For high school football players, there's no place like Gillette Stadium

FOXBORO – Like in Hoosiers, the basketball rims hang just as tall as they always do.

But for the football players on the seven South Shore teams gearing up to compete for state titles, Gillette Stadium is a one-of-a-kind location.

Randolph and Hull get the Dec. 1 doubleheader started at 3 p.m. in Division 8, followed by Cohasset and Wahconah at 5:30 p.m. in Division 7. Rockland and Abington will contend for the Division 6 crown on Dec. 6 at 5 p.m., while Scituate and Duxbury square off in Division 4 in the nightcap at 7:30 p.m. All the action will play out on the New England Patriots' home turf.

The team captains saw it for themselves at the MIAA state championship breakfast on Tuesday, as all the players walked on the turf and took in the sights.

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“Being (at) midfield, it’s a different atmosphere. I feel like I’m breathing in different air,” said Malik White, of Randolph.

Teammate Paul Goggin agreed.

“It’s breathtaking. It really is.”

“It’s definitely really cool. This is where Tom Brady, the G.O.A.T., played,” said Scituate running back Keegan Sullivan. “Whenever you get to play in the same place as him, it’s always a cool moment.”

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As many of the players stepped on the turf, they remarked at how similar it felt to the fields they normally play on. Cohasset coach Pete Afanasiw, who coached at Gillette Stadium once before in the 2014 state title game, noted that the field is no different on the surface; it's only when you look around and realize where you're standing. That's what makes this stage a bit more special.

“When you’re on the school bus and you’re rolling down Route 1, and all of a sudden you see the stadium, it’s like, ‘Oh, we’re not going to Carver. We’re not going to Hull. We’re not going to Scituate.’ You start to get goosebumps pulling in the parking lot – I’m getting them right now talking to you," Afanasiw said on the ground level of Gillette Stadium, facing the field. "Coaching in it is one thing, playing in it – I can’t even imagine.”

“You’re used to playing at a high school stadium with 150 seats. To 65,000, it's unbelievable," said junior lineman Aidan Murphy of the Hull Pirates, a team making its Gillette Stadium debut. "Our fans have been so great this year, I’m just so excited to see what they do next Wednesday.”

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It's been a dream for many of the players to one day star for the hometown Patriots, play in the NFL and live out the glory of a professional athlete. They'll certainly get a glimpse of what it's like, but departing with a championship trophy is the main objective.

“We’re obviously going to have some butterflies, but I think once we get out there and play the first snap we’ll feel like we have to cherish every moment. This is going to be our last game, we’ve got to make it a good one," said Scituate senior Michael Sheskey.

Rockland coach Nick Liquori hopes his team can approach it like any other game, but he realizes that the nerves will play as much of a role in the results as the sheer physicality will.

"Everyone's going to be battling emotions, it's at a high level early on. (We've got to) make sure we don't exhaust all of our energy in the first two plays," said Liquori. "It's not a situation where we can simulate it in practice or anything along those lines, but try and prepare them as best we can."

Afanasiw described the atmosphere to be "cavernous" at times during Cohasset's state title win against Littleton in 2014, saying the Skippers dealt with headset issues and decided to ditch the tech all together to strategize. Given that only a portion of the stadium will be filled with fans, the vacant side behind the designated 'visitor' sideline is "almost like you're in another time zone," which helped Afanasiw's staff communicate the old-fashioned way.

A more raucous environment sticks within the mind of Scituate running back Andrew Bossey, however, as the Sailors return to the state title game aiming to win their second since 2018.

"It's going to be awesome. The crowd is always crazy. They travel with us, especially playing at Gillette," said Bossey. "I know my freshman year, the crowd was electric. Hopefully it'll be the same. I'm very excited."

With seven teams in the title mix, the South Shore will be well represented, the South Shore League in particular. In short, Cohasset's run game fueled its success, Abington's offense ignited its winning ways yet again, Rockland's defenses suffocated its opponents and a pair of South Shore League surprises, Hull and Randolph, climbed the ladder of contention this season.

The other two area teams are from the Patriot League, Duxbury and Scituate, who will duke it out to decide which team's overall talent will reign supreme. And Gillette Stadium seems to be a fitting venue for it all to unfold.

“I think it's very well-deserved. Having been in the South Shore League, I’ve seen the evolution between the old playoff system to this," said Afanasiw, remembering having 8-1 Cohasset teams miss the cut of the playoffs. "Now, the state is realizing the quality of football that goes on in and around the South Shore.

“It’s just a juggernaut of football right now and it’s been awesome to be a part of.”

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: High school football players envision playing at Gillette Stadium