MARBLEHEAD — After a few seasons of slow starts, Marblehead’s varsity football team flipped the script this fall. The Magicians, under longtime coach Jim Rudloff, began the season with six wins before suffering their first loss last Friday against Masconomet.
“This year, however, to be honest, we’re just as surprised as anybody else. Of all the past three years put together, this is the year that we should have started off slow on paper,” Rudloff said. “The last two years, I’ve scheduled King Philip for a Week 2 matchup and that game is kind of one of those games where you can almost cross it off. Bishop Fenwick caught us twice when we weren’t ready. We lost Miles O’Neil to a private school and had two sophomore quarterbacks who had never played in a varsity game.”
The Magicians graduated 27 seniors from last year’s team and returned only a small handful of experienced players. Some of this year’s seniors, Rudloff said, had never played football before joining the team.
“We thought the beginning of this year was going to be rough, regardless of who we played.”
Still, a strong returning presence at quarterback made a difference. Senior signal-caller Finn Gallup, who played half of the snaps last season, has provided leadership and stability on offense.
“Having someone who can explain everything to the guys in the huddle or in a meeting helps so much,” Rudloff said. “A returning quarterback impacts your running backs and receivers — he can tell a running back if they’re lined up wrong. That reduces the amount of mistakes on the field.”
Gallup has led a balanced Marblehead attack, while senior captain Breydan Callahan has emerged as the team’s top running back — despite not even playing at the position last season.
Rudloff doesn’t see one dominant strength defining this year’s group, but instead credits its overall balance.
“This is one of the most balanced teams I’ve had, at least up to this point in the season,” he said. “We don’t really have a defensive or offensive identity. I think Finn’s ability to run and throw makes us very versatile on offense. I don’t think we’re great at anything; I just think we’ve been pretty good at everything.”
With the postseason approaching, the Magicians are hoping that balance and a bit more of that early-season momentum carries them to another deep run.
Marblehead (6-1) ends its regular season against Danvers Friday. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. at Piper Field.
