A look back at Brendan Fennell’s MHS legacy
Published May 7, 2021
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—In the four years that he has laced up as a Red Raider at Melrose High, senior Brendan Fennell has crafted a resume that any high school athlete could dream of.
It’s difficult to know where to begin. For starters, Fennell helped bring Melrose to a Super Bowl victory, first taking reigns as quarterback in the 2018 season and just the next year led the Red Raiders to a undefeated 12-0 season that culminated in a Div. 4 Super Bowl title. The adaptable quarterback (owner of 10 total MHS letters) was just as good at running for touchdowns as he was at throwing them. At Gillette Stadium he ran for 110 yards and a touchdown and threw for another in Melrose’s 28-13 win over Plymouth South.
Fennell, a three-year letterman in football, just finished his last season a few weeks ago against Stoneham, in a perfect 6-0 season in which Fennell passed for 837 yards and 11 touchdowns and ran for 230 yards with 4 rushing touchdowns. It’s worth noting that under his quarterback duties, Melrose never lost a game; a 21-game winning streak dating back to 2018 that Fennell can take credit for.
Where Brendan Fennell goes, league titles follow. His junior year was simply astounding. Hockey put him on an extended radar statewide. In that junior year, he broke the Melrose High point record with 135 points and finished his senior year with a total of 164 points, a new record. He became the league’s Most Valuable Player two years straight during his junior and senior years, and this winter led Melrose to their first league title in many years. The two-time Boston Herald All-Scholastic and Boston Globe All Scholastic managed to pull off 13 goals, 16 assists for 29 points in just 10 games during this abbreviated winter season. He was named to the Boston Herald Dream Team for hockey just this past season. For his efforts, Fennell will continue his hockey career in a post-graduate year at Avon Old Farms.
On to lacrosse, where Fennell became a league All Star for two seasons and will now lead the team this late spring as captain for his final act at MHS. Though COVID-19 erased his junior lacrosse season, Fennell will wrap up with a lacrosse season that starts this week.
For fun, Fennell played on the MHS golf tam last fall, taking advantage of a 4 season MIAA calendar that allowed him to serve as a rare, four-sport athlete in one academic year. Of course, Fennell was good at golf as well and earned a league All Star nod. He helped the team go undefeated and earn a league title.
Let’s face it—the kid has a Midas Touch. And he’s an athlete that the private schools would have loved to have stolen from MHS. He’s even talented at broadcasting. Just this winter he and senior Frank Capaldo were the voice of MHS boys and girls basketball. Their play calls became must see television.
Son of Leo and Maryellen Fennell of Melrose, and sister to Michael, Shay and Siobhan, Fennell began playing sports young: hockey at four, T-Ball at the Incarnation, lacrosse and Pop Warner football at age seven and golf at Mount Hood at five. It was Brendan’s deep-rooted connection to the city that led him to stay and make his mark at Melrose High. This is a kid who simply loves Melrose. Was there ever a doubt he’d play for the Red Raiders?
“Going into freshman year private school was an option,” Fennell admits. “But growing up and going to MHS football games and hockey games definitely made my decision easy to stay at Melrose. I knew MHS was the place for me, all I have ever wanted to do was to play for the Raiders.”
His football coach at Melrose High, Tim Morris, is a long time admirer. “Brendan is a throwback player. A real gritty competitor. He started as quarterback in 2018 and we never lost again,” he says. “He was more than a quarterback for us. He never stepped off the field this year, played both sides of the ball. And he was just as good on defense for us, with a tremendous amount of tackling. He is a real student of the game. He knows offense, studies film. It might sound like a cliché but it’s like having another coach out there.”
One thing that was important to the entire Red Raider football team was to return to play in front of fans this year as reigning Super Bowl Champs. Thanks to the formation of the Fall 2 season, Melrose was able to do that. In their 6-0 league champion season, they did not disappoint. Says Fennell, “It was very important to move the season to the spring after such a successful year in 2019, and we got it done. This was a new team with a great group of guys we had something to prove and we definitely proved it. Winning the Super Bowl was a dream for me. It is what I have worked for all these years.”
Without a doubt, it is that epic win that ranks above all other personal sport memories for Fennell at Melrose High. Says #12, “There is no question, it was winning the Super Bowl at Gillette last year.”
