ABOUT TOWN: Stoughton's Anastasi a Sophomore Sensation for Cardinal Spellman Football Team

Stoughton's Matt Anastasi was informed last week that he has been selected as a member of the Brockton Enterprise All Scholastic Football Team. The Cardinal Spellman High School sophomore proved why during his team's Thanksgiving Day game Wednesday night by running for more than 200 yards and two touchdowns in a 26-23 victory over Archbishop Williams.

This earned him the MVP of the game for Cardinal Spellman (6-4).  

Anastasi ran for 1,435 yards during the regular season and scored 10 touchdowns in an amazing year for a high school sophomore. He also added hundreds of offensive yards for his team in pass receiving, as well as returning kicks and punts.

More importantly, Anastasi has a 3.9 grade point average and will be inducted into the National Honor Society this coming Thursday, November 29.  

His Spellman Football Coach Ron St. George, told About Town, "For a sophomore, he’s had a tremendous season, with over [1,400] yards rushing. He's been our go-to guy. We have been to Gillette Stadium two years in a row. During those years, we won 24 games, and only lost the two Super Bowl games. This year, we only had two returning starters on both sides of the ball. Matt had an opportunity to start. He inherited the job, but established himself as one of the premiere backs in the region."

St. George continued, "He’s a confident mature kid for his age. He’s patient, reads blocks well, and can accelerate. He's not real big, but he’s fast and smart. A lot of exceptional skill kids are born with great vision and patience. He’s has the physical tangibles and the work ethic needed for success. He works hard, always working on strength training ,and acceleration."

"He’s excellent in the classroom as well - an honor roll student," his coach added. "We only played two seniors on both sides of the ball. Mostly juniors and a few sophomores started. As Matt goes, our offense goes. That’s a lot of pressure on a young man’s shoulders. Matt learned to play really early against older kids. We are happy to have him for two more years. We’re looking for even more good things from him."  

His dad, Len, is quite proud of Matt. He told me, "He has grown to be a very focused and driven young man. He wants to be the best in everything he does, but goes about it with an admirable level of humility. I feel that this will not only bring him success on the football field, but more importantly in school and in life. I'm proud to be able to say that he is my son. I only hope every parent gets to feel this way about their child for what they do and how they go about doing it."  

When called by this writer to talk about his season, Matt said, "I knew it was going to be tough, losing nine starters on offense and 10 on defense. But, we still had a great season, finishing 6-4. A few of those games we should have won, but our inexperience hurt us. Even as a sophomore, I had a lot of expectations to live up to, but the season was a lot of fun, and I couldn't have done it without my coach and my blockers. I had an exceptional season and hope to do even better next year."  

Here's hoping for even more success next year for this Stoughton kid!

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Happy Belated 22nd birthday to Stoughton High grad Evan Taylor, a former Hockomock League All-Star in football and basketball. He is a senior at Bridgewater State University.

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