Mailloux, BG look to finish on top again

Friday, November 18, 2011

Photo by Jodie Andruskevich - Guertin running back Zach Mailloux carries the ball in the game against Timberlane.

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NASHUA – Zach Mailloux remembers seeing former Bishop Guertin standout speedster Mike Kelly point to his foot, writhing in pain on the football field at Timberlane Regional in Plaistow a year ago.

One play is all it takes for a backup to become a starter, and that one play had just taken place.

“When he went down, I knew it was going to be a big opportunity for me,” Mailloux said. “I wanted to help the team in any way that I could, whether it was blocking, running the ball, going out for passes.”

But Mailloux knew his approach had to change. He was going to help, but the Cardinals were also going to ask a lot more of him at running back.

“It motivated me to work harder,” he said. “It really did. I knew I was going to have to step up in his spot. There was a big guy down. It motivated me to work harder as much as I could in practice, in the weight room, just to get myself ready. It wasn’t going to be me and (Kelly) any more, it was going to be me as a single back with other kids around me.”

That was a year ago, and Mailloux developed into a dependable back who could always get positive yards, but even he got hurt and missed some time. But he showed his versatility by playing both fullback and tailback in the 2010 postseason.

This year, when Travis Cote took the Bishop Guertin coaching job, he identified 5-foot-9, 185-pound Mailloux as a back with speed potential. The senior from Merrimack showed that burst he’s capable of with a 27-yard touchdown run in the team’s semifinal win over Timberlane last Saturday, and he’s ready for whatever role he can fill in this Saturday’s Division II final against Dover.

“He’s been very consistent for us all year,” Cote said. “I think he’s really gotten a lot better and a better feel for the offense over the course of the year, too. He’s running much better, getting his shoulder squared and up in the hole, where early on he didn’t really have a feel for it and he was running sideways. He’s more comfortable now. If you can make sure you’re going forward, that’s the key.”

Tough yards needed? Mailloux wants the ball.

“That’s what I want to do,” he said. “That’s where I know I’m going to help the team best, blocking and I just want to pound it on the inside, getting the yards we need to get to get the first down, or near the goal line, getting into the end zone.”

He is a one-way player, wondering sometimes what it would be like to get snaps on defense. He did work early on in the year as linebacker, but figured he could help the team the best focusing on an offensive role. Mailloux has been playing the game since he was eight-years-old, and came to Guertin for what he called a “better opportunity.”

“Better education and I wanted to win championships,” he said.

He wants to play the college game, but figures he could use more seasoning and plans on going to a prep school for a year next year.

“I want to get bigger, faster, stronger, get another year of football in, for sure,” he said. “Obviously that one more year is going to help me, for sure.”

“Any kid that can get that extra year under (his) belt before (college), it’s certainly beneficial to them,” Cote said. “At the next level, he’s going to need better speed, especially at tailback, but he’s certainly not far away. When it’s your job at the next level, it’s just a different animal.”

In any event, Mailloux felt he made strides as a football player and a leader this year.

“I kind of looked at it as being a leader this year, stepped up more in the leader position,” Mailloux said. “I wanted to finish off my last year at BG to win a championship. Last year I kind of took it for granted.

“This year, with a new coach, I just knew everything was open, everything was a ‘start over,’ I just wanted to step in and do everything that I could.”

And now he wants to finish what he started.