Biography

With a roster full of young, talented underclassmen, the 1979 Shamrock football season was filled with optimism. The one missing piece was a quarterback, and Coach O’Boy found one in junior Mike DiPietro. At 5’8”, 145 pounds, Di Pietro was a competent ball handler, good passer, and a strong and decisive leader.

Feehan opened with 14-6 loss to a strong North Attleboro team, but more importantly, they lost star running back Manny Perry to a season ending knee injury.

Without a running threat, the offensive responsibility fell upon DiPietro who rallied Feehan to its first victory with an 18-12 victory over Seekonk, a game in which he completed 10 of 15 passes for 115 yards.

Inexperience, resulted in some tough early losses and the Shamrocks headed into the Attleboro game at 1-3-1. Di Pietro’s leadership and passing was the spark that led Feehan to a 14--6 victory. A week later against Case, DiPietro scored an early touchdown, completed 5 of 7 passes for 57 yards to ignite a 4 th period come-from-behind 18-14 victory.

DiPietro’s stock continued to rise, when he completed 8 of 17 passes for 116 yards and scored the winning touchdown to beat New Bedford Voke (12-8), but a disappointing 7-6 Thanksgiving Day loss to Stang, a game in which DiPietro scored Feehan’s lone touchdown and completed 8 of 14 passes in the second half.

It was the fall of 1980, however that established DiPietro as one of the premier quarterbacks in the Southeastern Massachusetts Athletic Conference. Against a strong North team, DiPietro led the Shamrocks to a stunning 4 th quarter 14-13victory.

The next week, DiPietro’s 37 yd TD to HB Mark Gaboury was the difference in a 21-17 victory over Old Rochester. His 3 touchdown passes powered Feehan over Dighton Rehoboth (27-7). Then Feehan rolled to its 4 th victory dismantling Attleboro (28-10) when Mike completed 8-9 passes to lead Feehan.

Standing at 4-1, the Shamrocks suffered a last-minute loss to Bourne (24-21) a game in which DiPietro was 14—23, 189 yards. The following week, DiPietro suffered a sprained knee against Case and the Shamrocks struggled in a (25-13) loss.

Displaying grit, toughness and true senior leadership, a DiPietro returned to lead Feehan to 3 successive victories: over Coyle (28-0), (where he accounted for 4 TD’s, one running and 3 passing); over Seekonk (28-6), (when he ran for 42 yards on 5 carries,) and Stang (35-0) (when he completed 7 of 8 passes for 93 yards and 2 touchdowns). In those final 3 games, Feehan outscored their opponents 91-6. Feehan finished with a commendable 7-3 record.

As a tribute to his leadership, and passing skill, (60 completions in 86 attempts, for 69% accuracy for 729 yards and 6 TD’s), Mike was selected as a unanimous 1 st team Sun Chronicle and EAC All-Star.

In summarizing Mike’s contributions, Coach O’Boy stated, “Mike was not only talented, he had the ability to lead…, and his personality and sense of humor could lighten up a tiring practice.”