Ultimately it was hockey that drew Fennell’s interest for college continuation. This year his Red Raiders won the Middlesex League title for the first time in decades. It’s no coincidence it was done under their senior captains’ watch. Fennell is known for skating skills that far surpass his league counterparts. Thus, hockey has also been uniquely special to him. “I chose hockey because I believe my future is the brightest in hockey,” he says. “Playing for MHS was awesome in such a competitive league and playing for Coach Mirasolo was unbelievable. It was great to win the league this year for the first time in years.”
MHS hockey coach Vin Mirsaslo returns the kind words. He said of Fennell this winter, “His skills are high end and his leadership is second to none. Brendan’s been out there, throwing the hardest back checks. He’s just a difference maker—a great player who sees the ice as good as anyone. In my 25 years of coaching, he’s one of the few select kids I’d consider an elite player. He’s going to play such high level of hockey no matter where he goes.”
Charlie Haggerty has played wing-man role in Fennell’s life
Without a doubt, Melrose High School senior Charlie Haggerty as served as a proverbial wingman to Fennell over the years both on and off the field and ice. Since their early days in pre-school, the best friends have walked the Long Red Line together, dating all the way back to learning hockey at The Mighty Ducks at Hockey Town. Both share a passion for hockey and football, and, thanks to the creation of the Fall 2 season, this year offered the duo a unique opportunity to try a fourth varsity sport: varsity golf. Both excelled and helped carry an already-strong Red Raider squad to a league title. With hockey teammates Quinn McCarthy and Will Pierce already on board, it was one of the strongest MHS teams in years.
Haggerty, grandson of Melrose High and UNH hockey legend Dick Umile, has hockey in his blood so it’s not surprising he earned four letters for the Red Raiders and was a first line standout this year. He’s off to UNH too, where his grandpa coached hockey for 29 years. “He definitely had a huge amount of impact on my hockey career,” Haggerty, 18, says of his grandfather. “I’ve been playing hockey pretty much my whole life. I was born into a big hockey family.”
Like Fennell, it meant everything to get varsity sport seasons in during this unusual senior year. “It felt amazing. Even though our season was shortened, we were just grateful we got a chance to play. I’ll be able to look back on the season as a great memory during crazy times.” Haggerty also had an outstanding senior season in football, becoming Fennell’s favorite receiver for 525 yards on 16 receptions and numerous touchdowns.
Having his best bud Fennell next to him on this unique journey has meant a lot. Both Super Bowl champion football players could have left the halls of Melrose High for prestigious private schools—like many high school hockey athletes—but Red Raider pride meant something to both.
“It’s been unbelievable to have the chemistry me and Charlie had,” notes Fennell. “Whether it was on the ice or field, we always knew where the other was. It’s been a dream to play alongside one of my closest friends.”
Says Haggerty, “Brendan and I both have families that love the city and grew up enjoying and watching MHS sports. I think knowing that one day that we could be playing those sports and representing Melrose was a big part of attending MHS.”
Between competing in Div. 1 hockey, multiple post-season runs and a Super Bowl win, sounds like both senior athletes made the right choice.
The future is wide open for both athletes. For Fennell, his future will include hockey. As the next adventure awaits, Fennell looks fondly back at his time at Melrose High. He’d have likely killed it in any sport he played in high school, so what’s the one sport he might have taken up that time didn’t allow?
“Baseball,” he replies. “I played through 7th grade and I had to make the choice between baseball and lacrosse. As for basketball, I’ve always just played pick-up games at the Common and the school gyms.” (Although judging by knowledgable MHS basketball broadcast, you wouldn’t know that.)
The future business/communication major has many folks to thank for his prolific high school sport career. “There are too many to name,” Fennell says. “All the coaches and players I have played with these 4 years and all the players who came before me who I’ve learned so much from. I want to thank my parents for all they have done for me over the years.”
His advice for kids in Melrose who want to be successful multi-sport athletes like him? “Put the work in and be the hardest working kid on the field, court or ice, and when you are in season be totally dedicated to that specific sport,” says Fennell. “I have always played multiple sports, football, hockey, lacrosse and golf. I believe playing different sports makes you a better all-around athlete, both mentally and physically.”
But there is always one more game ahead to look forward to for this senior. Right now it’s all about lacrosse. One more title to win for Melrose High. Why not?
“I’m excited to get back on the lacrosse field,” says Fennell. “We’re an extremely hard working team. We have a group of experienced seniors and a great group of underclassmen which hopefully makes us a tough out in the tournament.”
