Hudson High football team receives national award for 'culture of kindness'

Hudson High football team receives national award for ‘culture of kindness’

Posted by author February 27, 2025 Football

Spread the love

HUDSON – The work they performed locally has gone national.

During lunch period Thursday at Hudson High, an extra treat appeared on the menu. Students pulled on olive green T-shirts and stepped up to take on the harder-than-it-looks two-minute bar hang challenge.

Burly football players repeatedly walked away from the bar wringing their hands and shaking their heads, although Treson Meuse came the closest, falling just a second short.

The Army was in town – and not just to recruit.

Hudson High’s football team was recognized as one of 10 schools across the nation as an On3/Army National Guard Team of the Year. The acknowledgement went beyond the team’s 13-0 record and Division 6 state championship in December. The Guard took note of how the Hawk program “built an extraordinary culture of kindness and community commitment.”

“It’s honestly a dream come true,” said senior Garrett Giorgio, whose interception sealed Hudson’s 21-14 victory over Fairhaven at Gillette Stadium. “Being recognized nationally is probably the craziest thing I’ve ever experienced in my life.”

The Hawks’ acts of kindness over the past 18 months include: visiting Marlborough 12-year-old Dominic Matos after he was the victim of a hit-and-run crash while riding his bicycle in August of 2023; wearing “SM” stickers on their helmets during last fall’s Thanksgiving game in honor of rival Marlborough coach Sean Mahoney, who missed the game due to health concerns; and the rotation of wearing the No. 6 in honor of senior Logan Luz, whose season ended after one play.

Luz was at Thursday’s ceremony – no longer wearing a brace or hobbling along with the use of crutches – and is set to return as a sprinter for spring track.

During a break in the bar-hang challenge, former Tennessee football player Grant Frerking from On3 Sports unfurled a black banner that included: The Next Greatest Generation Teams of the Year Hudson High School. Hudson coach Zac Attaway accepted a glass award to the sound of applause and said a few words to the lunchtime crowd.

“One of 10 teams in the country? That’s unbelievable stuff and it’s a testament to these guys and the coaching staff,” Attaway said after the ceremony.

Hurricane relief, Make-A-Wish donation among Teams of the Year

Hudson is stop No. 7 on the On3/Army National Guard’s Next Greatest Generation Tour. The tour started Feb. 4 in Asheville, North Carolina, where the football team was recognized for how they mobilized to support that city after Tropical Storm Helene. Other stops included a recognition of the football team in Apalachee, Georgia, following its response to the death of an assistant football coach; and Flagstaff, Arizona, to recognize wide receiver Stephen Dick’s battle with a brain tumor. Dick’s parents enrolled him in the Make-A-Wish Foundation, but Stephen did not embark on a bucket-list trip; he used his wish to donate 55 helmets to the football team.

Frerking said the tour’s next stop is Peru, New York.

Hudson senior Natalie Rufo Costa was recognized Thursday for her inclusion into the National Guard.

Hudson team ‘built on brotherhood and family’

Four days after winning the Super Bowl, the Hawks were honored during a rolling rally along Main Street downtown at the annual Holiday Stroll. On Feb. 4 at halftime of a basketball game against Clinton, a Super Bowl banner was unveiled in the Hudson High gymnasium.

Thursday’s event only added to the surreal aftermath of a season that will be remembered as the gold standard for the program.

“I never thought our names would be recognized even outside the town of Hudson,” Giorgio said, “but being recognized throughout the whole country is actually insane.”

Two days before the Hawks played in the state championship game, Attaway gathered nine players from Hudson’s 1991 Super Bowl-winning team to address the team after practice. The 2024 team may be the ones making inspirational speeches to future Hawks when another big game approaches.

Remaining a tight unit will suffice for Giorgio.

“This whole team was built around friendly relationships, brotherhood and family,” he said. “I think 30 years down the road we’ll still be getting lunch together. Doing special things like that (winning a Super Bowl), it will always stick with you the rest of your life. That’s the best part about sports in general: how it builds those relationships.”

Tim Dumas is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached at tdumas@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimDumas.