by:  Jack Wallace and James Coffey

Senior Michael (Mike) Heffernan is off to a running start and has no intentions of looking back. Mike Heffernan has been a resident of Westborough his entire life and is the second oldest of four children. Heffernan , or as his friends call him, Hefty, started off this senior year by earning a prestigious honor: being named one of four captains for the Westborough High School Varsity Football team.

Heffernan’s football career took off when he started playing for the third grade Westborough Red Devil Pop Warner team. Heffernan’s biggest inspiration both on and off the football field is his dad who used to play football himself. Mr. Heffernan was Heffernan’s coach starting at a young age and continued to mentor Heffernan throughout the duration of his youth football career. Heffernan’s dad has been one of the few people who have had the pleasure to watchHeffernan every step of the way and blossom into the athlete and young man he is today.

Heffernan set some lofty goals that he hopes his team and himself can live up to this season. He wants the team to improve from the past few seasons in the “wins column”. “I expect the team to end with at least a .500 record,” and based on the talented roster this year, Mike thinks that this goal can be achieved. “I think the most important [thing]…would have to be depth. We have a lot of weapons offensively and defensively that we can trust to make plays.” He also added, “Having a lot of players we can trust making plays on the field is great for confidence and allows the team to stay fresh on the field while still contributing the 100% effort that we expect.”

Heffernan also expects a lot from himself this year on the field. He is looking to push himself to the best of his ability and become a more well-rounded player, while improving on all aspects of his game. Heffernan wants to make sure his team does not get discouraged, but keeps working hard towards their next game. From the captain’s point of view, he said, “I’ve seen a lot of positive from the team.”

Despite an 0-2 start to the season, and a heart breaking under-the-lights loss to North Middlesex, Heffernan’s advice to the team is “to work as hard as we can to improve, and to compete in every game, and if we do that, the wins will come.” He is hoping to use his leadership skills and captain experience to inspire and lead the team to victory. Heffernan says the most rewarding part of his position as captain is, “being respected by his coaches and fellow teammates, which also gives [him] a great chance to improve [himself] and the team.”

In a year sure to provide Mike Heffernan many great memories, he is most looking forward to the Thanksgiving game between the Rangers and rival Algonquin Tomahawks. He is encouraging all WHS students to come out and support the team for the Thanksgiving game. Heffernan described the game as, “The atmosphere with that rivalry is amazing and the game really is a culmination of all the work we put in during the whole season, and I’d love to finish off beating Algonquin on our home turf.”

When he’s not on the turf, Heffernan stays active in the school by playing for the varsity basketball team during the winter. He has been a part of the team for the past two years and hopes to be one of the key contributors to the team this season. Balancing school work and playing sports is definitely a challenge for him, but it helps to improve his study habits. He is hoping that this will be his best academic year yet, because he plans to study hard while he’s not playing sports and to stay organized with his homework and assignments.

Heffernan’s hard work off the field has consequently led to him looking to apply to some schools this year such as: Stonehill, Assumption, Saint Anselm, Merrimack, Wesleyan, and Tufts. He would also love the opportunity to further his football career and make one of his childhood dreams come true by becoming a collegiate football player.

Mike Heffernan is a role model for Westborough High School. Whether it’s excelling in the classroom, singing in the chorus, or sprinting down the sideline on a kickoff return for a touchdown, Heffernan is starting to get used to the spotlight, and he’s sure to miss it come this spring when he graduates. However, in a response that embodies his personality, it’s not the fame or glory that comes with being a star athlete that he’ll miss the most: “I’ll probably miss the people here at WHS the most. I think we have a great community at the school, and I enjoy being around such great people on the field, in the classroom, and around town.”