Name of the Game:  Stantons sparkle at Mass. Maritime

October 3, 2012

By Bill Griffin, Patriot Ledger

BOURNE – If only they were brothers, this would be a perfect story.

Junior Mike Stanton is a terrific quarterback for Massachusetts Maritime. Sophomore Kevin Stanton is a cornerback who has made a huge impact in a short time for Mass. Maritime. Each won All-New England individual honors after a memorable win over Coast Guard. As brothers, the pieces would fit together nicely. Each is from Ledgerland. Stories of sibling rivalry and closeness could be told. Parents could be contacted for amusing memories. Headlines could be written: Stanton Brothers Lead the Buccaneers to Victory.

Alas, it is not true. They share the same last name, but they are not brothers. Mike is a former standout from North Quincy High while Kevin is from Abington and played for Cardinal Spellman. He’s not heavy and he’s not my brother.

“We have fun with it,” said Kevin the cornerback. “My first week at school the lunch lady asked me if I was the quarterback on the football team. Around campus we greet each other with: ‘Hey, Stanton, hey Stanton.’ People do stop and look.”

Said Mike the quarterback: “In the locker room, we pretend we’re brothers. We have a lot of laughs and people do notice when they look at our last names,”

The highlight for each was the Coast Guard game on Sept. 22. Mike set a school record with 26 completions to rally the Bucs from a 19-point, second-half deficit to as 42-38 victory. He threw three touchdown passes in a span of 6:30 in the third period to carry Mass. Maritime back into the game, and won the prestigious Golden Helmet Award as the top player in Division 2 and Division 3 for the week.

“That’s the best half of football he’s played for us,” said coach Jeremy Cameron.

Mike Stanton threw three touchdown passes in last week’s overtime loss to Framingham State. After four games, he is 80-126 for 1,125 yards, eight touchdown passes and a quarterback rating of 153, which leads the New England Football Conference.

“He took over as quarterback one game into his freshman season,” said Cameron. “Mike’s worked at it. He has the size (6-foot-5, 220 pounds) to see the field and he put in the time in film study to improve himself. He’s a very mature young man and not much phases fazes him on the field. The tougher the situation, the better he plays.”

When Mike took over at quarterback in college, it was like going from 33 to 78 RPM.

“I went from standing under center and handing off to the fullback 50 percent of the time to the shotgun and running the hurry-up offense all the time,” he said. “I had to read the hand signals from the sideline, call the plays and make sure everybody was set in the right spot. Adjusting to the size and speed of college ball was a shock. The speed of the game seems to fly.”

His favorite target is fellow junior Keith Caruso of Hingham, who has caught 31 passes for 440 yards and three TDs in four games. He was named to the weekly Division 3 All Star team for his work against Coast Guard. When Stantontalks about Caruso, he sounds like Brady talking about Welker.

“We have a connection,” said Stanton. “I know where’s he going to be. He can be my check-off when I’m in trouble or he can go deep. Throw it anywhere near him, left, right, high or low, and he’ll catch it.”

Stanton, the cornerback, has done just fine as well. Against Coast Guard, he earned weekly Division 3 All Star honors as well and leads the team with 25 solo tackles and five assists. After sharing the position for two games, he took over on defense against Coast Guard with 13 tackles, 11 solos, an interception – which saved the victory late in the fourth quarter – and a big goal-line hit which that prevented a TD just before halftime. He had eight solo tackles against Framingham State.

“He’s a smart player who is always in position,” said Cameron. “Some of those tackles were big ones. He busted up a couple of screen passes in the final minutes when we were holding a lead.”

“After rotating in the first two games, I got more reps in practice and it helped,” said Kevin who had to make the switch to corner after playing linebacker in high school.“I’ve had to learn more how to protect against the pass. The biggest thing was improving my footwork.”

That is the tale of the two Stantons. There is offense and defense, a passer and a pass defender. There is the same last name. Surely, there must be a connection somewhere.

“When I heard Kevin’s last name, I figured we had to be related some way, somehow, but we’re not,” said Mike.

Too bad. It would have made a good story even better.