Butler does it all for Massachusetts Maritime

November 5, 2011

By John Connolly, Boston Herald

BRIDGEWATER — Walter Butler isn’t your typical college football player.

First off, the Massachusetts Maritime senior linebacker is up at the crack of dawn for room inspection and morning formation. At least two mornings each week, he rises even earlier to hit the weight room. There is no such thing as going back to sleep or skipping class.

And all that is perfectly fine with Butler.

“It’s tough. It’s stressful at times with academics and regiment and football practice,” Butler said about an academy curriculum that features marine insurance, global logistics, ship brokerage and celestial navigation. “But that’s a major reason why I chose to go here and a major reason why many other people chose to go here. They wanted something more. They wanted something more than just a party life like any college kid. They wanted more from themselves. They knew that they could do it. That’s the main reason why I came to the academy and, I’m sure, for everybody else, as well.”

Butler and the Buccaneers (5-3) will be out to defend The Scoop today (noon) against host Bridgewater State (6-2) in the 33rd Cranberry Bowl at Swenson Field. MMA won last year, 23-7, at Clean Harbors Stadium in Bourne.

Butler has been immense. The 6-foot-3 Bishop Stang product leads Division 3 with six forced fumbles and is third in tackles for a loss (17). The 21-year-old Bourne native, featured in Sports Illustrated’s Faces in the Crowd this week, has nine quarterback hurries, three sacks, 46 unassisted tackles and three blocked kicks.

“He plays hard but he also practices real hard, so the other defensive guys try to follow his intensity at practice. At the same time, if the offensive guys that he’s going against aren’t at their best, he’s going to hurt people. So it really makes both sides of the ball a lot better,” Mass. Maritime coach Jeremy Cameron said. “He’s very rangy. He can do a lot of different things whether he’s coming off the edge or in coverage. He’s a flat-out playmaker on defense.”

Cameron said the demands placed on the Bucs make it a challenge.

“We get them for two hours a day (3:30-5:30 p.m.) and that includes taping and dressing and all of that sort of stuff. So there is a drastic learning curve,” Cameron said. “A typical day for these guys is they’re up as early as 6 in the morning for cleaning stations. Every single day there is a room inspection before 7, and then they have morning formation every day. . . . They all take six classes and have mandatory study hours from 8-10 (p.m.). There’s a small block of time that we typically get them on a daily basis. So we have to be very efficient for meeting and practices.”

Standing in the way of the Buccaneers are the Bears.

“In recent years, the chants of ‘scoop’ had gotten a little softer at practice,” Bridgewater St. coach Chuck Denune said. “Now, it’s back.”

Few people understand the rivalry better than Bears senior Justin Fuller (445 yards, six TDs). The 22-year-old criminal justice major began his career at Mass. Maritime.

“This is the last game scheduled for us and this game means a lot to the seniors,” said Fuller, who played at Somerset High. “It’s not only a football game. This is the last chance for the seniors to make an impact in a football game and be remembered. I truly believe that when people look back on this game and this season, this game will have a spot in terms of how this team will be remembered.”