Steven Guerrette tried other sports. The Bow High senior still plays some of them. But his true athletic passion, the sport he fell in love with at first sight, the one he wants to play in college, is football.
The day he got his first full set of football pads, third-grade Guerrette put on all the gear just to walk around the house. He was one of the kids playing football behind the endzone at Bow High, watching the varsity team take the field from their meeting place in the woods and dreaming about making that walk someday.
Now, the kids in Bow can dream about walking in Guerrette’s shoes.
This fall, the 6-foot-3, 190-pound Guerrette ran for 1,311 yards and 21 touchdowns, led the Falcons in tackles from his safety spot and boomed punts on the few occasions Bow needed to punt. He helped the Falcons to a 9-0 regular season and the Division II semifinals, where No. 1 Bow was upset by No. 5 Hollis Brookline. Still, Guerrette was an easy choice to repeat as a First Team D-II North running back and he was also a unanimous choice as the D-II North Player of the Year, as well as being the Monitor Football Player of the Season.
“When I put his name forward at the all-state coaches meeting, it took about 15 seconds for everyone to say aye. It was very quick,” Bow coach Paul Cohen said. “They all said he’s probably one of the best players I’ve ever seen and boy am I glad he’s graduating.
“He truly is the complete package. It’s very rare, and I’ve been coaching 30 years, that you see a player that is exceptional on defense, on offense and on special teams.”
Asked where Guerrette was most valuable, Cohen couldn’t pick.
“It was everything, really. Clearly he was critical to our defense (which gave up 9.0 points per game) because he was a very smart player and always knew what he needed to do and what everyone around him needed to do,” Cohen said. “But if you gave him the ball on offense, he was like Larry Csonka of old. I know I’m dating myself, but (Guerrette) was a punishing runner like that. He always did whatever it took to get the extra yard, his legs were always driving.”
Asked what position was his favorite, Guerrette couldn’t pick.
“I just love football, so both sides of the ball are equally as fun,” Guerrette said. “The best thing would be getting a big stop on defense and then the next play getting into the end zone on the other side.”
When he first fell in love with the sport back in third grade, Guerrette didn’t even get to touch the ball. His first position was guard, and then he moved to center. He became a running back and middle linebacker in middle school, but he moved to tight end and cornerback as a freshman in high school.
Guerrette started his sophomore season as a do-it-all reserve, backing up at tight end, running back, safety and linebacker, not to mention handling the place kicking duties. By the end of that season, he was a starting outside linebacker and caught a touchdown pass in the 2017 D-II championship game at the University of New Hampshire’s Wildcat Stadium, a 27-8 loss to Plymouth.
Playing all over the field prepared Guerrette to take over as Bow’s safety last season.
“I like being able to see the entire field, and since I played all those positions I knows what’s going on on both sides of the ball,” Guerrette said. “I really just like being the general back there.”
Which is exactly what coaches want to hear.
“As a junior he came into his own and was really commanding a big chunk of the defense. He and my inside backers ran the defense. I told them what I wanted and they took care of it,” Cohen said.
As good as he was as a junior, Guerrette was even better this season.
“The coaches were asking me, ‘Did he get faster? Did he get bigger? Did he get better?’ Yes to all of the above,” Cohen said. “He’s a dedicated three-sport athlete (basketball, baseball and football), but he also puts his time in running and in the weight room and everything else he could do for football in terms of conditioning.”
Despite all the tackles, touchdowns and accolades, Guerrette remains humble. Which is something else coaches want.
“Obviously Steven was a huge part in our offense this past season. But the things that don’t show up in the stat sheet was Stevens willingness to be a lead blocker or a decoy,” Bow offensive coordinator Bob Polish said. “The team-first mentality that Steve showed is what we as coaches love to see and it is what helps make us successful as a team. He was a great leader both on and off the field.”
Guerrette wasn’t the only Falcon who put team first. Other talented seniors like Andrew Berube, Chris Wheeler, Sebastian Beaulieu and Thomas Rolla were constantly encouraging and supporting their teammates, even if the game was in hand and those teammates were just mopping up. But there’s no doubt Guerrette’s humility played a big role in that team-wide attitude.
“These kids had a chemistry that you don’t often get,” Cohen said. “Even though Steven was the big name, he never let that get to his head. It was always the team, it was always the linemen, it was always the defense in general, and that really struck me.”
(Tim O’Sullivan can be reached at 369-3341 or tosullivan@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @timosullivan20)