By Christopher Tremblay

 Beginning his football career many years ago when he played flag football while in kindergarten, Norwood’s Sean Steeves is finally going to get his chance to start at quarterback for the Mustangs. He found himself as the team’s back-up quarterback last fall; the individual standing in his way? His brother.

“I went out and worked my butt off,” Steeves said. “At one-point last year, I actually thought that I had a chance to beat him (Joey) out as the starter, but he managed to hold on.”

Despite being on the sideline when the offense took to the field, the Steeves’ brothers continuously did things together to not only prepare for the upcoming game, but push one another to be a better quarterback. Now that his brother has moved on from Norwood High School, the younger brother, now a senior, will get to guide the Mustangs on the gridiron.

As he takes the reins from his older brother, Steeves would not only like to qualify for the tournament, he would also like to be named the Tri-Valley league MVP.

“This year, Norwood has a lot of inexperienced kids on the team, and I am hoping that we come together as a group and earn a home playoff game,” Steeves said. “Individually, I would like to win the TVL MVP, but while that would be nice, it’s more important to win a playoff game, something Norwood hasn’t done in a long time.”

In order to accomplish that goal, Steeves will need to come in each week with a chip on his shoulder and work as hard as he possibly can. The first year starting varsity quarterback says winning a playoff game would be huge for the school as well as himself, as it was something that his brother Joey wasn’t able to accomplish while at Norwood. Last year, Norwood earned the 16 seed in the MIAA State Football Division 3 Tournament and fell to Marblehead, the number one seed and eventual Champion, 21-7.

Mustang Coach Manny Lopes likes what he has seen thus far out of his new signal caller. 

“He is an extension of the coaches and does everything right,” Lopes said. “He makes sure the rest of the team, which consists of a lot of younger faces, know what’s going on and why. This year, we are looking for someone to become the voice of the team and he has taken over that responsibility.”

In the early days of football, Steeves, who also plays baseball for the Mustangs, was a middle linebacker, as he described, ‘he was a chubby kid.’ Around the third or fourth grade, he made the transition to quarterback. Again, the reasoning was his older brother moved up leaving a vacancy at the position and he decided to try it out and found that he really liked being in charge. 

Upon entering high school, he was the freshman quarterback his first year and continued to play behind center as a sophomore for the junior varsity squad. However, when he made the varsity team, he encountered his brother blocking his path to playing quarterback. So while being his brother’s back-up on the offensive side of the ball, Steeves was getting ready to play defense for Norwood as well.

“The decision to play cornerback last year was half and half,” Steeves said. “The coaches thought that it fit my personality and skill set and I just wanted to get onto the field and contribute.”

Lopes noted that the then junior came in last fall and earned his spot on the defense. 

“He stayed in the background, studied the game and came in ready,” Lopes said. “He was not on anyone’s radar last season, we knew of him, but didn’t know what he could be. He was competitive and eventually won the starting job at cornerback.”

After earning the starting cornerback position, Steeves went on to start every single game for the Mustangs last year, while still being the back-up quarterback to his brother.

Steeves definitely remembers his first varsity start at cornerback.

“My first game was against Stoughton, and I was a little surprised that I had three interceptions that game,” Steeves said. “My confidence was flying high, and I thought, I can get used to this and wanted to get even better.”

As a quarterback, Steeves noted that he likes to improvise on plays, such as scrambling and looking downfield for a big connection, but he knows that if he’s going to be successful, these are things he can’t be doing on a regular basis. 

“My decision making is probably my biggest weakness and I try not to do too much on one play,” the Norwood quarterback said. “My dad told me that I should take it one play at a time, and by watching film I realized that I could take the short passes with success instead of going for the homerun every time.”

This year will be Steeves first and only year starting for the Norwood varsity team, and at this point he is unsure if he’ll play football in college. 

“I’m hoping to go to college, but I’m not sure if I want to play football there,” Steeves said. “I really don’t want to base my school choice on a sport.”