During 18 years of coaching; you encounter a lot of players. The ultimate goal is to make a positive impact on someone’s life that they can take with them throughout. You can’t gauge a job well done usually until years later. Hearing stories from players I’ve coached, what they are doing in their lives, careers, relationships, and families is the special part of coaching. Saturday’s trek to Boiceville, New York was just that. Getting a chance to see a player I’ve coached, do some coaching himself.
In 2019 I took a trip to Springfield, MA with Liam Kenny to watch Springfield Central play against Westfield High school. It was one of the more fun and meaningful trips I had in the first season of Traveling Coach. Fast forward 2 years later and I was headed up I-84 to see Dover Plains High School, except this time Liam wouldn’t be sitting in the stands with me he would be on the sidelines. His father Paul Kenny is the head coach at Dover Plains for the last 29 year and Liam has taken over as the offensive coordinator for the Dragons. The Dragon offense can score points in bunches (34 points per game). We often text on a weekly basis talking about X&O’s, player and coach relationships, and everything that comes with being a young football coach. As a young a coach I struggled with trying to know what the right thing to do was in situations. As I got older I learned to play to my strengths: hard work, dedication, and learning to become a teacher. Liam’s experience working with athletes and coaches from the University of Hartford and Arizona State as a strength coach proved valuable for his coaching this season with Dover. At 22 his maturity level is miles ahead of where I was that age as some former Immaculate High School players could certainly attest.
This isn’t your traditional football they are playing. The field is still 100 yards and the ball is still a standard high school football but because of numbers these select schools play 8-man football. Popular in the south and Texas, 8 man football is the answer for many small towns, small schools. It’s a brand of football I am unfamiliar with although very intrigued by. There is certainly more room on the field, which can play to the strengths of teams with speed. With that being said there is certainly an adjustment on how to align when taking 3 players off the field on both sides of the ball.
From Watertown it was a 2 hour trip to Broiceville, New York and Onteora High School, Dover’s Opponent. My co- pilot for the car ride was my daughter Allison. During the summer she expressed interest in wanting to go to a game that was further away. At 9 years old 3 months is an eternity, so is the prospect of a 2 hour car ride to watch a high school football game. The day before the game, I asked her again if she was coming with me. She was a little reluctant. Through the urging of her mother she got in the car and we were on our way. Anybody who knows Allison realizes she loves to talk, so we did the entire trip. We had good laughs, told some funny stories, talked about her new found love of 90’s teen dramas, (God help me), and she told me all about her new school and all the kids in her 4th grade class. As we got closer to the game passing through Woodstock, New York Alli spotted a store that sold chocolate (Fruition Chocolate Works) and requested we go there after the game. Being a chocolate fan myself it didn’t take much convincing.
The fall colors were in full effect on our ride though a rural section of New York State. Alli actually asked me if we were in New York because she thinks New York is just tall buildings and the 5 boroughs. We pulled up to the school and to my surprise they had nice athletic fields. There was a large stands on one side of the field split in the middle by a press box. It was fairly quiet considering it was only 25 minutes before game time. The music selection however, was outstanding with Tom Petty, Heart, and other 80’s music selections. Being that close to Woodstock I shouldn’t expect anything less. On the field was two rosters consisting of less than 30 players per roster warming up on the grass field. Greg Kenny, Liam’s brother came up to me to say hello. I asked him about the team and he immediately exclaimed “our offense is really good!” It was great to hear a sibling supporting his brother. My brothers probably would have said the defense sucks. This matchup was a contrast in styles. The Onteora Eagles are a power running football team, which in 8-man football looks like 3 offensive linemen, 2 tight ends with an I-formation backfield. On the Dover side they have adopted the shotgun spread offense utilizing the short passing game and letting their playmakers use their skills. The ball was about to get kicked off when I heard a coach shout “we got 8”. It made me laugh. For years you would hear a designated coach count out the special teams to see if you have 11 players on the field. In 11 man football, if a coach yelled “we got 8” it would usually be followed by some colorful expletives from the head coach.
