Thanks Guy: LeGraw did it all for Nashua North football

Note: Thanks Guy is a feature we like to do at Thanksgiving to recognize players from the Nashua North and South football teams who were unsung heroes during their senior season.

Shane LeGraw didn't start playing football until he was in eighth grade, but in those five seasons, he made up for any lost time by playing all over the field.

For a while, he was a quarterback. Other times, he was a tight end. This year, he was a little bit of everything for the Nashua High School North football team.

"I play all around," LeGraw said. "I guess my main title would be outside linebacker, and I may move from a defensive end to a safety. On offense, I play receiver and fullback and running back, and I long snap, too. They like to give me breaks on offense and special teams, but I'd play every single down if I could."

LeGraw has been a guy first-year coach Dante Laurendi can rely on no matter where he puts the senior.

"He's not looking for his stats, he's going to do the best he can wherever you put him at because he knows it's for the good of the team," Laurendi said. "If you put him at blocking back, he's not going to complain he's not carrying the ball. Move him to receiver, and he might only catch a ball or two a game. Every time we move him to a spot, he ends up making a big play for us in one of those spots."

All that bouncing around paid off this season for LeGraw, and for the Titans, as they made the postseason for the first time since 2010. It's the first time this group of seniors experienced a winning campaign, and for LeGraw, it was about time.

"I think if we didn't win, I might have gone crazy, and I think I speak for most of the seniors," he said. "We've been working hard the last four years and we've had a couple of tough breaks the last few years. It's good that it happened. I'll remember this year when I think of high school football and I'm glad for that."

North got off to a slow start this season, dropping two of its first three games, and then fell behind in the first half of its fourth game against Nashua South. But during that halftime, LeGraw saw things start to turn around.

"We struggled in the beginning, especially going from the straight-T to the spread," he said. "It was an adjustment we had to make. It took three and a half games to find our identity.

"If we had been in the system for three years, and been able to progress as an offense, we probably would have done better this year. We took the coaching. The coaches were great. We made such a huge turnaround and I thank the coaches for that."

And the coaches have been thankful for LeGraw's willingness to do whatever it takes to stay on the field.

"I don't care what position I play," he said. "I just want to win and do whatever Coach Laurendi asks of me. That's our senior class. We're versatile kids, we like to fly around and hit people and make plays.

"I think, especially as time goes by, as we reflect on the season, this is probably going to be a huge turning point for Nashua North. Next year, they're going to get better, and I take some pride on that, that I was here in the first year when made a turnaround."