16 • COMMUNITY ADVOCATE • Friday, April 2, 2021
COMMUNITY SPORTS
SHS’ Mario Marchisio In Shrewsbury, football coach remembered as no-frills 1960s trailblazer
NICK ABRAMO ON SPORTS SHREWSBURY - They don’t make ‘em like Mario Marchisio anymore. And in this day and age of political correctness, his style wouldn’t be welcome by many anyway. Marchisio, who coached the Shrewsbury High School football team for 21 years, was a no-frills, my-way-or-thehighway kind of guy. He was a square-jawed, blue-collar, Italian firebrand, and those who played for him say he was both loved by many for his tough love and also disliked by others for his intense ways. According to Dutch Holland, who played for Marchisio in early 1960s and later served as his assistant before moving on to become a head coach at three nearby schools, Marchisio came to Shrewsbury in 1960 in what amounted to a trade of physical education teachers. Wanted by the Colonials for his football background, he left West Boylston, which, in turn, got a teacher with a gymnastics background.
After a few lean years, Marchisio had Shrewsbury humming. His teams were always known for toughness and discipline. But he was also fortunate to have a string of some of the best running backs around. “He was all football,” Holland said about Marchisio, who played football, hockey and baseball for Leominster and went on to play football and hockey for the University of Illinois. “He had super talented backs and linemen that carried him for years. He was also tremendously knowledgeable on how to run the single wing offense. Holland went on, saying “He’d be standing on the sideline on Turkey Day against Milford saying, ‘They’re going to run this trap or that sweep. They always do that on this part of the field and with this down and distance.’…He was always right. It was amazing. Another Shrewsbury player from the early ‘60s, running back Maurice Bisceglia, recalls Marchisio as being as oldschool as they come. “He taught us discipline, big-time,” said Bisceglia, who got to know Marchisio better after his playing days. “If things didn’t go right, we’d run it again and again until it was right. A lot of guys didn’t like him and I know why. He told the truth and a lot of people don’t like to hear the truth. No
Mario Marchisio during his football coaching career.
matter how good you were, if you screwed up, you paid the price.” One time, according to Bisceglia, Marchisio kicked his fullback off the team for a week for smoking a cigarette. “Late in the game [that week], we had the ball on the goal line and couldn’t score and lost 6-0,” Bisceglia said. “If we had the fullback, we would have won. Bisceglia added, “If Mario was coaching today, he’d be in jail.” Marchisio was reportedly famous for hitting people over the helmet with his clipboard. On one other occasion, meanwhile, a quarterback threw a pass. That was against
“Some said Mario couldn’t coach,” he said. “But the reason they thought he couldn’t coach was they couldn’t play.” Marchisio, a World War II veteran and member of the Massachusetts Football Coaches Hall of Fame who died in 2015, rang up league titles. But one of his biggest moments came when he guided the Colonials to the 1972 Central-WestMario Marchisio on the sidelines with player ern Mass. Division 2 SuVinny DeFalco, circa 1977. per Bowl at Springfield College, where the team lost 10-7 to East Longmeadow. Marchisio’s rules. Worcester Marchisio’s love of football Trade, Shrewsbury’s opponent shined through, nonetheless, that day, intercepted the throw in one 1996 quote about that and ran it back for a touchSuper Bowl defeat to the Bosdown to beat the Colonials ton Globe. 13-12. “We lost with eight seconds “That quarterback turned in to play on a field goal by a his uniform and never played young man who never kicked again,” Bisceglia said. “For one before,” he said. “But we Mario, it was, ‘You didn’t lishad a great bunch of kids on ten to me. I don’t need you. that team. It was something Goodbye.’” new then and a big thrill. It Holland confirmed Marchiwas a sign of progress. Many sio’s penchant for hitting peoother states had a playoff beple with his clipboard. fore Massachusetts and the “He went through a dozen best thing about the games is clipboards a year,” he said. the exposure for the kids and “The players were used to that. the school.” He chewed out people. Nick Abramo is the CommuHe added, “Today, he would nity Advocate’s resident sports have been sued five times over. columnist. He writes weekly reBut he actually loved the sport flections on the players, coaches, and many of the kids knew he teams and moments of days gone loved the sport.” by that wrote themselves into the Bisceglia agreed. local history books.
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