There have been some great high school football games and even greater players over the years who have called the South Shore their home. But of all the amazing talent we have seen on the football field, which player can rightfully be called the best of the best?
That is a great debate for any day and we would like to know what our readers think. After some exhaustive research, we narrowed down an originally long list to what we consider to be the top 10 high school football players ever to play on the South Shore.
So, who you got? Cast a vote for your favorite candidate. Voting is unlimited.
McAfee was great on both sides of the football as a defensive end and a tight end. He led Brockton High to victory in the first MIAA Super Bowl back in 1971. McAfee went on to three selections as All-American while playing for the University of Notre Dame. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1996. Drafted seventh overall in 1978 by the San Francisco 49ers, he played two seasons with the team, catching 46 passes for 471 yards and five touchdowns. His father, Ken McAfee Sr., was also a professional football player.
An outstanding defensive end and defensive tackle, the Quincy native played football at the University of Holy Cross. After starting in the AFL with the Washington Redskins, Dee moved on to play eight seasons with the Boston Patriots. He was one of the first players signed by Boston and was a gridiron ironman, starting 112 consecutive games. Dee was a four-time AFL All-Star and was selected for the Patriots all-decade team for the 1960’s. Dee was inducted into the New England Patriots Hall of Fame in 1993 and had his No. 89 retired by the team.
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Bessette helped B-R to a Division 1 MIAA Super Bowl win over Brockton High in 1999. He had a 1,758-yard, 28 touchdown senior season. Overall, he rushed for 5,034 yards and scored 75 touchdowns during a three-year run when the Trojans made it to the Super Bowl each time. Bessette was named the Gatorade Massachusetts High School Player of The Year after his senior season and as of 2018 he was still in the top 10 for career rushing yards in Massachusetts history. He started for two years at strong safety for Boston College and was a part of three Bowl-winning Eagle teams.
McMurtry starred at Brockton High and then went on to be a standout receiver for Michigan University, catching 111 passes for 2,163 yards and 15 touchdowns for the Wolverines. He played five seasons in the NFL for New England, Los Angeles Rams, Chicago and then Washington. He caught 128 passes for 1,631 yards and five touchdowns in 67 NFL games. McMurtry was also an outstanding baseball player and was taken in the 1986 MLB draft by the Boston Red Sox in the first round (14th overall) but turned down the offer to attend Michigan.
A 6-foot-5, 305-pound offensive tackle from Brockton, Okunlola is believed to be the first five-star recruit from Massachusetts. Nicknamed the "Pancake Honcho" for his ability to flatten defenders, he signed with the University of Miami after receiving more than 50 D-1 offers, including ones from Alabama, Florida, and Michigan State. As a senior at Thayer Academy, Okunlola received the Darren Gallup ISL league MVP, All-NEPSAC Player of the Year honors and was an Adidas All-American selection. Okunlola, who saw action in all of the Hurricanes' 16 games this past season, will enter his junior year in the fall with a total of 28 career appearances and one start. He was on the field at left guard for both of Mark Fletcher's TD runs in the national championship game loss to Indiana.
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The two-time Patriot Ledger All-Scholastic was named the Massachusetts Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior after hauling in 49 passes for 702 yards and 11 touchdowns while contributing defensively at linebacker with 57 tackles, four sacks, and three interceptions. He owns nearly all of Marshfield’s receiving records, including the program career record for receiving yards (2,002), receptions (135), and touchdown receptions (23). He was one of the stars of the famed 2014 Marshfield High team that, only two years after going 0-11, finished 12-1 (losing only to Div. 1 BC High), won the Div. 2 EMass Super Bowl and was named The Patriot Ledger/Enterprise’s Football Team of the Decade for the 2010’s.
A standout guard in both the AFL and NFL, he was an AFL All-Star/NFL Pro Bowler for nine consecutive seasons beginning in 1964. In 1970 he was named to the All-Time All-AFL Second Team. He spent his first 11 seasons with the Chargers, who made him the No. 2 overall pick of the 1963 AFL draft. He started 167 games overall. At Cohasset High he was a running back on the school's undefeated 1957 team. He also was named to Syracuse University's All-Century Team with the likes of Jim Brown, Larry Csonka and Art Monk. Sweeney, who died in 2013, wrote "Off Guard," a memoir of his playing days that included allegations that teams forced players to take performance-enhancing drugs.
After a distinguished career as a flanker-split end at Quincy High, Colclough went on to play at Boston College. After one season with Montreal of the Canadian Football league, he then signed with the Boston Patriots for their inaugural AFL season in 1960 where he played for nine seasons. Chosen for the AFL All-Star team in 1962, Colclough was named to the Patriots’ All-1960’s team. During his career he caught 283 passes for 5,001 yards and 39 touchdowns.
A first-round draft pick by the Seattle Seahawks in 1996 (No. 21 overall), the 6-5 former Boston College star (All-Big East as a junior and senior) wound up starting 188 games at guard across 13 seasons for the Seahawks, Cardinals, Jets and Redskins (now the Commanders). His son Drew was a fifth-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2025 NFL draft after also playing at BC. He was the Gatorade Player of the Year for Mass. in 1990.
Maimaron took over as Duxbury’s starting QB three games into his freshman season. A two-time Patriot League MVP, his career stats include 8,157 yards passing, 122 passing TDs (he graduated as the state's all-time leader in that department), 2,397 yards rushing, and 32 rushing TDs. As a senior he threw for 2,621 yards, 40 TDs (against just 3 INTs) while also rushing for 878 yards and 14 TDs. He led Duxbury (12-1) to the Div. 2 state championship in 2016 and was named Massachusetts Gatorade Player of the Year. He became an all-time great at Div. III Williams College; he had 20 TD passes and just 2 INTs as a junior. As a freshman he famously rushed 33 times for 133 yards and scored four TDs, including the 11-yard winner in overtime, as Williams beat visiting Amherst, 31-24, in the 132nd edition of the "Biggest Little Game in America" to snap a six-year losing streak in the rivalry.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Who is the greatest high school football player from the South Shore?