ITEM PHOTO BY KATIE MORRISON
Lynn English’s Daekwon Shepherd, left, and Peabody’s Doug Santos took home MVP honors at the Agganis football game on Thursday.
By STEVE KRAUSE
LYNN — There was more than a little symmetry to the Agganis football game MVPs Thursday night, from the numbers they were during the game, their back stories, and in the way they competed, and tried to outdo each other during the game.
Both were the obvious stars in the South’s 27-19 win.
For starters, Peabody’s Doug Santos, the North’s MVP; and Lynn English’s Daekwon Shepherd, South MVP, both wore No. 33 for their respective teams. That was the number the late Harry Agganis wore when he played for Lynn Classical.
“It’s a an honor to have the type of game that he (Agganis) had when he played, and to do it wearing that number,” said the Assumption-bound Santos, who electrified the fans with an 89-yard kickoff return, that came after Shepherd had put his team up 14-0 with a pick-six,
“I didn’t even know about (the connection with Agganis) until I got my jersey,” said Shepherd, who picked off two passes — including one in the end zone on the game’s final play — and recovered a fumble. “It’s an honor to play the game under that number. “I used what I learned during my career at English, and used what the coaches taught me over the last nine days, and had a good game.”
As if their spectacular play wasn’t enough, the circumstances under which they performed all last fall made them extra special. Shepherd’s mother died last summer, yet, with the help guidance counselor Kara Balesta, he persevered, getting all A’s and winning The Item/Agganis Foundation Defensive Player of the Year award at the paper’s football banquet last winter.
Santos was literally a man without a country for most of this year. He came to the country as a child, but did not have his green card until last month, which threw his future at Assumption in doubt.
“I’ve had it tough for a lot of my life,” said Santos, “but you know what? I’m proud of myself now. I’m proud of what I accomplished.”
Shepherd wasn’t surprised at how Santos responded after his interception return in the second quarter Thursday.
“I’ve been playing against him for four years, and I’ll be playing against him for four more, too. I’ll be at Merrimack and he’ll be at Assumption.”
They may have played against each other in high school, but they didn’t socialize much beyond that.
“I’d see him at different things and talk to him,” said Shepherd. “But for the most part, I focused on what I had to do and didn’t worry too much about him.”
Santos lives with Mark Bettencourt, who coached the North squad this year. This was a bittersweet night for him.
“Sure it is,” Bettencourt said. “That runback tonight, it put the wind back in our sails. We could have folded our tents, but he got us back into the game.”
English coach Chris Carroll was at the game watching his players, which also included Jeremy Garcia.
“I’m proud of them both,” Carroll said. “You don’t get to coach guys like that too often.”
Lynn Tech’s Justin Lewis caught two touchdown passes, including one in the fourth quarter that gave the South some extra breathing room.
“It feels great,” said Lewis, who is the state’s Division 3 high jump champion. “Everybody on the team made a good effort.”
