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Four coaches with local ties among Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductees

Jim Wilson, Worcester Telegram & Gazette
·4 min read

The Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Association announced the honorees for its 36th annual awards banquet, with a host of area coaching greats set to be inducted into its Hall of Fame.

Shepherd Hill's Chris Lindstrom, Doherty's Sean Mulcahy, Marlborough's Sean Mahoney and Phil Marchegiani, who coached at Marian and Ayer-Shirley after graduating from Fitchburg State, will be among the seven coaches to earn the honor at a ceremony on Sunday, May 5, at the DoubleTree Hotel Milford. The event will begin with a social hour at 4 p.m. and dinner at 5.

Former Shepherd Hill football coach Chris Lindstrom, far right, poses with his family as his son Chris, third from left, was selected in the first round of the NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons in 2019.
Former Shepherd Hill football coach Chris Lindstrom, far right, poses with his family as his son Chris, third from left, was selected in the first round of the NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons in 2019.

Lindstrom was a Hall of Fame football player at Boston University, where he played with his older brother Dave, and later played for the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the USFL's Chicago Blitz. After starting his high school coaching career at Tantasqua, Lindstrom took over for Leo Biron in 2001 and went 107-65 with the Rams, defeating Nipmuc to win the Division 2 Super Bowl in 2007 and also winning another Central Mass. title in 2014 before retiring in 2017 with a career mark of 112-71 and handing off coaching duties to his stepson Ryan Dugan, a longtime assistant with the Rams.

Lindstrom and his late wife Dawn kept busy in retirement, following around the active athletic careers of their children. Their daughters Ingrid and Annaka were standout volleyball players, and their sons Chris and Alec shined on the gridiron at Boston College before pro careers. Alec spent time on the Dallas Cowboys practice squad and is now a center with the Memphis Showboats of the United Football League. Chris is one of the highest-paid offensive linemen in football, a two-time All-Pro with the Atlanta Falcons.

Doherty coach Sean Mulcahy describes a plan during practice at Foley Stadium.
Doherty coach Sean Mulcahy describes a plan during practice at Foley Stadium.

Mulcahy has been at Doherty High for the past 34 seasons, taking over during the 1990 season for Bill Erven and going 177-181 in that span. Mulcahy is just one of three coaches with local ties to surpass 200 games coached, joining Classical's Owen Ryder (1961-1985) and Worcester Tech's Ron Silvestri (1992-2010).

Mulcahy starred at Doherty under Ralph Raymond from 1980-82 and also played club football at Assumption before taking over as Doherty coach when Erven was sidelined by a knee injury with three games left in 1990. Mulcahy has gone 115-66 since 2007 and guided the Highlanders to a Division 4 state championship win over Dennis-Yarmouth in 2013.

Marlborough football coach Sean Mahoney watches practice before the Panthers took on Grafton last season.
Marlborough football coach Sean Mahoney watches practice before the Panthers took on Grafton last season.

After starting his high school coaching journey at Shrewsbury, going 16-26-1 from 1994-87, Mahoney came to Marlborough in 2004 after spending six seasons as the coach at Assumption and has been leading the Panthers since — even coaching girls' basketball and tennis at the school. Mahoney has posted a 150-111 mark in football and was named the MIAA's Football Coach of the Year in 2020-21.

Mahoney captained the club football team at Worcester State in 1984 and 1985 and is a member of the school's athletic Hall of Fame, entering in 2018 alongside his daughter Michaella, now a fine softball coach at Marlborough High.

Marchegiani spent 22 seasons at Marian High before finishing up at Ayer-Shirley. Marchegiani went 145-87-3 with the Mustangs, winning 10 league titles and reaching the playoffs eight times and earning Eastern Mass. championships in 1992, 2001 and 2002.

The foursome will be joined by Gary Doherty (Framingham, Bishop Feehan, Taunton), Reggie Lanciani (Dom Savio, Dennis-Yarmouth) and Paul Sullivan (North Attleboro).

BOSTON - Leominster’s Jacob Paskell blocks Fitchburg’s Carlos Perez at Fenway Park Wednesday, November 22, 2023.
BOSTON - Leominster’s Jacob Paskell blocks Fitchburg’s Carlos Perez at Fenway Park Wednesday, November 22, 2023.

The MHSFCA also will honor Leominster's Jacob Paskell with a Courageous Player award. Paskell was diagnosed with cancer in 2021, but returned to play baseball and football for the Blue Devils.

Other Courageous Players honorees include Eddie Hall (Lowell Catholic), Nick Tutkus (Braintree) and Kyle Wilder (Chelmsford).

Longtime St. John's assistant Paul Capstick also will be honored, along with fellow assistant coaches Chuck Campoasso (North Reading), Eli Gioumbakis (Westford Academy), Steve Jordan (Nobles & Greenough), Donald Joseph (Fairhaven), Lou Ottaviani (Randolph) and Paul Saba (Whitman-Hanson).

Foxborough's Jack Martinelli will be honored for his 300th career win, while Laurie Los Lee of the Standard Times/South Coast Today will receive the Media Award.

The Distinguished Service Award will be awarded to the Dartmouth College's Buddy Teevens (posthumous) and Harvard University's Tim Murphy, while Abington's Jim Kelliher will receiver the Silvio Cella Lifetime Achievement Award.

For ticket information, please contact Sandy Ruggles (sandyruggles@hotmail.com), Justin McKay (coachjustinmckay@gmail.com) or Tom Lopez (LSFootball@aol.com).

—Contact Jim Wilson at james.wilson@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @JimWilsonTG.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Four area coaches to be inducted into Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame