In Ship Shape:  Salem's Skeffington steps back under center as captain at Mass. Maritime

August 31, 2015

By Matt Williams, Salem News Staff Writer

Brad Skeffington spent a large part of the last two years at Mass. Maritime getting his sea legs under him. 

Now, he's getting his quarterbacking legs back under him, too.

Drawn to the prestigious maritime academy on Cape Cod by its tremendous reputation for naval career education, Skeffington spent the first of his two football seasons there playing just about every position on offense. But for this, his senior season, the mobile passer from Salem will be going back to his natural position as signal caller for his last go-round with the Buccaneers.

"I think I've played just about everywhere at this point. Getting back to quarterback, it definitely came back quickly," said Skeffington, who threw for 1,334 yards as a senior at Salem High School and graduated as one of the Witches' all-time leaders with 18 TD passes and another 15 rushing scores.

A year ago as a junior captain for the Bucs, Skeffington ran for 206 yards and a pair of touchdowns while also catching a couple of scoring passes. Lining up at both running back and also at various receiver spots has been a major benefit to his understanding of the team's offense as he now hopes to direct its traffic from behind center.

"Like most offenses, there are a lot of post-snap reads. Seeing them from those perspectives definitely helps me understand what my guys are seeing and what decisions they might make so I can get the ball to them," said Skeffington, who transfered to Mass. Maritime after spending his freshman year of college at Salve Regina.

Surprising career path

Mass. Maritime specializes in seafaring careers. After graduating, Skeffington hopes to become an engineer and is eyeing career options in some of the busier seaports in the United States along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

"People may not realize, but 90 percent of the goods that come into the country come on a ship," explained Skeffington, who hopes to become a merchant marine, which is an engineer on a commercial merchant vessel (and is not affiliated with the U.S. Marine Corps).

"All those ships that are coming into the country, or making trips to oil rigs in the Gulf, need engineers. Basically, you're a mechanic. Anything that goes wrong or could go wrong on that ship while it's at sea, you're the guy to fix it."

One of the draws to the marine lifestyle for Skeffington is the schedule. Merchant marines typically serve on ship for a month or two, following by that same amount of time off. 

Even growing up in a seaside mecca like Salem, Skeffington has surprised himself with his career path.

"When I was in high school, I wouldn't have seen myself going this," he said. "I was always better with math and science than I was with English, though, so maybe I should've known. I had a friend who was going to Mass. Maritime and it was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing to come here. It's worked out perfectly."

Aiming high

In football, Skeffington drew the admiration of his teammates almost immediately. He was a co-captain along with Danvers native Zach Ryan (and others) in 2014, and will serve as one of four captains this fall.

"All four of these seniors have played crucial roles, both on and off the field, in the continued development and success of our program by being good teammates and leaders on and off the field," Mass. Maritime head coach Jeremy Cameron said. "They have set a high standard for achievement in competition and in their studies, and their example is the one I want all of our players to emulate."

A year ago, the Bucs went 4-6 but won the 36th Cranberry Bowl by topping Bridgewater State and also the Admiral's Cup with their triumph over Maine Maritime. Along the way, they had a revelation at running back in Beverly native Kenny Pierce. He followed a similar path to Skeffington's, transferring in after a year at St. Anselm. Pierce ran for a team-high 549 yards and four TDs, averaging 7.0 yards per carry.

"Kenny came in and didn't look anything like a first-year player,"Skeffington said. "He's so much faster that everyone else and he has vision. His first-cut is always incredible; I'll be going to pitch it to him on an option, and after three steps he's gone."

Looking towards this fall, the Bucs open with the eighth annual Chowder Bowl against New York Maritime on Friday, Sept. 11. They're hoping to improve on last year's win total and, mostly, simply looking to compete and play hard.

"We have some young guys, and we have guys capable of doing the job. We're aiming high," Skeffington said. "We'll go into every game thinking we can get it. We look at the big games, for sure, but it doesn't go ti justice to just think about those. We want to compete for the conference (title)."