On Friday night, Drake Maye quickly became the center of attention at halftime and into the third quarter during one of the best Massachusetts high school football games of the year.

Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel confirmed that other players were also in attendance for Catholic Memorial and Xaverian, but Maye was the only one brave enough to head down on the field for everyone to see.

Maye showed up unexpectedly and quickly caused quite a stir as kids rushed up to a thin rope on the track, trying to get an autograph or selfie down in the far right corner of one end zone. Once things settled down a bit, Maye chatted with some youngsters, posed for a few pictures and dished out some fist bumps. Otherwise, he just watched the game while standing next to his wife and chatting with a police officer and an administrator or two.

At one point, he sidled up next to me and simply asked about some of the offers both quarterbacks had, seeming genuinely curious about the landscape of high school ball in his new home state.

Maye departed just before the start of the fourth quarter – a wild one that saw Xaverian win on a field goal with no time left – and received rockstar like roars and ‘MVP! MVP! MVP!’ chants. He waved and purposely took the long route to show his appreciation, instead of easily sneaking out of the same entrance he came in.

True face of the franchise type of stuff.

He kept up with how things finished in the game too.

“I was impressed. I was impressed. I think two good teams, it was a great game. It ended up on a game-winning field goal and was impressed with the crowd,” Maye said during his weekly Monday interview on WEEI Afternoons. “It was great to get back into high school sports and take a look back and it reminded me of my days in high school, so it was fun to go out there and watch.”

In the same interview, Maye also touched on the fairly frantic scene when he first arrived.

“It wasn’t too bad,” Maye said. “A few fist bumps and selfies, it was cool.”

So, does he think Massachusetts high school football can stand up with North Carolina high school football?

“I think that’d be interesting. I think that’d be interesting. You know, Charlotte football and North Carolina football is a little bit slept on in my opinion. But, I was impressed up here. I think it’d be some good games.”

Drake was also asked about why he chose to go on Friday night by Mike Reiss following the win over Tennessee on Sunday.

“Yeah, I heard it was a big game in the local area. Two state champions playing and just trying to support and brings me back to those days when I was playing,” he said. “It’s pretty cool to see them out there and I guess there was a bunch of Patriots fans, so it was a pretty good crowd. So, good game.”

Maye could have stayed home for a quiet Friday night with the wife just hours before a flight to Tennessee on Saturday. Instead, the biggest star on the team right now chose to show his face on one of the bigger stages Massachusetts high school football had to offer this season. He didn’t hide out. He embraced everything that now comes with walking into any room, field or arena.

He’s not Tom Brady, but the New England Patriots absolutely, positively have ‘the next guy’ on and off the field for a long, long time.