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10/20/2023 06:35 PMFootball has always been a game of inches, and the closest band of brothers who buckle down and focus in on the finite points of preparation are typically the ones who succeed. This fall, Bryce Malary is doing everything he can, both on an individual basis and for the collective betterment of his team, as a senior leader with the Hand football squad.
The Tigers’ two-way lineman actually grew up on a different shade of green, playing soccer in his youth before he was encouraged by his dad to switch from the pitch to the gridiron with football. After earning varsity time as a sophomore, Bryce is now a senior captain for a Hand squad that is flying high with a strong start to the 2023 season, having recently posted three-straight shutouts.
“With football, I love that sense of family; the guys around you are brothers, and I love how much the coaches care. There is also a great culture here with football in Madison, where the people take it seriously,” says Bryce. “The biggest thing for me has been the fundamentals of the game. Doing all the little things, like working on footwork and being quick to the ball, are big. Small details help win games.”
Bryce explains that the early exposure to that starting spotlight as a sophomore really influenced and shaped him for the better as he moved forward on his path with the pigskin. While he knows that linemen don’t herald similar praise to other skill positions, Bryce revels in the unsung hero role and the physicality that comes with manning the trenches.
“Things opened up for me after having no freshman year [due to the COVID-19 pandemic]. No freshman season affected how I adjusted to high school. But starting as a sophomore helped me play the way I do now because of the early training I received,” Bryce says. “I love playing on the line. It is so physical in the trenches. I love the hitting aspect of it. Linemen do not get too much recognition, and I do not think football would work as a game without the line, but I love the position.”
While relishing in the leadership role as a squad steward, Bryce notes that it’s a position he pined for since he was as young as he could remember after watching former greats of the turf at the Surf Club. Bryce’s desire to be a captain was further evidenced by the way he helped bring his peers together during the offseason.
“I love being captain. I love this team so much. I have always wanted to lead since I was little, and so it is a dream to be a Hand football team captain,” says Bryce. “Being captain has been amazing for me. We did a lot of important events as a team, and we became really close with each other, which has helped our success this year after spending time together in the preseason.”
After this year, Bryce will be nowhere near hanging up the cleats for good, as he’s committed to stay with football at Colby College in Waterville, Maine next fall. When it comes to the second half of the regular season for his current club at Hand, Bryce knows that getting the Tigers back on top with prominence in the form of a state crown is very much attainable, but that it must be achieved by climbing the mountain one layer at a time.
“I am going to Colby to continue playing football. I picked the school, because I feel like I can play good football there, have fun, and of course get a good education to get places in life,” Bryce says. “Our mentality this year is to not back down. We want a state title, but we are taking it one game at a time. Every game is a roadblock on our way to reaching our goal of a state title. We play each game like we would any other and like it’s a playoff game.”
Bryce has a softer side away from competition. Still, that should not fool anyone who steps up against him on either side of the ball at the line of scrimmage, according to Hand football Head Coach Erik Becker.
“Bryce is a three-year starter and is a great senior captain,” says Becker. “He is the heart of our team. He is a big, friendly teddy bear off the field. But he becomes a ferocious grizzly bear when he crosses the white line.”
In the early phases of his football career, Bryce garnered great life lessons regarding accountability and what it takes to be a well-respected and upstanding young adult. He maintains that as long as a person focuses on their tasks and obligations in front of them every single day, nothing is impossible and triumph is inevitable.
“I had a youth football coach that taught me a lot about what it means to be a man and being tough and helped make me the person I am now,” says Bryce. “I learned through football also that you have to just do your job and you will be fine. You just have to kick through and you will win.”