WESTWOOD — When Jon Mould got here to Xaverian, he was a hockey and baseball participant. At 6-foot-6, lots of people ask if he performs basketball.
So much has modified since he was a freshman. But now, unequivocally, Mould is a soccer participant, via and thru. And he’s a fairly darned good one.
The 290-pounder has began on the Hawks’ offensive line yearly for the reason that Fall II season. Along the best way, packages like Pittsburgh, Syracuse, UMass, and a number of Football Championship Subdivision packages provided him a scholarship.
In the tip, he made a verbal dedication to Harvard, as he was pursued by nearly each Ivy League program. And Xaverian coach Al Fornaro is blissful to have the massive man again on Clapboardtree Street for his senior season.
“First time I saw him, we had open house (at Xaverian), (Mould) walked right by the football table and right to the hockey table,” Fornaro mentioned. “I go, ‘OK.’ He ran with us in the summer (Xaverian has workouts open to every sport). I never pressured him. I spoke to the dad. The dad said, ‘This is what he does.’ You always have multiple sign-ups. In the summer, in running, you noticed for a young man with size, he had very good footwork.”
That footwork has remained a continuing in what Mould excels at. There are massive males everywhere in the nation who’re close to Mould’s stature. What separates him from them is his capacity to maneuver with fluidity and explosiveness. College coaches everywhere in the nation who courted his signature all agree that the footwork Fornaro seen years in the past is what makes Mould actually particular.
“They pushed me in that direction (to play football),” Mould mentioned of these summer time exercises. “I respected those seniors who were originally there. It was a really great experience. That’s kind of why I started playing football: those guys.”
So Mould got here out as a freshman, and Fornaro mentioned Mould’s expertise in a sport with a helmet that has hitting — hockey — was a profit, not a detriment.
“The physicality part, once he learned technique was much easier that someone who had never done it before,” Fornaro mentioned. “We’re not as sophisticated as people think. You’ll have a man on your head. You’ll have inside or outside help in double-teaming that dude. So as soon as he was taught how to run block and how to pass block … Obviously, he’s a very smart student. He’s a 4.4 or a 4.5 (grade-point average), but he’s also a smart athlete. There’s a huge difference in those things. But he’s a smart athlete. It came quickly to him.”
As Mould turned a starter on the offensive line, he moved round a little bit. Mould has expertise beginning each at guard and at sort out. This fall, he would be the beginning left sort out. That versatility ought to assist him as soon as he joins the Crimson.
“I thought that dream of being a hockey player was still there probably sophomore year,” Mould mentioned. “But after that, I was starting to get reps on varsity (football). I started on varsity (football) as a sophomore because Covid hit. So we played in the spring. I think once I started then, I was like, ‘OK, I’m ready. This is my thing now.’ I love this. That’s when I made that transition from that mindset to a football mindset.”
And Mould appears locked in to try to assist the Hawks compete in each the Catholic Conference and the Div. 1 playoffs, but on the similar time sounds pumped for Harvard.
“I want to finish senior year strong and focus on senior year,” Mould mentioned, “but I am very excited for the next year, too.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com