Based on interviews conducted by Richard Long and Charles Huester

St. Mark’s gifted senior class aims for school’s first State Title since 1978.

Few things strengthen a team’s resolve more than a crushing defeat.

On a Sunday afternoon early last December St. Mark’s star quarterback Joe Wright found himself, and his teammates, limping off a Seaford high football field that had been left soggy and muddy by snow in the week leading up to the game, his mouth filled with the bitter taste of defeat.

The Spartans had just lost the D-I State Championship game to William Penn 34-13 and the entire team was crestfallen. A group that had been lead by a superb junior class had seen their dream season shattered. Joe called his brother Louie in search of comfort and a few words of wisdom.

Louie is an assistant Coach with the St. John the Beloved’s C.Y.O. team and he understood what Joe was going through. Back in 1999 he was a senior at St. Mark’s. That year He was one of two Spartan running backs to rush for over 1,000 yards (Steve Rogers was the other) as the school advanced to the championship game for the first time in twenty-one years. The 1999 team saw their dreams crushed by Newark 22-0 in the final.

Louie told his little brother to put things into perspective, “Joe stop feeling sorry for yourself, do you have any idea how lucky you are? At least you get a second chance, I didn’t, don’t waste it.”

Nine months later those talented juniors have become seniors as they find themselves at the dawn of a new season that begins with a road trip to McKean this Friday. This will be their last go round together, their last chance, their last stand in their quest for the brass ring. Louie Wright’s words echo and hang in the air, “You have a second chance, don’t waste it.”

I, along with my good friend and fellow writer, Charles Huester, had the pleasure of visiting the Wright house to do an interview with twelve members of the Spartan’s senior class. We ordered pizza, hung out, talked, laughed our butts off and generally got to know each other on a more personal level. They made us feel welcome and comfortable, like just another couple of guys hanging out in the locker room.

They’re a unique group of young men. I’ve always felt their appeal as a team comes from the fact that they emphasize teamwork. They have an abundance of talent at the skill positions, they’re confident in their abilities and they share the ball. When you watch them on the field they almost seem interchangeable, every time they make a big play it seems a different player is coming through.

For example, four different players had over 200 yards receiving last year and the two headed running back monster of Adam Blocker and Jon Heydt combine to keep defenses honest.

“It takes pressure off everybody,” said Wright of the team’s offensive depth. “We can come out and pass the lights out of the ball and if the defense drops back to cover the pass we can give it to these two (Blocker and Heydt) or Tim (Smith) for that matter. As a quarterback it’s really nice to have these kinds of weapons. I know if I’m in trouble I can just throw it up to anybody and they’ll go after it.”

What were their expectations for this season I asked? All the way around the room the answer was the same, from one Spartan to the next the response was identical. Anything short of the school’s first football title in 25 years will be a complete failure.

From quarterback Joe Wright to running backs Adam Blocker and Jon Heydt to wide receiver/defensive backs Tim Smith, Mark Lemon, John Pearl and Matt Byrne to linebacker/fullback Shane Malkin to linemen Nick Gland, Brian Willis, Jason Calderone and Big John Mitchell the answer was exactly the same. All or nothing.

This year’s senior class eagerly bears the cross of Spartan history. The School won three state titles between 1973 and 1978 but the trophy case has remained undisturbed ever since. They carry the hopes of every Spartan player, student, fan and coach, past, present and future. “I’d love to be able to look back and know we’ve done it,” said Smith.

Byrne believes the team needs to emulate the example set by last year’s seniors. “They really taught us how important it is to be able to rely on each other, it was all about teamwork.”

The class of 2002 included players like superb linemen Jim Petrucelli and Dave Franck, receiver Mike Falkenstein, linebacker Joe Walus and talented placekicker Dave Dickinson. The biggest loss was that of Petrucelli. Big Jim is playing college ball at Lehigh and he recently became one of just two freshman to be named to the traveling squad.

Replacing Petrucelli and Franck’s work ethic and on field presence is of paramount importance. Wright has missed time due to knee injuries in each of the last two seasons making pass protection a crucial concern. Joe says there’s no need for worry, “Brian, Nick, Jason and John are all great players and they’ll take care of it.”

