in Fenway Park once in my entire life playing a football game,” he said. “It’s something that I thought about coming in.”
Despite the 0-2 start, a teachers’ strike, and a state tournament loss, the season ended with Marblehead’s 12th consecutive win against its archrivals.
They were on top of the world.
“Honestly, I couldn’t be happier with this team. We fought through everything this year and it all paid off,” Gallup said. “These seniors led us through everything we had to go through with the strike – nothing much better than this.”
