Rushins is bright spot in tough Fenwick season

While the Bishop Fenwick football team has had a rough season record-wise, it has also seen a bright star rise in its sky ? and what is more remarkable, this is his first season in high school.Freshman Rufus Rushins of Lynn is on pace to accumulate 1,000 yards rushing this year, which would represent a first for a Fenwick freshman. Rushins and the Crusaders (2-8) have one game left: traditional Catholic Central League Thanksgiving Day rival Austin Prep at Donaldson Field on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.”He’s definitely a special kid and we’re very young on the offensive line,” Crusaders coach David Woods said. “When you give him the ball, anything can happen. He can turn a 3-yard loss into a 5-yard gain and a 5-yard gain into a touchdown.”Woods recalled an improbable touchdown that Rushins recorded while playing defense against another CCL foe, Archbishop Williams of Braintree, in the Crusaders’ league opener.”He ripped the ball out of the kid’s hands,” Woods said. “We were ahead 14-0 and they were kind of driving. If they scored, it would have been 14-7. But he broke through the line, tackled the kid, and it was 21-0.”The Crusaders ended up winning, 35-0.Rushins, whom Woods estimated at 6-1, 220 pounds, has also established a presence on defense.”His strength is really on the edge,” Woods said. “He’s a defensive end/outside linebacker type. He’s also a kid who can play in the middle. He’s quick on the get-off. He played nose guard earlier in the year.”Rushins previously starred in youth football for the North East Conference Youth Football League (NECYFL), which played its playoff games at Fenwick. He later visited the school and applied. Now he’s a key part of the varsity offense.”I think we were all sure he could handle it physically,” Woods said. “He’s done as well (as expected) if not better.”The coach added, “He’s just a great kid. He’s so likeable, coachable, a great teammate. The kids love him. He had pretty big expectations for a freshman ? pretty big for a senior. He didn’t know anybody on the team. He’s developed into one of our leaders.”Woods also praised the team’s three captains, Will Clancy of Lynn, Brendan McCauley and Mike Dainis, particularly for their work on defense.”Clancy played phenomenal at middle linebacker,” Woods said. “He missed a couple games due to injury, but he played against St. Mary’s, Cardinal Spellman, Arlington Catholic, Archbishop Williams, every league game. He played phenomenal on the offensive line and definitely was the glue to hold the defense together.”McCauley and Dainis played both ways on the line all year.”All three are undersized kids,” Woods said, “but they have a lot of heart.” He called them a pleasure to coach.Meanwhile, Fran Hannon, a transfer student, has impressed at quarterback. As the Crusaders have gone from a Wing-T offense to a spread offense over the course of the season, Hannon has played quarterback and put up “tremendous numbers running and throwing,” Woods said. “He’s a junior. We look forward to great things from Fran and Rufus.” The coach also called Hannon “the nicest kid in the world, a great student who’s thinking about the Naval Academy.”When the Crusaders play their final game of the season Wednesday, they will face a foe that Woods describes as tough competition every year.”You always know what you’re going to get,” Woods said, “a tough, hard-nosed team.”He saluted his Cougars counterpart, coach Bill Maradei.”It’s definitely a privilege to be able to be on the field coaching against Maradei and his team,” Woods said.