“Right now, I’m just worried about McKean,” said Wright. “Last year we learned that you have to take it one game at a time.” That’s the formula they plan to follow in their quest to reach the mountaintop and plant the Spartan flag in the summit for the first time in a quarter century.

“We got our asses kicked by William Penn last year,” said Lemon. “We just tried to take anything positive from that defeat that we could. We learned that we have to work harder every week if we’re gonna take the next step, we have to strive to get better every single day.”

That determination manifested itself in grueling hours spent in the weight room and weekends spent away from family and girlfriends while attending summer football camps at places like Miami, Florida and Happy Valley, Pennsylvania. In the words of TE/DB Mark Lemon, “When you come so close to realizing a dream it makes you realize how badly you really want it.”

Smith feels the hard work has been paying off. “I think we’ve gotten a lot better, its surprised me how much we’ve improved, especially in the last two weeks.”

Twelve months ago they were somewhat unknown, just another team lying in the massive shadow that was cast by the Newark dynasty and their string of five consecutive Division I State Championships.

Then, in the third game of the season they downed Newark 19-14 under the lights of Baynard Stadium snapping the Yellowjackets historic 35 game winning streak. Suddenly, overnight, they became the talk of the town, a young exciting team with a talented junior class lead by star quarterback Joe Wright. The following week they knocked off William Penn 7-6 at Baynard Stadium and they were on their way.

They went on to defeat archrival Salesianum for the second consecutive year and Sussex Central in the first round of the playoffs before being grounded in a rematch with a greatly improved William Penn team in the final.

In one year they have gone from being the hunter to being the hunted. “We can’t worry about anyone else,” said linebacker Shane Malkin. “We have to focus on the job at hand and take care of business.”

The seniors are a close knit group. Wright, Heydt, Lemon and Byrne all began playing together at St. John’s when they were in grade school. Smith came in from Elkton, Maryland as a freshman, Blocker transferred in from Valley Forge Military Academy as a junior, Pearl moved to Delaware from California as a sophomore.

Wright, Heydt and Willis have all been on the Varsity team since they were freshman. Smith, Lemon, Malkin, Byrne, Calderone, Mitchell and Gland were stalwarts on an undefeated freshman team. Amazingly, the defense on that frosh unit didn’t allow a point all season.

They’re a diverse group of personalities and each has carved their own niche within the group.

Wright is the leader, a bundle of confidence and humility. Willis is the character with his infectious sense of humor and endless supply of energy. Malkin is the self described “nerd” with his 4.0 GPA and his sights set on attending the Naval Academy. Heydt is the silent assassin, a man of few words. Blocker is the tough guy who would just as soon run over you as go around you. Smith is the star baseball player who admits, “Absolutely nothing feels like a football game.” Lemon is the gritty utility player who personifies the team’s unselfish attitude. Gland is the intense competitor with fire in his eyes. Calderone is the big guy with the disarming smile. Mitchell is the loveable lug with a heart of gold. Byrne is the confident competitor with a look in his eye that says he knows something that you don’t and Pearl is the guy that sits back and quietly takes it all in.

They told funny stories, like the time they were supposed to paint the locker room and ended up painting each other instead or the time one of them hid behind a tree in an attempt to avoid a murderous preseason running drill when they were freshman.

They spoke of the respect they have for the coaching staff, particularly strength and conditioning coach Ron Smith. They told us of the gratitude they have for the support they receive from their families and the student body.

They are bound together by a love of this physically brutal game and the camaraderie it fosters between men who go to battle side by side each weekend in the fall. It’s a love for each other, a tough love, the kind where you know you can razz the guy sitting next to you in the locker room knowing he’ll simply razz you back with a smile on his face, laughing as much at himself as he is at you.

The kind of love that comes from tasting glory together and knowing that if your life were to someday flash before your eyes that these men you call your teammates today will play a starring role as it all races through your mind at a thousand miles per hour.

Whether or not they capture the brass ring, they have forged memories no one will ever be able to take from them as they continue to make their way down this wondrous road we call life.

These young men on a mission may not realize it yet, but they’ve already won.