Big things in store for Hingham's Spencer Cassell

When you're the size of someone like Spencer Cassell, Pop Warner at an early age can actually be a detriment to your health.

“All the way through, I’d have to lose 10-15 pounds to make those weight limits,” said Casell, who is headed into his senior year at Hingham High. “So, one year I’d have to lose, like, 10-15 pounds to be able to play, so I’d starve myself during the week. On Sundays, after the games, my parents would take me out and let me eat as much as I wanted. But then, that next year, I wouldn’t be able to play.”

Thankfully, now Cassell can eat as much as he wants, and he’s been chewing up opponents for the Harbormen since his freshman year.

It wasn’t all bad in Pop Warner. He played fullback and middle linebacker, and he even remembers the name of a play that sprung him free on a 60-yard touchdown against Taunton.

“It was a Fake Rocket 24 Trap,” he said.

Cassell began to lift in the seventh grade, even though he knew it would put weight on his frame. He did not play his eighth grade season.

“I think it was in the seventh grade I started to get the fundamentals (of lifting) down,” Cassell said. “So that way, as an eighth grader going into high school, I was definitely putting up a lot more weight than maybe some sophomores (and rising juniors), because my dad did a lot of research, talked to a lot of people, and didn’t really buy into the ‘stunts your growth’ thing by lifting. It was all just basic stuff, a lot of just getting foundation, which a lot of players and kids an parents wait too long to get into it.”

If lifting stunts your growth, then it didn't work on Cassell, who is 6-foot-6, 245 pounds, and hopes to be at 250 by the time this season starts.

When he reached high school, Cassell's coach, Chris Arouca — who left this offseason to take over the job at his alma mater of Marshfield High — set a high standard for the players in the latter's first year at Hingham.

“He was giving opportunities to kids who deserved it,” Cassell said of Arouca. “Promoting the ‘Above the Line’ mentality, championship culture, weight room guys, that type of stuff.”

His role on the field was a little different than it will be this year under new coach Jim Connor, who did an excellent reclamation project at Norwell.

"So, under Arouca, I was a little bit more split out, used as a big wide receiver with minimal inside blocking, between-the-hashes route-running schemes, which I think is probably going to be my strength in Connor's pro-style offense he's implementing," Cassell said. "I'll also be able to get involved in a lot of the blocking schemes, power. I'll also be able to come down on double-teams on those tackles. I'm really looking forward to it."

A coaching transition can sometimes be difficult on players, but Cassell respects Connor’s approach.

“He’s come in, he’s set a standard, but he hasn’t gotten too overly involved yet,” Cassell said. “He’s let us take the leadership on and build around him, and I think that’s really going to help once everyone gets to camp. I think we’re just all going to rally around him, and everyone’s going to buy in. He’s clearly an experienced guy and knows what he’s doing, because I really respect the way he’s come in and handled it so far.”

His football recruitment did not come about in a traditional fashion, because, as is the case with just about every Hingham athlete, he's an excellent lacrosse player, too.

"I actually had a (lacrosse) scholarship offer from (the University of Vermont) my sophomore year," Cassell said. "It kind of started then, and then I was talking to a bunch of schools for lacrosse, but figured I just wanted to play football."

When he made that decision, it paid off pretty quickly.

"So going into my junior year, I visited with a few schools that summer," he said. "Went into the season, played pretty well, had a bunch of schools come through in the spring. Got a few Ivy League offers, Georgetown, Brown, Cornell. Rice came through and gave me an offer, too. Kind of through the summer I hit a couple of camps."

And although he recently made a verbal commitment to Harvard, that has not stopped everyone else from keeping close tabs.

"I'm still on the board with some schools. I've been contacted in the spring by some other big schools," he said. "Took a visit to (the University of Virginia). I was talking to Rutgers, (a Scarlet Knights recruiter) came and saw coach Connor. . . . Maryland is still talking to me, because I don't think they really care about the commitment. UConn was pretty close to offering, as well.

"So I was definitely talking to some higher-tier schools, too, which I was also letting Harvard and some of the Ivy Leagues know. But, ultimately, I really want to go to the best school possible and play a high level of football. I think when I got that offer and I was talking to coach (Tim) Murphy, it just all sank in. I just knew. It was a no-brainer for my family and us."

Now, Cassell wants to concentrate on taking Hingham to the next level. The Harbormen went 8-3 in 2017 with two losses to Patriot League power Duxbury, which has won 10 straight league titles and five state championships/regional Super Bowls since 2005.

The entire Division 3 South field is treacherous, but Csssell is excited to finish his high school career on a high note.

"I'm pumped, because you always hear 'Senior year, senior year, senior year' when you're growing up, and you're always looking up to those guys when you're an underclassman," he said. "It's really our team this year. Our senior class, it's what we're going to make of it, how we're going to push our other teammates. And we're all just pumped to get out on the field and start working because time's gonna fly by, and this is going to be our last shot at high school football."

If that last shot includes a state title, Cassell will have earned his next pig-out session.