Madux Iovinelli for years was lost. Now he is right at home.

Iovinelli, through the generosity and love of the Driscoll family, has overcome personal strife and turbulence to find himself as one of the premier student-athletes in Eastern Mass. both on the gridiron and baseball diamond at Lynnfield High School.

“I basically reset my whole life,” Madux said. “I’ve found totally new friends, different people to hang with, and a new family.”

Madux’s youth was littered with harrowing moments in Huntington Beach, Calif. Madux’s drug-addicted father was frequently removed from the house by his mother Stephanie, who worried for her family’s well-being and safety.

Madux has few memories from those days. When he reopens those wounds, terror soon follows.

“One time my mom had to kick my dad out,” Madux said. “Then he tried to come back into the house a couple hours later, break in, and my mom had to hold the door. So he caused hell basically.”

Madux’s mother, Stephanie Harris, was his rock. Born in Wakefield, she moved to California after college, where she gave birth to Madux and two older siblings — sister Braedyn and brother Jagger. She taught her kids to love Boston sports teams and sacrificed all she could for her children.

But in 2019, with Madux not yet 13, Stephanie succumbed to lung cancer that had been diagnosed in 2016.

“I knew the night before she was going to pass,” Madux said. “I was connected with my mom. She was a single mom for most of my life because my dad was abusing drugs and she wanted to keep him away from us. My mom was kind of my everything.”

When his father suffered a drug overdose, Madux was left without a guardian. Stephanie had wished in her final days for her childhood friend, Jacqui and husband Jim Driscoll, to take him into their home in Lynnfield. Jacqui balked, suggesting it would be better for Madux to stay with older brother Jagger on the west coast.

Madux stayed with Stephanie’s long-time boyfriend, Joe DesRoches, for a year. Yet just over 12 months into the living situation, Joe reached out to Jacqui in hopes that Madux could end up back east after all.

Jacqui and Jim obliged. On Sept. 2, 2020, Madux arrived in Boston to start his life over. He had met his new parents fewer than five times; their kids, Jimmy and Jillian, perhaps three times at most.

“It was the right thing to do,” Jim said. “Looking back, we did not think about how it was going to affect our kids. We probably should have but we didn’t. We just said, ‘hey, we’ve been very fortunate and we have to give back and we have to do this.’”

Jacqui and Jim invested heavily in making Madux feel comfortable in his new surroundings. They purchased new furniture while setting up a new bedroom for Madux. Jacqui set up a shelf to help display photos of his mom. The family’s friends collectively purchased a PlayStation, Boston sports gear, and a host of gift cards.

Madux, however, struggled to adjust. He spent hours after school isolated in his room with his video gaming system. He argued with Jimmy and Jillian. He was filled with uncertainty.

He put on a confident facade in an attempt to fit in, but internally Madux felt lost in a melting pot of emotions.

“It just did not feel right,” Madux said. “Whenever I saw Jimmy and Jill and they would say, ‘love you dad and mom’ it just made me sad. There is a lot of stuff that still affects me, I try not to show it because I don’t like to be sad.”

Gradually, Madux acclimated to his new life. He repeated 8th grade where his teacher made an impact, including helping Madux experience small specialties like snow falling — something he had never witnessed. Still, friends and came went, often turned off by Madux’s false bravado.

His older brother, Jagger, was convinced by Jim to move east and attend Northern Essex Community College, providing Madux with a familiar face.

As the calendar turned to sophomore year, Madux found comfort in athletics.

He made the varsity football team and developed into a serviceable wide receiver. In the spring, he became a reliable option on the mound and in the lineup for the always contending Pioneers. His athletic excellence earned him respect from his peers.

“Sophomore year he earned some significant respect on the field so then Madux didn’t feel like he had to try so hard,” Jacqui said. “And then it started clicking in place. Madux put his guard down.”

Madux became more disciplined. Focusing on strength and conditioning and fine-tuning his academics caused him to lessen his time in front of a screen. He got up in the morning for lifts before Jacqui and Jim would head off for work. He began bonding with the Driscoll kids.

At home, meanwhile, Madux began echoing those sentiments that Jimmy and Jill had their whole lives. He was slowly becoming family.

“When Madux leaves the house — it did not happen overnight — we would say, ‘I love ya.’ And then that started to stick with Madux,” Jim said. “We find ourselves saying it all the time. And that helped Madux to realize he was part of the family and we were saying I love you to our kids and we’re saying I love you to Madux too.”

While Madux stars at Lynnfield as an option for the team at wide receiver, his true talents are on the diamond. The family of football teammate Ty Adamo helped in recommending Show New England, a local club baseball program. A left-handed pitcher and hitter, Iovinelli went 4-0 with a 0.85 ERA to go with a .486 average at the plate his junior season. His high school success coupled with a strong summer with SNE landed him a scholarship opportunity at High Point.

“His personal maturity has grown tremendously since he got here,” Show director Steve Lomasney said. “He has become one of the best teammates I’ve ever had around. He’s always been super athletic. But handling his emotions has allowed him to grow.”

Madux’s inherit baseball knowledge was always clear. For whatever he lacked in love for the classroom, he made up for in sports information.

“He sat in front of the TV and he’d be like, ‘oh yeah that’s so-and-so he went to high school here, his batting average is this, oh yeah he went to college here,’” Jacqui said. “I’m like, ‘what? How does he retain all of this knowledge?’ It’s insane.”

Around all of Madux’s successes are the Driscolls, who took in an individual on a whim that their own children had only met three times and made one of their own. On the exterior, Madux provides an imposing look. But Madux is woven together with a blend of isolation from his youth and the love he feels today. Slowly that lonely feeling is becoming a distant past.

Madux’s right arm sports a pair of tattoos that are clear for anyone within eyesight. Together, they encompass his life story. On the inside of his forearm, ink dedicated to his birth mother, helping to ensure she is never far from mind.

Then, on the underside of his forearm, the words that Madux lives by: Family isn’t always blood.

As his legal guardians, Jim and Jacqui have become Madux’s family, with Jimmy and Jillian brother and sister as if together since birth. And his Lynnfield community of teachers and friends.

All of them are his own family tree, even if never part of his life until his teen years.

“It’s kind of how I live,” Madux said. “And how I have always have had to live. Family is never really my blood. (Jim and Jacqui) are not blood but they’re family. Joe (DesRoches) is not blood but he is family.”

While baseball may be his future, football still holds a special place with Madux. He considered hanging up his cleats after deciding on High Point for baseball, but after convincing from Jacqui and Jim — and a handful of teammates — decided he would feel lost without those fall Friday night lights. Madux is thrilled he decided to finish his career on the gridiron. He plays with flare and emotion. Whatever is bottled up inside showcases itself on every first down or touchdown.

“Football is another family to me,” Madux said. “You’re always with your teammates. There’s a bunch of community things we do. The coaches welcomed me in. I could not appreciate them any more.”

On Oct. 11, when Lynnfield celebrated its senior night prior to kickoff versus Triton, players strode onto the field pregame with their parents, grandparents, and siblings. With a beaming smile on his face Madux came on the field side by side with Jacqui and Jim, along with his grandmother. What seemed impossible to envision four years ago is now a reality.

Madux has people around him who love him. And for Madux that is all that matters regardless of how it came to be. Because family isn’t always blood.