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Speed, reliability, fearlessness key to good kick return

There could be a touchback, could be a squib, could be a short popup. But it’s also possible that either a Wilby or Ansonia kickoff returner on Thursday could be the first player to touch the ball in anger in a CIAC football game since Riley Ward caught that fairy-tale touchdown to end the 2019 Class LL final.

A night later at Staples Stadium, Benji Titlebaum will be hoping he gets to be that guy for the Wreckers against Trumbull.

“If we’re fielding it, that’d be an awesome feeling just to get it started,” said Titlebaum, a Staples senior who has experience returning kicks, “hopefully get some good yardage and start it off fast.”

A lot of what goes into being a good choice to return kicks probably isn’t particularly shocking. Speed, shiftiness, actually catching the ball: yeah, they’re important.

“And a little bit fearless, too,” Shelton coach Mike DeFelice said. “You’re catching that ball and running 1,000 mph at a guy running 1,000 mph at you.

“It takes a special breed to be a returner. You’ve got to have all those intangibles. You’ve got to be fast. You’ve got to be smart. because the way we set up our return, you want to make sure you’re following your blockers, not just going off rogue, doing whatever you want to do.”

Shane Santiago will likely be back for the Gaels when they return their first kick against North Haven on Sept. 10. He said getting reps are important for everyone on the kick-return unit, whether in practice or before a game.

“Just the blocks. That’s the most important, getting the block and holding the block,” Santiago said. “Without them, there’s no run.”

The Shelton senior said he watches YouTube clips of kick returns (and of defense; he’s a cornerback, too).

Titlebaum was one of the lucky ones who got to return some kicks last year; Staples was one of the teams that played in two private leagues last fall after the CIAC didn’t sanction a tackle football season.

“It’s like riding a bike. You kind of haven’t done it for a while, but once you get back there, you get right back into it,”

Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media Ansonia’s Darrell McKnight returns the opening kickoff for a long gain in the Class S semifinal game against Sheehan in 2019.

John Vanacore / For Hearst Connecticut Media Shelton’s David Yakowicz (8) and his teammates celebrate their opening kickoff touchdown against Notre Dame-West Haven.