text: Face of the program: Gerry led Marshwood to state-title glory - *GJ_FOSTERS_SPORTS - fosters.com - Dover, NH
  Face of the program: Gerry led Marshwood to state-title glory
  Jan 29, 2015 at 3:15 AM Jan 29, 2015 at 11:13 AM
  SOUTH BERWICK, Maine — When Brett Gerry arrived for the James J. Fitzpatrick Trophy ceremony earlier this month, it was the only time the standout running back for the Marshwood High School football team felt like an underdog.
  "I was a Class B player, so going to the ceremony wasn't a big deal," Gerry said. "I figured I'd go and I wouldn't get it. But a bunch of people, my friends, family and community came and I won, and it was a special moment."
  In winning this year's Fitzy, Gerry became the first Marshwood player and first from the local area to win since Steve Knight in 1989, which was also the last year Marshwood won the state title (Class A) before Gerry's Hawks won the Class B crown in 2014.
  Gerry is Foster's Daily Democrat's football player of the year after helping lead the Hawks to a 12-0 record, winning every game save one by a large margin.
  "All season long, it was just the product of hard work," Gerry said. "We all put so much into this season the players, the coaches, the community. It wasn't surprising, but it felt so good to see the hard work pay off. We stuck to it every week."
  Gerry rushed for 2,263 yards and scored 32 touchdowns as a senior and averaged 12.3 yards per carry. He finished his career with 60 touchdowns.
  Of all of Gerry's carries this season, none were more important than two late in the regional championship game against rival York. With the Hawks clinging to a one-point lead, in possession of the ball and needing a first down to be able to take a knee and put the game on ice, Marshwood went to Gerry.
  "We had to get that first down," Gerry said. "We couldn't give the ball back to them. I got the ball a few times in a row, got five yards each time. I thought it kind of showed what we put into the season and how hard we had all worked."
  Marshwood took a 14-0 lead against the Wildcats (whom the Hawks had beaten 41-12 during the regular season). York rallied and would have tied the game if not for Zach Mitchell's block of a point-after attempt (it was the second time in three years a Marshwood win over York in the regional final was decided by a failed conversion).
  It was a situation neither Gerry nor the Hawks had been in all season, having won their first two tournament games by a combined score of 114-0.
  "I think earlier in the game we just weren't focused," Gerry said. "We thought we'd walk out and kill them again. They got those big scores back to back, then we got our heads together. We said, 'let's show them who the better team is.'"
  Gerry said "pretty much everyone" on the team blocked for him on those running plays.
  "Jackson (Howarth) opened up the hole," Gerry said. "I got the ball behind him. It was a power play. Just put your head down, get as many yards as you can."
  "It was a no-brainer," Marshwood coach Alex Rotsko said. "We expected Brett go get that first down. It's nice to have someone in that situation you can depend on. We hadn't been in a situation like that all year, but we did a great job on that last drive."
  Winning the Class B state title with a 44-18 win over Brunswick was sweet redemption for Gerry and the Hawks, who lost in the 2012 state title game (44-42 to Mt. Blue) when Gerry was a sophomore. Gerry, who rushed for 275 yards and two touchdowns in the state title game, said he thought the Hawks underachieved in 2013, his junior year.
  "Two years ago that season was just surreal," Gerry said. "We went from 2-6 (in Class A in 2011) to being in the title game. That year gave us kind of an identity. We knew we could compete and thought we were the team to beat the next year, but we didn't play like it. We thought everyone would bow down to us and that didn't happen. This year, we knew we had to work for it."
  To say that hard work has paid off would be an understatement. Now Gerry has his sights set on a fourth straight Class A state wrestling team title and a third individual title (he's a two-time state champion at 182 pounds). Next year he will take his talent to Hyde School in Bath, Maine, for a postgraduate year and figure out what sport, wrestling or football he would like to focus on in college.
  "We'll see how that goes," said Gerry, who said he is considering an athletic-training major in college. "But that's the benefit of going to Hyde."