Brad Scuzzarella is making his final season of Pop Warner football one for the record books.
Scuzzarella, 13-year-old star running back for the West Lynn Pop Warner ‘B’ Rams football team, put the exclamation point on a perfect regular season Sunday at Manning Field. Scuzzarella rushed for three touchdowns, intercepted a pass, and served as the holder on three successful extra points by Abraham Toe as West Lynn bested East Lynn, 24-6, in the battle for city bragging rights.
West Lynn head coach Maurice Cordy said Scuzzarella is not only one of the city’s best young athletes, but a great kid off the field as well.
“Not only is he is a great football player, but what’s more important, he’s a straight-A student,” said Cordy.
The West Lynn coach said Scuzzarella was a quiet player in the past, but he’s been more vocal in his leadership this season.
“This year, his personality really came out and he became more of a leader and it shows on the field in how he plays,” said Cordy.
An eighth grader at Breed Middle School, Scuzzarella has been a force at halfback and cornerback this season. He has scored 10 touchdowns this season.
Scuzzarella, who was a finalist for the Sonny Man Hill Little League Sportsmanship Award, said the offensive and defensive lines have been the key to the team’s success. “They’ve played unbelievably and we couldn’t have had this kind of season without them doing their job on every play,” said Scuzzarella. “And our coaches are awesome.”
Scuzzarella is a two-time Pop Warner All-American Scholar and should be a lock to make the national academic team once again. He will attend Lynn Classical next year.
Asked to rank Sunday’s three-TD performance and victory over East Lynn on his list of athletic accomplishments, Scuzzarella replied, “This is probably the one I’m most proud of because I get to enjoy it all with my teammates. We’ve been together for four years. I’m hoping we can get to Florida [for the National Pop Warner Championships].”
Brad is the son of Steven and Christine Scuzzarella. He has an older brother, Joseph, a junior at Classical, a sister, Michelle, 11, who is a West Lynn ‘C’ team cheerleader, and a brother, James, 6.