Cohasset's Haggerty brothers are a dynamic duo once again at Mass. Maritime

September 30, 2016

By Mike Loftus, The Patriot Ledger

BOURNE – That it worked once before doesn’t really mean anything. This is a different time, a different place, a different, higher level. They’re determined to make it work again, though, because they won’t get another chance.

It has taken four years for Shane Haggerty and Chris Haggerty, brothers who starred at Cohasset High School when Shane was a senior and Chris a junior in 2012, to reprise their receiver-quarterback show. It’s running at Mass. Maritime Academy, and Shane doesn’t like to think about it closing.

“I’ve been playing sports my whole life,” said the older brother, a three-sport standout while at Cohasset. “This is the last year I ever play a sport competitively, for a school.

“It would be really nice to finish off with a great season.”

Shane Haggerty couldn’t have asked for a much better start to the finish. He’s catching passes again from his younger brother Chris, who waited two years for the starting quarterback’s position to open up at MMA, and it hasn’t looked like time has damaged their chemistry.

“No, it’s gone really well,” Shane said. “It actually reminds me a lot of playing in high school.”

That makes sense. Back at Cohasset, Shane stopped taking snaps after quarterbacking the freshman team, knowing his stronger-armed brother was about to arrive on the scene. Chris didn’t start at QB for the varsity until he was a junior, but when the brothers got together that season, “it was almost magical,” Skippers coach Pete Afanasiw said.

“Whenever Chris was going to throw to his brother, he knew exactly where Shane was going to be, and exactly where to throw it,” Afanasiw said. “And Shane, with his ability to not just run, but also jump and control his body in flight – he’s a pretty special athlete.”

The re-connection follows a few seasons of ladder-climbing and dues-paying.

After spending freshman year as a part-timer in the defensive backfield, Shane saw spot duty at receiver as a sophomore (14 receptions, 102 yards) before emerging as a consistent threat last season: He led Mass. Maritime with 44 receptions (666 yards), tying for the team lead with six touchdown grabs.

Meanwhile, Chris Haggerty watched, waited and learned.

“With the quarterback position, you always have to kind of rise up through the ranks,” he said. “You can’t really move to a different position. You just have to learn the playbook, and always prepare.

“One day, you’ll get your number called, and you have to be ready.”

Chris certainly seemed prepared in Mass. Maritime’s Sept. 9 opener at SUNY-Maritime, putting in a solid afternoon (16 for 30, 229 yards, 1 touchdown, two interceptions) as the Bucs overcame a 24-14 fourth-quarter deficit to win, 28-24. Included were six passes to his older brother, good for 55 yards.

The Haggertys truly broke through in Week 2 against Maine Maritime, though. This time Chris completed 28 of 41 passes for 340 yards and two touchdowns with one interception, and he also ran for a TD.

Chris’s first collegiate touchdown wasn’t the highlight, though: The 29-yard touchdown pass to his brother – a flea-flicker on the last play of the first half – topped everything.

“Two seconds left, so our coach (Jeremy Cameron) sends in the trick play,” Shane said. “Naturally, we get excited, because we’ve been working on it in practice, but it’s one of those plays you don’t know if you’ll actually run.

“To have it actually work made it even better.”

Although the best-case scenario didn’t play out against Maine Maritime – Mass. Maritime overcame a 21-0 deficit to take a 35-34 lead, but suffered a 42-35 loss with 19 seconds to play – things are working out pretty well for the Buccaneers, and for the Haggerty brothers.

Mass. Maritime recovered from its loss to Maine Maritime with last Saturday’s 32-14 win over Worcester State. Chris found Shane for a 23-yard touchdown to give the Bucs a quick 6-0 lead, and went on to compete 18 of 21 throws for 216 yards and two touchdowns. Shane’s TD catch was one of his career-high 11 grabs on the day. He leads MMA with 26 receptions, and has averaged 92 yards receiving per game – about one-third of Chris’s 261.7 average passing yards.

“It’s great to have a chance to do this again,” Chris said.

“We’ve been doing it our whole life, throwing the ball together in our backyard since we were kids,” said Shane. “It’s a lot of fun to have a chance to do it again together on the field, in games.”