November starts the second season
in high school football – playoff football. Some states have begun their playoffs
where a few, chosen teams realize their dream run at a state championship. In
Connecticut, the season always runs longer than in other states. Everyone has 3
games to go and are either jockeying for playoff position or enduring that slow,
painful finish. This could be an exciting month or a brutal one. I have been a
part of playoff runs and disappointing season. There is definitely an art to
coaching both.
Newtown and Bunnell came into the game Friday night on opposite sides of this
spectrum. Newtown is well on its way to the playoffs currently holding a 2 seed
in class LL standings. Newtown High School has had one of the most consistently
good programs in Connecticut. They have made the playoffs 7 out of the last 8
seasons and averaged 9 wins a year during that time. They have built a culture
of consistency and a high level of work ethic that has led to their success.
This season is no different with a 2 Quarterback system on offense and a
relentless defense that has only yielded 65 points. Bunnell on the other hand
is having an unusual year for their program to say the least. Bunnell was 9-2
last year with a playoff appearance. The 2019 version has struggled all year to
find its footing. The Bulldogs started the season with 6 straight loses. They
picked up their first victory last week vs Pomperaug. This sets up 7-0 vs 1-6
both teams are playing with different goals in mind but goals none the less.
My goal 2 hours before game time was to get some wings at Cover 2 Sports cafe.
I was accompanied by my father who continues to be traveling coaches #1 hype
man in Fairfield County. My second guest was a good friend I met through
coaching at Immaculate and Abbott Tech Courtney Allen. One of the most
knowledgeable football guys I know. He sees the little things in the game better
than anybody. My main guest, my “WING GIRL”, my daughter Allison Mascolo. The
word I would use to describe my daughter is energy. She has been a firecracker
since the day she was born almost 8 years ago in the parking lot of Danbury
hospital.
On January 5th 2012 at about 6:30am Michelle woke me up to tell me it was time to
get the hospital. I figured it would be like when my son was born and be a
typical birth. Michelle was walking gingerly to the car and was having painful
contractions. My mom showed up to watch Anthony and we made our way to Danbury
hospital. Ten minutes into our ride Michelle revealed to me that the baby was
coming. Being the expert I am on child birth I reassured Michelle she was just
feeling some pressure from the contractions. Well I went to college for 15
years but certainly didn’t get my doctorate, because to my surprise, I could
feel the top of the baby’s head. I hit the gas on the car so hard it felt like
my heels were touching I-84. As we raced to the hospital I spent most of the
time in the passenger seat with the death grip my wife had on my hooded sweat
shirt. We finally arrived at the hospital with no time to go to the maternity
ward. I parked in the ambulance bay and pounded on the doors to get someone’s
attention. I ran in and saw two nurses I knew Cindy Rodriquez and Jen Ayala. I
told them my wife is having a baby “they asked “where?” I responded “out there!”
We all ran outside to Michelle to find that Allison was already born, not in
the hospital but in a pair of sweat pants my wife had on. To this day if you
ask Allison where she was born, she will tell you in a parking lot. At almost 8
years old now she is my biggest fan and harshest critic. She read my first blog
and instead of telling me it was good and moving on, she criticized it like an
editor. She told me I need to explain things better for the people that may not
understand football. Having a daughter has been interesting but having one who
is so similar to me is scary. My dad always told me when I was a kid that He
hoped someday I get a child just like myself. Little did I know that it would
come in the form of a Curley haired blonde, smart mouth, ball of energy. It’s karma I guess.
Allison and I drove into a packed parking lot Friday evening. As we walked into
the bar I put Allison on my right side and held her hand to keep her away from
the road. She then explained to me “you have to do that to protect the
merchandise”. Shaking my head and laughing I told her “absolutely”. We walked
into Cover 2 to meet up with Grandpa. Cover 2 was busy as it is on most nights
that Newtown has a game. Cover 2 Sports cafe is located in Sandy Hook center of
Newtown. It’s the lone sports bar in town and has become a meeting place before
games. There was certainly a buzz to the crowd there. TV’s located around the
restaurant and pictures hung of Newtown High School sports teams especially the
football team. This comes as no surprise considering the owners are a football
family. Dave Tarrantino the owner has three boys who starred at Newtown High School
and two of them are now on the coaching staff. This was the first place I had
been to that was centered on the high school and community more specifically
the football program. A couple of years ago when the Nighthawks Ben Mason made
his commitment to play football at Michigan they held the announcement ceremony
right there at Cover 2. Places like this are invaluable to community so they
could rally around both a place to eat and a place to go watch a ball game.
After we got our drinks we were met by Courtney Allen who sat at the
table with us to enjoy some good food and conversation. The waitress took our
wing order. I order 10 mild and 10 kick ‘in bourbon. Allison ordered herself 10
honey barbecue knowing exactly what she wants as she always does. We sat at the
at the table catching up with Coach Allen discussing tonight‘s game and games
I’ve been to in the past 10 weeks. The staff at the restaurant was busy on this
Friday night but was very conscientious of our table. My dad stated that if
Cover 2 was within walking distance he might indulge here a little too much.
