Lynn’s Rushins reflects on super season in youth football

It has been a year to remember for Lynn youth football player Rufus Rushins.Rushins, an eighth-grader at Breed Middle School who plays for the Lynn Chargers, was named Defensive MVP for Team USA after his performance against Canada in the Eastbay Youth All-American Bowl at the Alamodome in San Antonio on Jan. 9.”It was really fun getting to play with the best athletes in the whole US, and the best athletes from Canada,” Rushins said, adding that the game gave him a chance to represent his hometown and the state of Massachusetts.While Team USA fell just short, 42-38, Rushins distinguished himself in the game. Playing defensive end – a position at which he was relatively unfamiliar – he recorded six tackles, three sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.”It was weird at first,” Rushins said. “I’m used to crashing inside and going for the quarterback. I had to maintain outside for a quarterback scramble or screen.”Rushins, who stands at 6-1, 210 pounds, is no stranger to big games. His Lynn Chargers, of the Northeast Conference Youth Football League (NECYFL), went undefeated in the regular season this past year and went to the championship game, where they lost to Chelsea. Then he was chosen as one of 26 athletes to represent the North in the Football University All-State Game for Massachusetts in November. (Football University is a football training program for student-athletes in the sixth through 12th grades.) Playing nose tackle, he had 14 tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble. He played offense for one play ? and the result was a 60-yard touchdown sprint for the North’s only score in a 7-3 win at Canton High. Rushins was named MVP of the game.Following his impressive performance for the North, Rushins received an invite to the All-American game in San Antonio. His coach on the Chargers, Brian Lozzi, described the game as a potential “once in a lifetime opportunity.”Rushins and his mother, Doreen Rushins, flew to San Antonio earlier this month. On game day, Doreen Rushins watched her son from a prime viewing spot on the 50-yard line.”I think he was really excited being able to represent Massachusetts and Lynn,” she said. “He was really honored.””It was a little overwhelming at first,” Rufus Rushins said. “It was an amazing feeling inside, that I can come here and show my skills, and how Massachusetts plays football ? and show who I am, in football and my character. It was an amazing feeling. I would always want to do it again.”He thanked his family, his coaches and everyone who helped him pay for airfare to Texas.”It’s been a great season,” Rushins said. “I’d give anything to relive it.”