Even at a power football program like BB&N, every now and then, someone as young as an eighth grader can make an impact.
The current example of this is strong safety and running back Owen DeSalvo.
After the end of the season, DeSalvo represented Massachusetts at the FBU National Championships in Naples, Fla., and was named a finalist for National Eighth Grade Player of the Year. He also earned an invite to the FBU/Adidas Freshman All-American Game.
This is all coming off a terrific season with the Knights. He started all nine games on defense, where he was third on the team in tackles, and earned an offer from UMass.
It is quite the early resume for the Cohasset native, who is excited to take those next steps as a player.
“Before coming to BB&N, I was mainly getting plays at running back and on the offensive side of the ball,” DeSalvo said. “After coming to BB&N this year, I switched to the defensive side of the ball at strong safety. I think over time one of the two positions will eventually become my favorite, but right now I’m just trying to focus on playing the best I can at whatever position (BB&N) coach (Mike) Willey puts me at.”
“We talked to him, when he was coming to BB&N, we talked to him,” Willey said. “We said, ‘Listen, you should be preparing like you’re going to be a varsity contributor. That’s where we see you.’ Where that exactly is, how does that all play out, we’re not exactly sure, until we get to practice in the fall. In the fall, I think we had high expectations, and he exceeded them. And he was on the field all the time for us. He had a really, really good year.”
Coming up through the FBU pipeline has meant a lot to DeSalvo.
“What’s cool about it, and you see it in a lot of pictures that get posted in social media, after a Milton (Academy)-BB&N game, all the kids who played FBU will get a picture together afterwards,” Owen’s father, Rob, said. “Or, after (St. Sebastian’s)-(Lawrence Academy) game, you see the kids from FBU get a picture together. They all follow each other. They all kind of watch each other progress, and a lot of them go on to play at pretty good schools. It’s been kind of cool to follow.”
And Willey has experience playing top eighth graders before. That helps those who come after.
“We’ve had some success with guys from that program, which has been nice,” Willey said. “We’ve had some guys that have played early, like Owen. The Tyler Martins of the world, Ty Hardings. Sammy Malignaggi’s another one. He started as an eighth grader too. We’ve had a handful of those kinds of guys. Xavier Chafin is another guy as an eighth grader who played a lot for us, this year on the defensive side. (DeSalvo) also plays in that same program. It’s been a good program for our guys, for sure.”
The fact that DeSalvo already has a scholarship offer from UMass has not made him complacent. The opposite, if anything, is true.
“Getting a scholarship offer at my age is pretty exciting, and it was awesome to have the offer come from Don Brown directly, but I know I have to remain focused and just keep playing the game I’ve been playing all season,” DeSalvo said. “In my eyes, nothing has changed and the real work starts now. I just have to keep getting better and better.”