It was like watching 2 separate games on Saturday. Early on in the contest it did not look good for the Dover Dragons. Offensively they came out pretty sloppy. Onteora’s offense came out playing power football to perfection. Running back Griffin Alterio was a monster in the first quarter gaining 164 yards on 13 carries the Eagles first 3 possessions. The score was 18-0 before you could blink. Allison’s face had the look of boredom and maybe excitement that we might leave early and get that chocolate. The Dover Dragons weren’t going to make it that easy.
I leaned over and began to explain to Allison about momentum. In baseball they say momentum is the next day’s pitcher however, in football it’s one big play that can change everything. After a Dover turnover, the Dragons defense put their foot in the ground and said enough was enough. They stopped the Eagles on a 3 and out highlighted by a Declan Noonan sack on 3rd down. It was the first positive sequence in the game for Dover. Then enter Evan O’Connor. O’Connor took a handoff to the right side, cut back to his left, and took off like a rocket 80 yards for a touchdown cutting the lead to 18-8 after the 2-point conversion. I nudged Allison and said “ya see momentum”. After 3rd down sack this time by junior defensive end Joe Kennedy, Dover then went right down the field and quarterback Tyson Destefano found Declan Noonan for a short 4 yard touchdown pass. After a failed 2pt attempted the score was 18-14 and that’s how we went to halftime. I looked towards Allison again and said “Momentum”.
The second half was an explosion for the Dover Dragons on both sides of the ball. While Onteora did manage 1 score in the third quarter (90 yard Adam Williams touchdown catch and run) the second half was all Dover. Evan O’Connor on offense was nightmare all day for Eagle defenders. He added 3 second half touchdowns (4 total) and showed off his skills as both a running back (94 yards rushing) a receiver (140 yards receiving), and as defensive player (6 tackles/2 interceptions). If he has a desire to play at the next level he should have no problem finding a landing spot. On the defensive side of the ball Declan Noonan was dominant (10 tackles/1 sack/3 tackles for a loss/2 pass breakup). He lived in the backfield and made almost every play when Dover needed it. Allison pointed out you can tell how good of a player he is because of how dirty his jersey was. The moms sitting next to us joked how they wouldn’t want to be the one trying to wash that jersey. Starting quarterback Tyson Destefano plays a dual role for the Dragons as their starting quarterback and middle linebacker. As a player, I despised quarterbacks as much as I loved middle linebackers. If I was his position I would have had an identity crisis and probably hated myself. However, Tyson handles it seamlessly. His first year in the spread has been productive (210 passing yards/3 touchdown passes vs. Onteora) and he is a physical player on defense who has a real instinct for finding the ball carrier. The Dover Dragons were victorious 48-26 outscoring Onteora 48-8 after going down by 18 early. Even Allison seemed to enjoy it…..kind of.
We waited around afterward to see Liam before he got on the bus. We had a conversation about the game and he talked about his offense with a lot of pride in his voice. He had that mid-season coaching look to his face, tired eyes with facial hair growth. Wish we could have talked longer but you could tell in our short conversation how much he was enjoying coaching football. Sometimes just being around it is enough of a fix you need when you stop playing.
Allison and I got in the car and made our way home. I kept good on my promise for some chocolate for the ride home. I even doubled down on some pizza at Village Pizza in town. Time must have stopped in this town because the pizza place was still selling DVD’s out of a cardboard box in the store. We ate on the ride home. Everything was delicious and Allison was a happy girl. A half hour in to the ride she was out like a light. I got a text from Liam on the ride back and he asked me what I thought of 8-man football. To be honest once the game got going I didn’t even think about it. Football is football, at every level and every version. You still have to block and tackle to be successful. Versions like 6 or 8 man football show you how much these programs care about football and how important it is to the development of young people. The lessons of discipline, hard work, and getting up when you get knocked down are always going to be there regardless of the amount of people on the field. On my ride home I was on the phone with Larry Badaracco, Liam’s Head coach at New Milford High and one of my best friends in football for the last 25 years. We both fill up with pride talking about players like Liam, someone with great character, work ethic, and a willingness to learn. Liam embodies those characteristics and it has certainly rubbed off on the players he has coached in a short time. Liam can take coaching as far as he wants to; if this is the path he chooses to go. I guess I should start calling him Coach Kenny.
We did our second at home wing review. Anthony, aka, Tony Socks was the judge for the grilled chicken wings with my first attempt at a honey hot sauce. Enjoy the video.
