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March 20, 2008

Behan bein' Behan: Hillie Nation sky falling?

By Mark Behan

After a woeful winter sports season at Haverhill High, let's revisit a happier time in Hillies' history.

It was autumn of 1973 and to a 9-year-old football fan, these were glory days.

In the brilliant backdrop of a kaleidoscope of reds, yellows and oranges — fabulous fall colors — the Haverhill High School football team was must-see viewing each Saturday afternoon.

Yes, young whippersnappers, unlike today, the padded gladiators of Haverhill High once played their games before sunset, which meant fans attending late-season contests needn't bundle up like they were mushing across Alaska in the Iditarod to avoid frostbite.

If it was bone-chilling cold, well, you hardly noticed for there was body heat being generated as the Brown and Gold played before thousands of fans packed like pickles in a jar at Haverhill Stadium. Yes, in 1973 fans could actually sit in the stands — without wearing a construction worker's hard hat.

And the 1973 Hillies surely could play. All-Scholastic lineman Regan McCarthy, quarterback Steve Wholley, fullback-linebacker Joey Goodreault and a talented supporting cast, which included sophomore Dan Conway, who is, in my opinion, the best tailback in school history, led the Joe Carven-coached Hillies to an 8-1 record and top-5 spot in the Eastern Mass. Division 1 rankings.

The Hillie games, though, were about much more than the action on the gridiron (yummy hotdogs!), especially for a 9-year-old. With huge crowds cheering, color guard and drill teams marching, cheerleaders doing the rah-rah thing on the sidelines and a big, blaring band, which would take the field at halftime led by high-stepping Gary Knox (if you were a Hillies football fan in the '70s, you no doubt remember Gary Knox), there was a real pageantry surrounding their games.

After games I'd often visit the Hillies' locker room (my dad was on the coaching staff) where a player would sometimes give me the chin-strap from his helmet. It was like getting an autograph from a New England Patriot.

Why the trip down memory lane?

Those Haverhill High football games of three-plus decades ago were my introduction to Haverhill High School sports — Hillies 101, if you will. And I was hooked.

When I grew up — okay, reached high school — I knew I wanted to be a Hillie. This was the prevailing feeling of my friends and most kids in Haverhill at the time. One day we all aspired to play for our hometown high school. And most of us later did with pride.

That same play-for-the-hometown-high-school sentiment does not universally exist today. It's a different world and time, and kids have more choices.

There's as good a chance a Haverhill kid would prefer to attend Central Catholic or another private school than Haverhill High. Or at least his or her parents would. And as public schools struggle, that's becoming a more popular choice.

How does this affect Haverhill High athletics? It hurts — big time; for there is not a bottomless pool of top high school athletes in the city, which is a big reason why the Hillies are finishing near the bottom in many sports.

This winter Hillie teams posted a combined 31-86-3 record. For the 2007-08 year, the football and boys basketball teams won one game apiece against Merrimack Valley Conference competition. And you thought Roger Clemens had a tough couple of months.

Of course, not every Haverhill High team is struggling. The track and cross country programs, under coach Mike Maguire, are rock solid, as are the school's soccer teams. In fact, both the girls cross country and boys soccer teams should be legitimate state title contenders next fall.

So no, the sky is not completely falling in Hillie Nation, but work needs to be done to keep the top student-athletes from saying sayonara to Haverhill High.

Start that work by righting a wrong. The city should be more ashamed than Eliot Spitzer for allowing Haverhill Stadium to deteriorate to its current condition. Fix the stadium and perhaps a new generation of kids will experience their version of glory days and grow up wanting to be Hillies.

Mark Behan is a freelance sports columnist for The Haverhill Gazette.

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Behan bein' Behan: Hillie Nation sky falling?
by By Mark Behan , , Thu Mar 20, 2008, 05:59 AM EDT
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