As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, USA TODAY Sports will celebrate the 250 greatest American sports figures of all time. Alongside that national recognition, the USA TODAY Network will spotlight the roots of the country’s sports culture: the high school athletes and sports figures who shaped communities and defined their states.
That's no easy task, which is why we need help from our readers. As we embark on a deep dive at the South Coast's best high school football players, we're asking for our readers to make their voices heard by voting for the best player from the area of all time. The coverage area includes The Taunton Daily Gazette, The Standard-Times and The Herald News.
We'll get started with football, but girls and boys basketball will be soon to follow in upcoming weeks. Votes must be cast online.
Megna, a graduate of 1994, was an all-star lineman at Durfee. He landed a scholarship to the University of Richmond where he became a two-time Division 1-AA all-American. Drafted in the sixth round of the 1999 draft by the New York Jets. Megna also played with the New England Patriots and Cincinnati Bengals. He enjoyed a four-year career as a rush end for the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League.
During his junior and senior years, Andrews rushed for over 100 yards per game with some games of 200 yards or more. He hit paydirt 26 times and ran away with the state scoring championship (155) in 1948. Andrews had 97 points as a junior.
Todman ended his high school career with a school-record 73 touchdowns and was the state’s second all-time leading rusher with a total of 5,830 yards. He had 250 all-purpose yards and 3 touchdowns in an overtime loss to Everett in the 2007 Division I Super Bowl. Todman set school records for career touchdowns, touchdowns in a single season and touchdowns in a single game in addition to rushing yards in a career, season and single game. After being named an All-American and Big East Player of the Year at UConn, Todman was a sixth-round pick of the Chargers before becoming an NFL journeyman, playing seven years with eight different teams.
Goodine rushed for more than 1,000 yards in both his junior and senior years, and scored a school-record 27 touchdowns in back-to-back regular seasons to power the Whalers to a pair of state titles in 1993 and 1994. He finished his career as the Whalers’ all-time touchdown leader with 70. He also owns the single-game mark with six TDs. Goodine was named the 1994 Otto Graham Achievement Award winner and the Massachusetts Gatorade Player of the Year. He went on to play one year at both the University of New Hampshire and UMass Dartmouth before an injury ended his college career.
Gordon was a force to be reckoned with at running back for the Tigers, setting the program's all-time records for touchdowns (49) and rushing yards (over 4,200). As a junior, he set the program's single season records for rushing yards (2,121 yards) and touchdowns (25) and was awarded the 2006 Otto Graham Award after his senior season.
A standout on both the gridiron and the court for the Trojans in the mid-90s, Colombo was an imposing physical presence at offensive tackle who helped lead B-R to the 1996 Division 1 Super Bowl. A multi-time Enterprise and Taunton Daily Gazette All-Scholastic, he went on to play at Boston College and was selected 29th overall by the Chicago Bears in the 2002 NFL Draft and spent nine seasons in the league between the Bears, Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins. After serving as an offensive line coach with the Cowboys and New York Giants, he currently serves as co-offensive coordinator for the Orlando Storm of the UFL.
Marques became the all-time career touchdown leader in Massachusetts with 110 TDs and powered Fairhaven to back-to-back Super Bowl appearances, including winning the 2023 Div. 6 state championship. He had 1,907 rushing yards and 42 touchdowns as a senior to finish his career with 5,514 rushing yards and 110 touchdowns. He owns Fairhaven’s single-game, single-season and career touchdown records.
Cooper led Wareham to a perfect 10-0 regular season and a victory over Bishop Feehan in the 1995 Super Bowl to cap the best record in school history with 6 rushing touchdowns and 7 passing in addition to being the area's top linebacker. In 1996, Cooper had 10 rushing TDs and 6 passing as Wareham went 9-2. After playing at the University of Maine, Copper went on to enjoy a successful career in the NFL as the starting linebacker for the San Diego Chargers. Cooper was also a standout in basketball as a two-time Standard-Times Boys Basketball Player of the Year and Wareham’s all-time leading scorer at the time.
Watkins was an All-State fullback for the Whalers in the late 1940s and early 1950s. In 1949, he scored 19 touchdowns for 114 points to finish second among the leading scorers in Eastern Massachusetts. Watkins enjoyed a brilliant career at Ohio State as the Buckeyes’ all-time rushing leader with more than 1,800 yards. He helped Ohio State to a perfect 10-0 record and the National Championship in 1954. He played three years with the Chicago Bears and one with the Chicago Cardinals. He had 1,058 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns over his NFL career.
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Who is the greatest high school football player from the South Coast?