Scott Macdonell and his stay in Exeter

Une expérience inoubliable dans un Prep School américain

Nous vous avions présenté en 2009 l'histoire de Scott J. Macdonell, un athlète qui a excellé tant au football à titre de quart avec les Warriors de Loyola qu'au basketball, et qui avait même été membre de l'équipe d'étoiles de basketball du GMAA en 2007, alors qu'il avait complété sa première saison avec le Big Red de l'institution Phillips Exeter Academy située dans le New Hampshire, à près de cinq heures de route du campus de Loyola de Montréal et une heure au nord de Boston.

Maintenant que son séjour à Exeter tire à sa fin, l'année scolaire se terminant dans deux mois (juin), nous avons décidé de contacter Scott afin qu'il nous livre ses impressions sur ses deux années passées chez nos voisins du Sud. Avec un physique de 6'4" et 210 lbs, disons que le polyvalent numéro 7 du Big Red a eu l'occasion d'être employé both ways. Du même coup, nous lui avons demandé ce qu'il adviendra de lui une fois gradué de cette institution. Afin de ne pas perdre le sens exact de ses commentaires, nous avons choisi de publier le tout en anglais, sous forme de Questions/Réponses.

Footbec - After your time at Loyola, what prompted you to decided to try your luck south of the border? Was it in order to draw attention from the universities over there, for the academic part, for the experience, etc? And why choose Exeter?

Scott Macdonell - I always wanted the option to attend University in the US, I figured my best chance would be via Prep School. The States seemed like the best choice for me academically and athletically, so I began to apply. At first I wanted to try Hotchkiss and Phillips Exeter (PEA), over time I realized I really wanted PEA so I just rolled the dice and went with them. A big reason for this was because a friend’s dad, Dan Fournier, who attended Loyola, had also gone to Phillips Exeter, he helped me tremendously with Loyola so I figured his old Prep school might also be a good place to try my luck. After visiting for the first time I knew it was right for me, when I got the notice that I was accepted I re-visited to experience what a day at the school was like, that clinched it for me. Being one of the best academic schools around, with an equally great football program, I was fortunate that we were also able to agree on acceptable financial terms, the cost of Prep schools is pretty steep.

Fbc - Now that you'll be moving on after the school year (June), looking back on the two-year experience, how would you describe it? What did you like most, and maybe like the least?

SM - Looking back the experience has been nearly perfect from a football sense and it has probably been the most challenging two years of my life in terms of how hard I worked on and off the field. If I could go back and change any of it I wouldn’t because it has taught me so much about working hard and the type of person I am. Even though last season I only played on a regular basis half way through the season, those first few games on the sidelines taught me some things I needed to learn about the game and the new positions I was getting ready to play. This year a perfect season, and an ending like we had, was a fantastic crowning to my senior year, and although we didn’t throw much I loved blocking for our main guy Alex Scyocurka, our QB, Danny Guadagnoli, was always on the mark with his passes, especially when throwing to me. This football season would be what I liked the most. What I liked the least was the break between junior and senior football years, long and a rather arduous process.

Fbc - Relive your final game for us. Thoughts on having a perfect season crossed your mind before or during the game? How was the atmosphere at the game? What's it like to win the big game, as well as your final game at this level?

SM - Our last game was riveting, from the 24 second drive to tie the game just before half to our last TD on 4 th and goal to get us to OT. We ran our 2 points play for the first time this season, it got us the six. Then the biggest play of the game a pick-6 by my teammate Evan Sequeira (Montreal boy) to give us the Championship. He ran the INT back 81 yards, amazing. Being out there in overtime, running down the field behind Evan, being able to celebrate with all our other teammates was terrific. For an away game on a neutral field that was the most fans we’d had since the Andover game, the atmosphere was pretty crazy. To win a game of that importance, my senior year, tops pretty much any sport experience I’ve had up to now.

Fbc - Did you appreciate playing at this level? How competitive is it?

SM - I really appreciated playing Prep School ball, because it is one of the more competitive leagues in all of New England. I knew that it could compare to certain CEGEP levels, possibly not all but it was very competitive, especially when playing against guys like Dion Lewis, now considered one of the best freshman in big time Div. 1 College football, at Pittsburgh he ran all over teams in the Big East. When you get to go up against kids that have the potential to play in the NFL it confirms the strength of the NEPSAC league.


