St. Mary’s Collier on all-state grid team

The honors keep pouring in for St. Mary’s senior Todd Collier.Earlier this month, Collier – who made all-scholastic in both Boston newspapers – was named The Item’s Player of the Year at the paper’s football banquet.Thursday, it was announced that Collier has been named to the Massachusetts Football Coaches Association’s all-state team as a defensive back.Collier is the only player from an Item’s circulation area school represented on the team. However, Saugus’ Nick DiChiara, who attends Buckingham Browne & Nichols, made the team as a linebacker.Collier is vacationing out of state, and could not be reached. But his coach, Matt Durgin, had plenty to say about him.”He is unbelievably competitive,” Durgin said. “You always tell your kids that you play the way you practice, and that’s what he did. He was always going full speed, in games or in practices. He was the best player on our team this year (the Spartans went 9-2) and was the hardest worker too.”Collier, a 5-7, 160-pounder, not only led St. Mary’s in virtually every category on both side of the ball, he was the top scorer in Eastern Mass. with 196 points (28 touchdowns, 14 2-point conversions). He had 1,924 all-purpose yards. On defense, he had 101 tackles and three interceptions.”He may have been on the small side,” Durgin said, “but he made the most of what he had. Another thing is, he may have been dinged up from time to time, but he never missed a game because of an injury.”Durgin also praised Collier’s awareness.”Even as a sophomore,” he said. “I remember we’re down at Archbishop Williams and we’re leading by a point. It’s late in the game, and we’re just trying to get a first down so we can run out the clock.”Todd breaks through and take the ball all the way down to their one, and he goes down (allows himself to be tackled),” Durgin said. “He knew – without us even telling him – that the point wasn’t to score, it was to make it so they couldn’t get the ball back. We score, they get the ball back, and they could possibly tie it.”I thought, ‘wow, what awareness’.”Durgin said that Collier’s honors prove that you don’t have to go to an elite school to be recognized.”It’s good for us,” he said. “It says, ‘you can come to St. Mary’s and play, and still be recognized’.” If you’re good, they’re going to find you.”Steve Krause can be reached at [email protected].