WINTHROP — It hasn’t taken long for Dillon “Duke” Doherty to feel at home with the Winthrop football team. In fact, the senior quarterback only needed one play in the Vikings blue and gold to find the endzone.
During Winthrop’s 28-0 win over Saugus at Miller Field last Friday, Doherty started the game with a 60-yard touchdown run. It was a great way to kick off a homecoming season for Doherty, who moved back to Winthrop after living in Everett.
“I grew up here and was close with a lot of kids here before moving to Everett with my father in middle school,” Doherty said. “It feels really good. What I would say about Winthrop, everyone always says a team should be a family, but here the chemistry is really there. You can feel it.”
Doherty finished last Friday’s opener with a solid 74 yards rushing and completed 5-of-7 passes for 22 yards. During a delayed season with a short preseason, he gives a lot of the credit for his speedy transition into the Vikings system to Winthrop coach Jon Cadigan and his staff.
“It was a really quick transition,” Doherty said. “(Jon) Cadigan is a great coach and coach (Bobby Nimblett) our offensive coordinator has been a huge help. It’s been great and I’ve learned the offense very quickly. Being surrounded by so many great athletes has helped too.”
Doherty is no stranger to finding success on the gridiron, spending his sophomore and junior season starting at quarterback for Everett High School.
Over that two-year span with the Crimson Tide, Doherty completed 182-of-305 passes for 2,920 yards and 37 touchdowns with 13 interceptions. As Winthrop has already seen, he also got it done on the ground — racking up 762 yards rushing and eight touchdowns over the past two seasons.
It’s clear Doherty has come a long way on the football field since playing youth football in Winthrop, and he attributes a lot of that to his family — including his uncle James Doherty — for shaping him into the player and person he is. It’s his love for his family that also brought Doherty back to Winthrop.
“My grandmother got sick so I came back to Winthrop to help her how I could,” Doherty said. “She’s doing a lot better now and getting stronger, but now my dad’s mom is suffering from kidney failure. There’s a bunch going on with my family right now and football has been an escape. I haven’t let it affect how I play on the field.”
Doherty’s focus on football won’t be stopping anytime soon. The dual-threat quarterback is already committed to play Division I football for the United States Naval Academy.
“I had a bunch of offers, but I committed to Navy,” Doherty said. “Going the military route is obviously a big decision for anyone to make, but my dad was in the military and that made the choice easier. I’m excited to play some big-time football. I think my freshman year there they are opening the season with Notre Dame. I’ve wanted to play big football like that my whole life, so that’s a dream come true.”
Until those days come, Doherty and the Vikings have big goals for this season with a well-rounded roster, even if there is no state tournament to shoot for.
“Our main goal is to win the Northeastern Conference,” Doherty said. “And we’re feeling really confident that we can do it.”