Read and react: Scott realizing that it's a flip to the RB and making the play to prevent the opposition from getting into the end zone

Fbc - On the team in '08 and '09, any other teammates from La Belle Province during that time?

SM - We had several Quebec boys on our teams both years actually, all of them from the greater Montreal region. Matt Kendrick (currently at Queens), Ryan Egger, Evan Sequeira, Sean Coleman, Jon Mancini, Simon Allan and Jason “Brownie” Brown.

Fbc - Since football is a religion in the US, how is it to be playing in front of so many adoring fans, which is not the same here in Quebec since hockey attracts more interest here? Is it intimidating or do you get so focused during each game that you actually don't realize it? SM - Football in New England is bigger than in Quebec but not crazy big. It was neat to play in front of large crowds at both Andover games and on a weekly basis this year, our home games usually brought out decent sized crowds, maybe because we were so successful. I now realize that no matter the size it’s just another game, my buddies actually joke around that the bigger the crowd the better I play, because in the ‘08 Andover game I had two interceptions and a fumble recovery. Small or big crowds, there’s always people watching so I feel the same once I’m on the field. Of course it’s fun to play in front of the crowds at Exeter clearly way more yelling & screaming than when I was back home at Loyola. Fbc - Having played as a QB in Quebec with Loyola, was it hard to adjust to other positions and did you enjoy it? Which positions you actually played during that time in Exeter? SM - It wasn’t too difficult to adjust to a different position, because I always tried to study all aspects of the game so when they began to switch me around I was able to adapt pretty easily. At Exeter I played wide receiver and corner back. Playing QB for a few years helped me understand what opposite quarterbacks were thinking so I could read them defensively and try to anticipate or, on offence, I sensed when to change my route. As much as I missed playing Quarterback, I loved playing DB and WR and even lined up as a TE a few times, I enjoyed it all.
Scott's fan club cheering

Fbc - Since football is a religion in the US, how is it to be playing in front of so many adoring fans, which is not the same here in Quebec since hockey attracts more interest here? Is it intimidating or do you get so focused during each game that you actually don't realize it?

SM - Football in New England is bigger than in Quebec but not crazy big. It was neat to play in front of large crowds at both Andover games and on a weekly basis this year, our home games usually brought out decent sized crowds, maybe because we were so successful. I now realize that no matter the size it’s just another game, my buddies actually joke around that the bigger the crowd the better I play, because in the ‘08 Andover game I had two interceptions and a fumble recovery. Small or big crowds, there’s always people watching so I feel the same once I’m on the field. Of course it’s fun to play in front of the crowds at Exeter clearly way more yelling & screaming than when I was back home at Loyola.

Fbc - Having played as a QB in Quebec with Loyola, was it hard to adjust to other positions and did you enjoy it? Which positions you actually played during that time in Exeter?

SM - It wasn’t too difficult to adjust to a different position, because I always tried to study all aspects of the game so when they began to switch me around I was able to adapt pretty easily. At Exeter I played wide receiver and corner back. Playing QB for a few years helped me understand what opposite quarterbacks were thinking so I could read them defensively and try to anticipate or, on offence, I sensed when to change my route. As much as I missed playing Quarterback, I loved playing DB and WR and even lined up as a TE a few times, I enjoyed it all.

Scott's fan club cheering

Fbc - What lies ahead for 2010 after Exeter for you? Which universities are you interested in, or have shown interest in you?

SM - In terms of what lies ahead for me after Exeter, hopefully I can go on to college football. Where? I am not sure yet, but I’m open to pretty much everything. My list includes two great Canadian schools, (McGill & Queen’s), certain New England small colleges (NESCAC), one Ivy League school, one D-1 football program, one other D-1 (AA) school and D-3 schools in New York & Vermont. Most of the schools I’m considering have recruited me but a couple I might end up trying to walk on at (Notre-Dame has always been a dream).

Voilà donc l'expérience vue de la perspective de Scott J. Macdonell. Footbec lui souhaite lla meilleure des chances dans la poursuite de son cheminement académique, que ce soit ici au Québec, en Ontario ou aux États-Unis. Nous remercions Scott ainsi que son père John pour leur temps accordé à Footbec pour la réalisation de cet article (texte et photos). Nous vous invitons également à consulter le vidéo de ses highlights préparé par First Scout Productions.

Vous pouvez également consulter l'article publié en 2009 sur Scott J. Macdonell:

http://www.footbec.com/2009_Reportage_Scott_Macdonell_Exeter.htm