Cape Natives Look To Shine On Cranberry Bowl Stage

Any rivalry game is a big event for a college football team.  But when that game is being played in the region where you grew up in, it takes on even more meaning.

Today, for Cape Cod natives Barry Reopell of Massachusetts Maritime and Mike McCarthy of Bridgewater State, there’s no place like home.

Reopell grew up a short ways away in South Dennis, where he shined on the gridiron for the Dolphins of Dennis-Yarmouth High.  McCarthy grew up “across the pond”, as it were, as the Edgartown native was a standout for the Vineyarders of Martha’s Vineyard High.

Both players have emerged as leaders for their respective squads.  Reopell, a two-year team captain for the Buccaneers, has helped guide a resurgent Massachusetts Maritime program as one of the squad’s top rushers.  McCarthy has directed a potent attack as the Bears’ quarterback, highlighted by last year’s 246 yards of total offense and two-touchdown performance in the 33rd Annual Cranberry Bowl that earned him the nod as the Lee Harrington Most Valuable Player of the contest.

In addition to their Cape roots, Reopell and McCarthy have something else in common today.

They want to carry The Scoop off the field.

“I knew about the tradition of the Cranberry Bowl growing up, but to be a part of it is something very special,” Reopell says.  “We’ve been able to create a lot of excitement and buzz about the team over the past four years, and a win in this game would keep that going in the future.”

“The Cranberry Bowl is something that we look forward to as a team all season long,” McCarthy says.  “The crowd and the atmosphere are unbelievable—it reminds me of when Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket would play at the end of the year in high school.  The stature of the game means so much to both teams, and with the history involved, it’s always a big game.”

McCarthy came to a Bridgewater State program that had run of 13 straight wins in the Cranberry Bowl series, a mark that he wanted to help continue and Reopell wanted to change.

In 2010, Reopell and his Buccaneer teammates got their wish in a 20-7 Massachusetts Maritime victory here at Clean Harbors Stadium, something he would like to replicate in his final home game.

“I remember the feeling of beating Nauset in the Chowder Bowl in my final game at D-Y, and I would love to experience that same feeling to close out my college career,” Reopell says.  “It would be the perfect ending to what has been a great experience both on and off the field.”

“When we lost the 2010 game, it really left a bad taste in our mouths all off season,” says McCarthy.  “We were determined all through that off season to get the “W” and get The Scoop back last year, and winning the game helps build a positive start for the next season.”

The combined success of both programs over the last three years has rekindled the flames of enthusiasm on both campuses, and the Cranberry Bowl in the perfect culmination of what has been a very exciting run for both squads.  Today’s game will be a bittersweet for Reopell, who dons the Buccaneer blue and gold for the final time at home, while McCarthy has another season to standout for Bridgewater State.  The formula for both players is very much the same—hard work and camaraderie.

“We have great veteran leadership in the program, and I feel we have 11 leaders on both sides of the ball when we are on the field,” McCarthy says.  “We stay positive in any situation, and our focus is to do the best we can in our roles.  When we do that as a team, good things happen.”

“Being able to lead by example and develop great team chemistry is something that I take great pride in, and it has been a big part of our team,” Reopell says.  “We are very close both on and off the field, and that bond is something that won’t end after this game or even graduation—it something that will go on for a lifetime.”

While both Reopell and McCarthy refer to the collective talents of their teammates, their head coaches see special qualities that make both players integral parts of their programs.

“Being elected as a team captain is a great honor, but I think it’s a great reflection on Barry’s leadership and character that his teammates have elected him to that position for two straight seasons,” Massachusetts Maritime Head Coach Jeremy Cameron says of Reopell.  “He has been one of top performers on offense with his durability in running, blocking and receiving, and he has played an incredibly large role in our success over the past three years.”

“As accomplished a football player that Mike is, he is a better person,” says Bridgewater State’s Chuck Denune of McCarthy.  “He does things the right way and tries to get better all the time.  He’s a tremendous competitor who is very passionate about the game, and he can beat you in so many ways.  I don’t look at Mike just as a quarterback—he is a great football player who just happens to be a quarterback.”

There’s one other aspect that makes today’s game more special for the Cape Connection—family.

“I have a lot of family that will come to the game, and it’s always fun to come back closer to home to play in front of them,” McCarthy says.  “It’s great that the biggest game of the year will be even bigger being on the Cape.”

“It’s certainly going to be an emotional day for me, with my last home game as a college player, but it will be a very special one knowing that my family and friends from the Cape will be here,” says Reopell.  “I have so many memories, and I hope to add some more—it would be a great way to go out.”

Regardless of the outcome of today’s game, it is safe to say that the Cape has many reasons to be proud of the accomplishments of both Barry Reopell and Mike McCarthy.  Though only one of them will walk off the field with The Scoop in hand, they will nonetheless walk off secure in the knowledge that they were part of something very special.

And that’s why rivalry games are played on the biggest stage possible.