McCarthy back for Framingham State

October 10, 2010

By Marvin Pave, Globe Correspondent

James McCarthy is back on the football field at Framingham State College, catching passes and making plays. It’s been quite a journey for the junior wide receiver from Newton.

He was sidelined most of his senior season at Newton North High in 2005 because of an injury, and then took up lacrosse after enrolling at the University of Massachusetts Boston, which doesn’t field a football team.

Still, McCarthy said, he knew in his heart that football would be a part of his future.

And after his transfer to Framingham State, the future arrived.

McCarthy set three program records last weekend in the team’s 48-20 victory over visiting Massachusetts Maritime, in this season’s homecoming game for the Rams.

The 5-foot-10, 195-pound McCarthy hauled in a game-high 14 catches, five for touchdowns, and racked up a career-high 212 receiving yards, establishing new single-game standards for touchdowns, touchdown receptions, and points, with 30.

It was quite a breakout performance after he missed the first two games of the season with a hand injury. He had seven catches for 146 yards in his debut against Salve Regina, and four more receptions for 56 yards while playing just one half against Bridgewater State two weekends ago.

“But last weekend, he came back with a vengeance,’’ said Framingham State head coach Tom Kelley, whose 4-1 Rams played yesterday at Fitchburg State.’’

McCarthy, who had a touchdown catch in each of his first two games, said the team’s spread offense, the crisp passing of senior quarterback Kurt Leone, the work of the offensive line and being in one-on-on coverage all factored into what he called “definitely a surreal day. But I still feel I have a lot more to prove. After missing our first two games, I want to let the league know I’m back.’’

He is the second member of his family to play football at Framingham State. His uncle, George Claflin, was a three-year letter winner at defensive back, and a member of the 6-4 team in 1986 that holds the school record for wins.

Claflin and McCarthy’s father, Tom, are patrolmen with the Newton Police Department and graduates of Newton North.

“James had tough luck with injuries in high school, but his desire to play was never in question,’’ said Claflin, an Ashland resident. “I knew Tom Kelley when I played at Framingham State and had great respect for him, and when James was ready to go back to school, I encouraged him to look at Framingham and I talked to Tom about him. James needed to get a foot in the door and play again and I couldn’t be happier for him. The team he’s playing on this year is similar to the ’86 team. He’s surrounded by some very good players and that’s contributed to his success.’’

Kelley poked a little fun at himself when discussing McCarthy’s arrival.

“Genius that I am, I put him at cornerback’’ as a freshman, said Kelley, “and I knew he wasn’t thrilled to be there, but he still had a pretty good year. Then I got even smarter and moved him to offense last year, and he led the conference in receiving.’’

McCarthy, whose younger brother, Ryan, is standout junior linebacker at Merrimack College, had three interceptions and 34 tackles while playing cornerback. Last fall, he caught 60 passes for 705 yards and three touchdowns; going into yesterday’s game he had 25 catches for 414 yards and seven TDs.

But McCarthy, a member of Newton North’s Division 1A Super Bowl runner-up squad his senior year, said he would be happy to trade all the impressive stats for a New England Football Conference title after going 5-5 the last two seasons.

“We were also 4-1 last year at this time,’’ he said, “so it’s time to find out if we’re contenders or pretenders.’’

He remains close to his brother and three other former Newton North football teammates playing college football — Jason Riffe (Bryant), Eddie Vachon (Stonehill) and Anthony Ambrosi (Cornell).

“We still work out together,’’ he said. “And we’re always pushing and supporting one another, especially on game day.’’