Going Toe-To-Toe With The Boys

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Linebacker Quinn Cronin takes down a Sleepy Hollow runner (photo by Ben Epple)

October 4, 2025

By Tom Pedulla–

Several teammates on the Dobbs Ferry football team for seventh and eighth graders tested Quinn Cronin by racing her before a recent practice at Gould Park. None came close to beating her. One boy tried so hard he stumbled and fell in the final strides. The display of speed by a 12-year-old with a blonde ponytail underscored something her teammates and opponents already knew. The girl’s got game.

The 5′ 3″, 115-pound Cronin has played tackle football since she was a third-grader. Her high level of play on offense and defense is not so much about making a point as it is about enjoying a sport that is so important to her. “I love football because it’s a team sport,” she said. “It teaches you confidence, leadership. Every player needs to contribute to do well.”

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Now a running back and outside linebacker, she filled a need at quarterback last season and accounted for nine touchdowns either running or throwing. She is again one of her team’s top offensive threats while being a stalwart on defense. She quickly credits an offensive line that features guard Bryn Lee, center Alex Martinez and tackle Benji Rubio and said of the thrill of scoring, “It feels like I’m on top of the world. The other team doesn’t expect a girl to play, matter of fact score. So when I do, it’s proving them wrong.”

As for the contact in a sport known for some heavy hits, she got used to that long ago thanks to her rough-housing older brother, J.C. Mazziotti, a sophomore football player at Dobbs Ferry High School. “I like tackling and being tackled,” Cronin said. “I have an older brother, so I think I’m kind of used to it.”

Unwavering support from her parents, Kelli Cronin and John Mazziotti, helps. Kelli is used to seeing her daughter absorb as many big tackles as she delivers. “They are pretty rough, but she’s used to it,” her mother said. “She’s just a rough girl.”

She also has the backing of her father, an assistant coach on the team. “She is so passionate about it,” he noted. “She works so hard and she’s very strong, so I know she can handle it.”

Cronin has had some of the same teammates for many years. She is anything but a distraction to them. Simply put, she fits. “She’s not only a teammate, she’s one of my closest friends,” Lee said. “We’re happy to have her on the team.”

Sturdy defensive tackle Connor McGahran said it did “not at all” feel odd to play beside her. He praised her as one of the team leaders who prefers to show the way by example but is not afraid to speak up. “When she has to, she does,” McGahran said.

Everyone applauds her team-first attitude. “First and foremost, she really is the all-time teammate. She is the first one to pick a teammate off the ground, the first one to give a teammate a high five,” said head coach Brandon Brailsford. “Not only that, she truly is the ultimate competitor.”

Cronin is zealous in her desire for competition. The Dobbs Ferry Middle School seventh grader is a member of boys and girls basketball teams in the winter. She also swims competitively. Since she currently competes in a youth football league that has weight limits, the huge question is whether she will aim to play tackle football in high school. The speed of the game and the size of the players considerably increases there.

She definitely intends to play at least one more season. “We go year to year,” Mazziotti said. “We try not to look too far into the future.”

Brailsford warns against assuming she will not go on. “If she takes it year by year and she develops her game and continues to put in the work,” he said, “it would be foolish to sit there and say, ‘No, she can’t do it.’”

Cronin on the sidelines with Dobbs Ferry teammates (photo by Ben Epple)

Cronin hopes she is setting a good example for other girls who may be considering tackle football. “It just shows you can’t be afraid and you can prove people wrong,” she said.

Does she dare to test herself at the high school level?

“I think it’s a goal, a significant goal, that I would want to reach if I can,” she said, relishing every challenging moment of the current season.

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