By Mike Sidhly
NEFJ Correspondant
BROOKLINE – Early Tuesday afternoon, Dexter Southfield held their portion of the Massachusetts Showcase Day in front of college scouts from all across the nation.
Players were able to display their skills for 25+ schools as they took part in drills for about an hour, going through positional work, and general agility and speed drills as well. In total, 36 members of the team participated, ranging from eighth graders to juniors.
Dexter Southfield head coach Casey Day was prideful when talking about what makes his football program so good at preparing players for the next level.
“Our program is built first and foremost on hard work and character”, he said. ‘We’ve got a great locker room, we have guys that love to play football, we’ve got guys that love to prepare in the off-season. I’m a pretty lucky guy and we’re a lucky school to have the group of kids that we have, putting on our uniforms on Fridays and Saturdays in the fall.”
Junior quarterback Rory Funke is part of that culture and has already drawn interest from multiple big time programs, including an offer from Syracuse back on May 23rd of last year.
Funke knows what kind of player he is, and has a good understanding of the traits that help him stand out,
“I think my best attribute is my leadership, and competitive spirit, so I think I got to show that a little bit today.”
While Rory has been a part of the Dexter Southfield program for his entire high school career, ‘28 WR Anthony Wadland is just getting started after transferring from Malden Catholic. Wadland led the MIAA in receptions last year with 81, while putting up 1,400 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Anthony is ready to hit the ground running, and was excited to get some early work with his new teammates,
“It felt good, this was my first time with the guys” he said, “It’s looking really good, a lot of intensity with the guys. It was my first time meeting them. It’s looking good for the season coming up.”
Wadland definitely stood out on the field, with his superb rout running ability and big time catch radius drawing attention from coaches on the sideline.
Someone who also impressed was four-star junior Jeremiah Figaro, who has the rare dual threat ability of playing both wide receiver and edge rusher. Figaro has offers from over 15 division one programs and received another official offer from UNC after the conclusion of the Showcase.
Dexter Southfield finished with a 7-3 record last season, and are hoping to bring home their first NEPSAC Bowl Championship since 2021, but this day was all about guys getting looks for the next level.
