Where do some of Worcester area's top quarterbacks train in the offseason? This QB academy

LITTLETON — The pigskin was flying out of Dante Reno’s right hand Monday night.

Wide receivers and onlooking QBs beware.

Reno, a 19-year-old from Sturbridge, was one of 25 quarterbacks from New England to train with Mike McCarthy’s football development program — M2 QB Academy — across two separate throwing sessions at Littleton Middle School.

And for a little over an hour, the bubbly Reno slung the football around the turf field while showcasing why he’s committed to play at the University of South Carolina in 2024.

“Dante is a leader of men who also happens to be a generational talent at the quarterback position,” said McCarthy, a former Bridgewater State University quarterback. “His efficient mechanics and release rival anyone across the country. He checks all the boxes with his intangibles, especially his leadership ability and poise during pressure moments.

“Our program has been elevated by Dante’s presence and kids love training with him because of the positive energy he brings to each session.”

Reno first started training with McCarthy prior to his freshman year at Tantasqua Regional High School in 2019. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound quarterback starred for two seasons with the Warriors before transferring to Loomis Chaffee, reclassifying and playing for two years for the prep school located in Windsor, Connecticut.

In 2021, Reno led Loomis Chaffee to its first New England Preparatory School Athletic Council championship before he committed to the University of South Carolina last summer. And then this past fall, Reno, the son of Yale University football coach Tony Reno, helped the Pelicans scoop up another New England title.

“As I’ve developed as a player, all kudos to Mike and what he’s taught me to do,” Reno said.

A four-star QB and Under Armour All-American, Reno will play at Cheshire Academy in Cheshire, Connecticut, this fall before enrolling early at South Carolina in January.

“Dante comes from an amazing family and support system who have helped him grow so much over the years, and he will be fun to watch at South Carolina and with Cheshire this upcoming fall,” McCarthy said. “Expect him to prove why he is one of the top quarterbacks in the country.”

M2 QB Academy becomes training ground for New England quarterbacks

As McCarthy dished out instructions to the first group of quarterbacks on Monday, his gray T-shirt started to accumulate moisture.

The 32-year-old has put in a lot of work since 2015 to build up a premiere training program for quarterbacks across the region.

“It’s exciting for New England just to see the culture grow,” McCarthy said. “From where it started, we’ve really ramped up since COVID. We’ve been going at it for a while and this is my eighth year doing it. … We’ve just focused day by day and one step at a time and continue to come out here, compete and get better and because of that guys are starting to have success and coaches are coming in from all over the place.”

This year alone, 16 quarterbacks involved in McCarthy’s M2 QB Academy have received Division I offers. His growing roster of QBs include signal-callers at schools like Harvard, Kentucky, Purdue, UConn and UMass (among others).

“It’s a testament to how hard these kids are working in the area and it’s a domino effect,” McCarthy said. “One has success and other kids see they can have that same success and they work harder because of it.”

Throughout the year, McCarthy, and his other M2 QB Academy coaches, offer in-person training at various fields across the state to go along with online sessions that break down anything from throwing technique and footwork to defensive recognition and offensive schemes.

“He makes the game easier,” Dante Reno said.

Worcester-area football players sharpen skills with M2 QB Academy

During the second session of QB training on Monday, Jake Attaway and Dylan Gallo practiced side by side in Littleton.

In less than two months, Attaway, a Hudson High junior, and Gallo, a Maynard High junior, will transition from training with one another to playing against each other in a high school football game on Sept. 29 at Maynard High.

“It’s all good fun,” Gallo, 16, said. “We’ve played since youth, and I've known him for a while and it’s always good going up and playing against him.”

“It’s a good competition and helps me become a better player myself,” Attaway, 16, said.

In the QB session before Attaway and Gallo, Groton-Dunstable junior Zach Romich and freshman Johnny Bordes swapped throwing footballs in front of the watchful eye of McCarthy. In a few weeks, the two Crusaders will compete for the starting quarterback position at G-D, a title which Romich held last fall.

“They work together for the same goal,” McCarthy said. “Like they both want their team to succeed so if they can work together to help each other grow and collaborate, it’s better for their program and their town.

“A rising tide lifts all ships, so if they can work hard together and push each other — that’s going to make them better on the whole.”

Other local quarterbacks throwing a wide variety of passes and working on football mechanics Monday were 14-year-old Zach McKenzie of Clinton and 18-year-old Tevin Mazyck of Rutland.

Whether from the Worcester area or not, M2 QB Academy is looking to help young athletes from New England reach their potential and guide them through the intricacies of the quarterback position.

Just make sure you don’t get in the way of a pass from Dante Reno.

“Being able to come out here at night, being able to work with (McCarthy) and a bunch of other great college quarterbacks and high school quarterbacks is awesome,” Reno said.

“It’s just special,” McCarthy said.

— Contact Tommy Cassell at tcassell@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @tommycassell44. 

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Dante Reno and other New England quarterbacks train with M2 QB Academy