From SoCal soccer to Brockton football: Cardinal Spellman lineman becomes unsung hero
BROCKTON – Grammy-winning artist Albert Hammond once sang, “it never rains in Southern California.”
For Cardinal Spellman lineman Mauricio Gaytan, he’s a long way from home. However, the current Brockton resident has made the most out of his time on the East Coast after moving from SoCal. In Friday’s game against St. Mary’s, a 12-0 Cardinal loss, Gayton finished with eight tackles, recording a forced and recovered fumble on one.
In a game where rain was falling off and on, Gaytan grew accustomed to it. He mentioned weather was one thing he had to get used to at first when he moved to New England.
“Mauricio is our unsung hero,” said Cardinal Spellman co-head coach Jequan Johnson. "He’s playing offensive guard, at his size (standing at 5-foot-9) for us because we just needed him to play it. He’s a new kid to football last year and right now he’s playing like an all-star all year.”
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The Southern California native has a higher calling that’s brought him to this part of the country.
“I’m a missionary,” said Gaytan. “I just move around for the church.”
Gaytan was a soccer player for his first two years at Spellman. For the Cardinals, he plays defensive end and is in the trenches on offense. He’s been doing a lot of adjusting on and off the field.
“Compared to last year, I see how I’ve grown as a player physically and mentally,” said Gaytan. “And I’ve grown a bond with my coaches, especially Coach Johnson, coach (Ryan Donovan) Dunny, I love those guys.”
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The Cardinals dropped to 5-2 on Friday. Sophomore running back and Brockton resident Chris Soto rushed for 58 yards on 15 carries. St. Mary’s defense was stiff, but Soto fought for every yard.
“He’s a dog,” said Gaytan of Soto. “To see a sophomore run like that against St. Mary’s, they're a great team, it makes me proud to see our future is bright.”
For the Spartans, Danvers resident and freshman Maxwell Parent scored two rushing touchdowns to go along with an interception. The Cardinals jumped out to a 5-0 start on the season thanks to comeback efforts, but have now lost two straight games.
“You get in a dog fight with some teams, we got down earlier in the year and were able to pull ourselves out of it,” said Johnson. “But we kept saying, ‘You can’t keep shooting yourself in the foot.'"
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: St. Mary's defeats Cardinal Spellman football, 12-0
