Discipline, Dedication Characterize Football Rivals

ERIKA ANDERSON, Staff Writer

Published: October 28, 2004

ATLANTA—It is defined by Webster as “one having great drive, energy or ability,” or an “athletic team characterized by strong, aggressive play.”

But for many in the metropolitan Atlanta area, and especially in the Catholic school community, the word powerhouse can be defined in just two words—Marist football.

On the sprawling campus on Ashford-Dunwoody Road just outside the perimeter, Marist’s varsity football team is practicing on the small field a few yards from Hughes Spalding Stadium, where the junior varsity team is about to play St. Pius X High School.

They are disciplined, determined and intense. They are focused on their task, running through drills as if it were game day.

It is this commitment to the game that has kept Marist a football team to be reckoned with for many of their 92 years of play. Since 1970, the year the present stadium was opened, Marist has won an impressive 80 percent of its varsity football games. According to the football program printed this year, prior to this season, with 522 victories, Marist ranks seventh among Georgia high schools in total wins and 139th nationwide.

The school has built a legacy on winning, thanks in large part to head coach Alan Chadwick, who joined the Marist staff in 1976 as an offensive coordinator, a role in which he served until he was named head coach in 1985.

Prior to this season, Chadwick’s .865 winning percentage is the best all-time percentage in the state of Georgia.

But to his players, Chadwick, the fair-haired leader of the team, is more than just a coach.

Andrew Dete, a senior linebacker, said that Coach Chadwick has influenced him and his fellow players significantly.

“You want to do your best for him,” he said. “He is this perfect combination of discipline and fairness and when you go out and play, you really want to do well for him.”

Paul Etheridge is in his fifth year as a Marist coach, leading the team’s offensive line and halfbacks. His roots at Marist are deep, having graduated from the school in 1988.

A tight end on the 1987 state-runner up team, Etheridge went on to play football at the University of Georgia and later coach at the university and at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. As a player-turned-coach, he said, he hopes his players have the same memories of Marist that he did.

“Marist is a really special place,” he said. “Anyone who went here would tell you that. I really loved being in school here, and I want to make it as meaningful for (the players) as it was for me.”

As practice wraps up, the players slowly make their way off the field to shower and catch the second half of the JV game.

Carrying his helmet in his hand, senior standout Anderson Russell talks about his time at Marist. The running back has been recruited by several colleges including Duke and Ohio State University, but, he said, his memories of his Marist teammates will never be far from his mind.

“I love all these guys. They are my best friends, and so much more than just teammates. If I ever don’t feel like practicing, these guys pump me up,” he said.

Dete also knows that when he looks back on Marist, “football will be the first” thing he thinks about.

“This is more than a team. There is such a brotherhood that I have with the other guys. We put in so much work all through the year that I spend more time with these guys than with my family. So they are my family,” he said.

On the other side of Spaghetti Junction, another family is hard at work.

For years the proverbial underdogs, the St. Pius Golden Lions struggled through the 1980s and 1990s, especially in their games against rival Marist. But all changed last year, when Pius broke a 21-year-losing streak against the War Eagles of Marist to win 20-17. It was a game that sent Pius fans rushing from the stands onto the field. It was a moment that still sends chills through the players that were there. Some said it was a fluke. Marist went on to win the state championship. Pius lost in the third round. But as both teams prepare for their Oct. 29 match up at Marist, they are on an even playing field.

Both teams have an 8-1 record. For each school, that “1” on the other side of the dash is represented by Tucker High School. Marist lost to Tucker by two points, Pius by 21. So the stakes are high for both teams.

It wasn’t always this way.

When the football program at St. Pius began in 1958, the team was hard to beat, going to the playoffs five times and winning the state championship in 1968 under the watchful eye of head coach George Maloof.

Maloof, for whom the St. Pius stadium was recently named, still attends the games, sitting on the track that surrounds the field in his minivan.

In an interview this past April, Maloof remembered winning the 1968 state championship as the team beat Gainesville High School 6-0.

“It was a great time,” Maloof remembers. “I still get chills thinking about it. There were signs—‘Maloof for President’—everyone was so excited. We were the first Catholic school to win a state championship.”

This fall the Golden Lions are focusing on one game at a time. Their 2004 start of 7-0 was the best since that 1968 championship season. Many credit head coach Paul Standard, who is in his fourth season at Pius.

At the end of practice, as the players surround Coach Standard to hear his last minute instructions, they place one knee on the ground, a moment that communicates their intense respect for the man that has turned their team around. They stand, hold their helmets high, and before breaking, yell “family” in unison.

Daniel Finnerty, a senior lineman, said that the word is more than just lip service.

“We are a family. That’s the most important thing when we go out there,” he said.

Finnerty lives for the excitement of a Friday. During the school day, he said, the energy is “electric.”

“And there’s nothing better than coming out under the Friday night lights,” he said.

For Finnerty, football is more than just a game. It has been an experience that he said has taught him life lessons. Fellow teammate and senior linebacker Ratch Doelling agreed.

“Football is more than just a sport. It teaches us responsibility, discipline. I’ve probably learned more from football than anything else during my four years here,” Doelling said.

And many of the lessons the players have learned have been from their coach.

John McGinniss, a senior lineman, said that their coach has had a significant influence on their team.

“He’s tough on us on the field, but if you ever have a problem, you know you can talk to him,” he said.

Senior tight end Rocky Moon said that Coach Standard is “like a second father.”

“He’s really uplifted this community,” he said. “For the last four or five years he’s turned this team around and made it successful.”

Besides strong leadership, the Golden Lions also rely on prayer.

Senior lineman Brendan Underwood said that the team always prays together.

Though the offensive line has christened themselves the “Death Dealers,” and the defensive line refers to themselves as the “Freak Show,” they always get together to ask for God’s protection.

“The line prays six Hail Marys together,” he said. “We always pray. It’s important.”

In a 1998 interview, Coach Chadwick emphasized the importance of prayer for his team.

“We talk a lot about setting priorities,” he said. “We tell them to make God number one, family number two, academics number three and football and athletics number four.”