Mike Petito’s primary job is to protect others, which seems to run in his family.
As a left tackle for the Gloucester Catholic High School football team, Petito is counted on to protect his freshman quarterback’s vulnerable blindside each time he goes back to pass.
“I’ve always been a lineman,” said Petito, a junior from Woodbury Heights who tips the scales at 6-foot-2, 265 pounds. “I just love the team aspect of football. I like being with my brothers and getting to play hard against the other team.”
He also loves being around his actual brother, although it’s been some time. Daniel Petito is an officer in the U.S. Army who just completed his first deployment in Afghanistan about a month ago. Daniel, a 2015 Gloucester Catholic graduate, recently returned safely to the United States, but has yet to come home to New Jersey, where his family anxiously awaits.
“It was tough not having him around, because I would see him every single day,” Mike Petito said. “And I didn’t get to see him for nine months. It was great when he got back, but we didn’t get to really talk to him much. But at least we know he’s safe.”
Petito is considering following in his brother’s footsteps by joining the Reserve Officers Training Corps in a couple of years while attending college and playing football at the next level.
“My brother did ROTC,” Petito said. “I look up to my brother. We like a lot of similar things, so I think I would like that, too.”
Petito also follows his older brother’s footsteps in football, although they played different positions. Being about seven years apart in age, they never played on the same field. But certain traits were common, said Gloucester Catholic football coach Casey Murphy.
“Anything you want players to do as far as doing it the right way, they understand it,” he said.
Now in his eighth year as head coach, Murphy is undergoing a rebuild in some ways, as he has only four seniors on his roster. It has made juniors like Petito that much more important toward the goal of instilling a winning attitude. The results haven’t been there on the field just yet as the Rams started the season 0-2. But a full slate of games this fall gives the team plenty of time to right the ship.
“[Petito] is a guy they can follow,” Murphy said. “Football seems more important to him, more than anyone else. He’s going to stick it out and keep doing things because he loves being out here and he loves the game. He just needs to help the other guys do the right thing and not get sidetracked. It’s hard for guys to stay focused when you lose, but he will keep them in line.”
Petito was voted a captain by his teammates. It’s a title that usually goes to seniors.
“It was a great honor,” said Petito, who also plays basketball for the Rams. “I understand that these guys respect me. And since they voted for me, I have to make sure that I do whatever I can for them.”
That includes looking after his teammates. Freshman quarterback Troy Walker needs time to adjust to the high school level, and Petito will rally the troops and try to keep him out of harm’s way.
“We just have to come out and hit more and be more aggressive,” Petito said. “We still have 10 more games. We can turn this around fast.”
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