Portsmouth High Football Player Bound for Massachusetts Maritime Academy

PORTSMOUTH, RI—Anthony Cottrell said this week he has signed up to play football at Massachusetts Maritime Academy. Anthony, a Portsmouth High senior, played center and middle linebacker for the Portsmouth Patriots.

"I was involved in every snap," he said. "I was the one who got it started."

Anthony punctuated his high school football career with a Division I state title. Celebrating that victory with his teammates was his favorite memory with the Patriots team.

"Honestly, my favorite part was getting to experience the championship with my brothers," he said. Although they're not his biological brothers, his teammates are family, he said.

He decided to continue his education at Massachusetts Maritime because he wants to go into the Coast Guard. But he does also want to play college football and has talked over his prospects with the new coaches.

"I got told I could be a great factor on the team," he said. Although he will have to earn his spot, he could see action in his freshman year.

Because Massachusetts Maritime is a Division III school, there's no football scholarship, he said, but he's picked the school for the academic program.

He hopes to become a marine engineer.

"I don't think I want to be in the reserves," he said. Right now, he's thinking he would like to be with the Coast Guard full-time and make it a career.