By ERIC BENEVIDES

Sports writer

After leading Seekonk High to its best season in school history, Dave Morgado is history.

Morgado, who was the Warriors' head coach for the past six seasons, accepted the head coaching job at Durfee High on Tuesday. He replaces the Hilltoppers' coach of the last 13 seasons, Steve Winarski, who was not rehired by the school.

"I'm excited," Morgado said. "It's the nature of a coach. A Pop Warner coach someday wants to be a freshman coach, a freshman coach wants to be a JV coach, and so on. I'm getting a little long in the tooth and up there in years and I want to take on a new challenge. I want to be a Division 1 coach and see what I can do on the next level."

Morgado's resume as a head coach is impressive, considering the fact he took two programs and built them into South Coast Conference champions. In the mid-1990s, he was Apponequet Regional's head coach, and in his third year at the helm, led them to the SCC title and the Division 4 Super Bowl.

As a result, Morgado was named the Eastern Mass. Division 4 Coach of the Year, a presitigous honor he also received this season with the Warriors.

In 2002, Morgado began his tenure as Seekonk High's head coach. His first season was one to forget -- an 0-1 campaign -- but in each year after that, his team improved record-wise. In 2003, they won two games, and after a 3-7 campaign in '04 came a 4-7 year and a .500 season.

"You can look at the wins and losses, but there was never a bad season." added Morgado. "The kids always gave their best and worked hard in the offseason, especially in our weightlifting program. I can't say enough good things about them."

All the hard work finally paid off last season, which was a truly magical one for the Warriors. Not only did they produce their first SCC title and unbeaten season in team history, but they also notched their first winning season since 1987. Of their 10 victories, five were shutouts and seven were lopsided wins by three or more touchdowns.

Seekonk also appeared in its first postseason game, but dropped a 10-7 verdict to Hingham High in the Eastern Mass. Division 2A semifinals.

On Tuesday, Morgado informed Seekonk High and his captains for next year's team of his decision to take the Durfee job.

"It was very difficult," admitted Morgado. "They are a great group of kids that worked hard and gave me everything they had, and I will always have fond memories of my time at Seekonk."

But Morgado wasn't Durfee's first choice for the job. A five-man committee at Durfee, headed by athletic director Jeff Caron, had settled on Marc Megna as their next head coach. But Megna, who graduated from Durfee with Caron in 1994 and went on to play briefly for the New England Patriots and Cincinnati Bengals in the late 1990s, suddenly switched gears and decided not to take the position.

That opened the door for Morgado to take the job, and the Swansea resident was more than happy to accept it.

"I thought the interview process went very well and I walked out of it feeling very good," noted Morgado. "But things happen, and I know I wasn't their first choice, but that doesn't mean anything to me."

Although Morgado has yet to name a coaching staff, he will have defensive coordinator Bob Fitzgerald by his side. Fitzgerald, a 1988 graduate of Durfee High and middle school physical education teacher in the Fall River school system, was also Morgado's coordinator during his tenure at Apponquet.

"Fitzy was just as happy as I was when I told him the news," added Morgado. "I have a few of my other assistant coaches mulling over the offer I gave them to join me, but there aren't any definites other than (Fitzgerald)."