Jozokos headed to Hall
March 8, 2009
By John Vellante, Globe Staff
It was the third game of the season and Massachusetts Maritime Academy senior quarterback David Jozokos was having a miserable outing. At halftime, the Lowell High product had already thrown three interceptions and Buccaneers were trailing UMass-Dartmouth by two touchdowns. When he opened the second half with another pick, this one returned for a touchdown, coach Don Ruggeri had seen enough.
Ruggeri yanked Jozokos and replaced him with his younger brother, Deron, a sophomore transfer from Plymouth State. On his first two possessions, the younger Jozokos drove the Bucs down the field and passed for touchdowns. Mass. Maritime eventually lost, 24-21, but Jozokos wound up passing for 180 yards and the two TDs. David Jozokos never played quarterback again. The position belonged to Deron, launching a Hall of Fame career in Buzzards Bay.
Deron Jozokos went on to complete 254 passes for 3,456 yards and 25 touchdowns, and be named the New England Football Conference Offensive Player of the Year in 1995.
Those numbers will earn him induction into the school's athletic hall of fame in June, when he and four others will be enshrined in on-campus ceremonies.
"I was stunned when [Ruggeri] told me to replace David," recalled Deron. "Let me tell you, it was tough emotionally to do that. I mean, this was my older brother and the starting quarterback. My thought was that I'd mop up and David would start again the next game. He was very excited for me at what I accomplished and after the game, went to the coach and told him I deserved to start. He told the coach I was the quarterback of the future and that he'd step aside. I couldn't believe he was doing that for me.
"I remember crying at my locker. I felt like I had stabbed him in the back. I felt horrible. David took me aside and told me to embrace the moment and to do everything I could with the chance. I told him I felt like I was stealing his job. He told me to get over it. It was a life lesson for me. I took it to heart"
David and Deron were just two of four football-playing Jozokos brothers who starred at Lowell. The others were James and Jesse. At one point, all four were at the high school together. Deron still holds the single-season passing record with 1,200 yards.
At 5-feet-10 inches and 185 pounds, Deron Jozokos considered himself a Doug Flutie-type quarterback. "I could scramble and make things happen and I had a pretty strong arm and could throw on the run and out of the pocket. We ran a lot of rollout and play action," he said.
After graduating from Lowell, he went to Plymouth State, where, he admits, it was "to play football and ski." But he wanted to play with David and after a year transferred to Mass. Maritime, graduating in 1998. He now lives in Sunrise, Fla., with his wife, Christina, and 20-month old daughter, Riley. He works as an applications engineer for Ludeca Inc.
David Jozokos, who still lives in Lowell, is extremely proud of his brother.
"I knew Deron was a lot more talented than I was and didn't want to stand in his way. I mean I wasn't a bad quarterback, not as bad as I showed [against UMass-Dartmouth], but he was better. His selection to the Hall of Fame proves that."
Also slated for induction with Deron Jozokos is Mike Kelley, of Milford, an All-ECAC receiver, who holds the Massachusetts Maritime career record with 121 receptions and 1,634 yards. Many of those catches and yards came on passes thrown by Jozokos during the 1996 and 1997 seasons.
"He always put the ball right where you could catch it and it was always a spiral," said Kelley. "He knew when to throw it soft and when to zip it in there. He was, no doubt, the best quarterback I ever played with."