Our wings came out and Allison went to work. She attacked the honey barbecue
wings like a linebacker would attack a star tail back. The mild wings I ordered
were crispy and the sauce perfectly coated the wings. Admittedly I’ve been to Cover
2 before and have tasted the majority of the sauces. The mild and kick in
bourbon are my favorite two of the top choses with the chipotle running a close
third. If I were to have one criticism the wings are on the smaller side
however the sauce flavors are very well done. These wings are a solid four Star
recruit. They are an undersized linebacker in college that turns into a
prototypical strong safety in the NFL. I enjoyed the wings but definitely not
as much as Allison did. Allison enjoyed them so much that we nearly had to hose
her down in the bathroom to remove all the sauce from her hands and face. I was
not surprised by this because she attacks everything she does with great
enthusiasm. It was a half hour till game time so we headed off to Blue and Gold
stadium.
As we arrived to the game it was 27° out and the first real cold weather game I
had went to this season. Thanks to my wife Michelle we had plenty for warm
weather gear set out for us this morning. It was senior night at Newtown High School.
There where custom made flags placed on the fence with the names of each senior
that would be playing their last home game of regular season for the
nighthawks. Newtown stands are concrete painted blue and gold on the home side
with a modern metal stands on the road side. Newtown has excellent concession
stand that serves very good food and a boisterous PA announcer who creates a
home-field advantage atmosphere for Newtown on Friday nights.
Newtown‘s two Quarterback system and ferocious defense has lead them all season
and tonight would be no different. This game was important for playoff
positioning and they weren’t looking past any opponent. The Nighthawks jumped
out to an early 7-0 lead when Brendan Lombardo connected with Riley Ward on an
8-yard touchdown. The ensuing kickoff was an onside kick which Newtown
recovered. This set up a 9-yard touchdown run by junior Luke Hannion. Bunnell drives
where halted early on by the Newtown defense led by Jared Dunn. Dunn especially
showed his metal when on a 4th & 2 he stuffed Bunnell running back in the
backfield for a turnover on downs. Bunnell struggled to move the ball most of
the game offensively, however senior linebacker James Savko was doing
everything he could to keep the Bulldogs in the game. On consecutive drives he
had a sack and forced fumble and intercepted a Newtown pass. Despite his best
effort Newtown was too much to overcome. Senior night at Newtown soon became
junior night with three rushing touchdowns from junior running back Conor
Breslin. The scoring was then closed by the other half of the Quarterback
dynamic duo. Junior Jack Street scrambled and scored from 18 yards out.
Lombardo and Street complement each other’s skill sets well combining for over
1200 passing yards and 16 touchdown passes so far in 2019. Who ever said that
if you have two Quarterbacks you really don’t have any, never saw these two
play. The halftime time score was 42-0 and that’s how the game ended. Both
teams leave the game with game with different priorities but both still have
mountains to climb.
For Playoff bound teams, it’s about being as efficient as possible. You need to focus on the task at hand, don’t look past any opponent, and stay consistent to what got you to this position. It can be very easy in this day and age to look at the playoff standing and look ahead. In a time before the internet this was much easier to avoid. Now anybody can see those results in one click. I can remember in 1997 at Immaculate High School after winning a game to go 6-0. We all met at the Ponderosa steakhouse in Danbury. We had to call the Danbury News Times from a pay phone to find out the scores to the games that night. In case you’re wondering New Fairfield lost that night and we were the only undefeated team left in our conference.
On the other end of the spectrum when there are no postseason hopes left those weeks shouldn’t go waste. Just as if you’re playing for championship you need to remain consistent. You can’t deviate from your preparation process. Those last couple weeks are a chance to find out who your young leaders are and giving them a chance to develop. It is also a chance to give your seniors a great end of the year experience despite people I always set goals for the team in the last month of the season. Whether it was to finish with a .500 record or build the last game as a championship, there is always an opportunity for accomplishment.
Allison making it through the game in that cold weather was an accomplishment in itself. For most of the game Allison danced with the cheerleaders and conned Grandpa to get her a hot chocolate. At one point, to prove she wasn’t paying attention, I asked her who had possession of the ball right now. After a little thought she looked at the field and said “the referee.” A typical smart ass answer that was actually really smart. I turned to Courtney and said that it’s strange neither of my kids like football. Coach Allen corrected my statement almost immediately. He told me my kids do “like” football. They just don’t love it like I do. That was a moment of clarity for me. Seeing me be passionate about football hopefully inspires them to be passionate about their interest. She feels this way about reading, softball, and music that I do about football. We do share one common passion however……..Wings. I’ll take it!
Staying in Connecticut next week 11/15/19:
GAME: Shelton @ Daniel Hand 7PM
Grub: Brother Mike’s Madison
Two peas in a pod.