Connor Donohue held the Super Bowl state finalist trophy in his hands following the St. Mary’s football team’s 18-0 defeat to Blackstone Tech Saturday at Gillette Stadium.
It was not the trophy that Donohue and his teammates had hoped to bring back to Lynn, but the talented, 5-foot-8-inch senior knew he had been a part of a very memorable journey.
“It was a great season, the best season of my life,” said Donohue, who had a large family rooting section all season led by his grandfather, longtime Lynn School Committee member John Ford. “Nobody expected us to be here, but we got here, so that’s amazing. It was a great experience.”
Donohue was the Spartans’ “Mr. Everything,” a captain willing to play any role that Coach Sean Driscoll and his staff felt would advance the team’s progress. He was skillful at making open field tackles and poised and confident when he was called upon to direct the St. Mary’s offense at quarterback or take handoffs at running back.
St. Mary’s head coach Sean Driscoll praised Donohue for his multi-dimensional contributions to the Super Bowl season.
“Connor Donohue is a four-year player and a tough kid who has done everything we asked him to do, from safety to quarterback to running back,” related Driscoll. “He is going to be sorely missed as a person, as well as a player.”
Donohue said what he will remember most is how the team “bonded” during the 2018 season. Driscoll cited “exceptional senior leadership” as a key in the Spartans’ one-is-all run to the Super Bowl.
“This was one of my favorite teams to ever play on,” said Donohue, who started his football career at the age of 7 in East Lynn Pop Warner. “The seniors have been playing together for four years. Coach Driscoll is just a great guy and I love him as a coach. He tries to give everybody an opportunity and he knows what he’s doing. We would not have gotten here without him.”
And St. Mary’s would not have been playing on the first Saturday in December without highly respected, put-the-team-first leaders like Connor Donohue.