For teams in the CTC, life can be a real trip

Joe Asermelly, a bear of a man who played his college football at Hofstra, gave instructions to show up at 10:15 a.m. Upon arrival, his Quinebaug Valley Pride already is walking through offensive plays in the driveway behind Ellis Tech.

“Yeah, our nickname is an emotional concept,” Asermelly said.

He laughs aloud. When you coach a co-op team, it is good to have a healthy sense of humor.

On this Saturday morning, the Pride from Tourtellotte High in Thompson, Putnam High and Ellis Tech in Killingly already had begun gathering in the locker room at 9 o’clock. For the kids who live farthest away from the campus adjacent to the Danielson Airport, this will be nearly a 12-hour day.

“Welcome to the Connecticut Technical Conference,” said Asermelly, the last man aboard the two buses headed for Danbury and a game against the Abbott Tech-Immaculate (ATI) co-op.

The 220-mile round trip is the longest of any football team in the CIAC this year, yet with all five away games west of the Connecticut River, Asermelly jokes that Prince Tech in Hartford (102 miles round trip) will almost be like a home game.

“Long ride, but staying

focused,” quarterback Michael Merrill said.

“It is what it is,” said Lee “L.J.” Schiavetti, the Pride’s running back-safety. “You know what I mean?”

The bus driver’s daughter sits in the front left seat. Obeying the rules of a longtime NHL reporter, we leave the other front row seat open for the coach and take the second row. Asermelly asks to switch. He wants to sit directly across from his trusted assistant Daryll Brown.

Two-way players in co-op football aren’t an anomaly. They are a necessity. As his players settle into their headphones, one already has fallen into a pre-game nap. It is Schiavetti.

“Good,” Arermelly said, “L.J. is going to get a lot of work today.”

Asermelly strikes up a conversation with Brown. Actually, it’s less a conversation than it is a talk show. For the better part of an hour, they debate each NFL game this weekend with the gusto and knowledge of ESPN commentators. Fantasy league picks, strengths and weaknesses of each team, it is impressive.

The four-man coaching staff is down to three on this day. A correctional officer was called into work.

The two buses, one following the other, plod along, full stop and doors open at railroad crossings. It’s smooth going until approaching Danbury when traffic backs up on I-84 and a decision is made to get off an earlier exit. Unfortunately, there is an exasperating string of red lights and more traffic. The temperature outside has reached 80 and it is getting toasty inside the bus.

“Any AC?” comes a voice from the back.

“I wish,” the bus driver says.

School buses do not have lavatories and the ride has passed the two-hour mark.

“I’m going to have to pee out the window,” comes another voice from the back.

“Relax,” Asermelly says. “We’ll be there in six minutes.”

When the buses arrive at Immaculate Mustang Valley

field, it is 12:51 for a 2 p.m. kickoff. The boys climb off the bus without complaint to climb into their shoulder pads and jerseys they’ve been carrying.

The ride took 2 hours, 21 minutes. The game would only take 2:06.

ATI made the Class M playoffs in 2019, finishing 9-2. Chris Pace, 20-2 at Bullard Havens, has moved over to coach ATI. The Danbury program is a respected one in CTC circles, yet this also was ATI’s first game in two years.

“Our energy has to be 100 percent, top-notch beyond what they understand,” Asermelly, in his ninth season, said in the pre-game huddle. “We have to show them game speed they have not seen to this point. Fullspeed attack mode.

“Here’s the deal. Pure and simple. Whatever it takes, 3-0 or 31-30. It’s going to hurt. You’re going to cramp. It’s hot. There’s always some excuse. Let them fill up on excuses, OK? Show me the hunger today. Show me the hunger! Whatever it takes.”

The final score wasn’t 3-0 or 31-30. It was 42-15. ATI was no match for the Pride on this day. When the score hit 42-7, running time was employed early in the third quarter.

Schiavetti, off a lot of trap plays, was terrific running for 154 yards on 18 carries and touchdown runs of seven, 25 and two yards. On the 7-yarder, he pushed the pile from the line of scrimmage to the goal line.

“L.J. is the best,” Merrill said.

“He is so quick,” said Mason Nicolosi, who had two interceptions and ran for 48 yards on seven carries. “He weaves in and out of people.”

Schiavetti didn’t carry the ball in the fourth. Chris

Daly added 78 yards on 11 carries.

“I saw holes,” said Schiavetti, a senior at Ellis from Eastford. “Our line did the job. We came in with intensity and came out with the dub.”

“Lee’s talent is obvious,” Asermelly said. “His vision separates him. He sees and lets plays develop, accelerates and has the speed to finish. He can turn a vanilla play into something special. He’s a quiet, tough, humble star.”

It turns out Schiavetti, who has plans to be a plumber, is a bit of a coach, too.

“Lee is a football nut, loves the game,” Asermelly said. “He talked about running the quarterback on a wheel (route) off play-action. He drew it up right there. I liked it.”

Asermelly, a huge Patriots fan, recalled Tom Brady catching a 23-yard pass from Kevin Faulk on a similar play in 2001 against the Dolphins. They named the play “Miami” and practiced it.

Sure enough, first possession, Alex Grauer lofted a perfect pass to Merrill for a 19-yard touchdown pass.

“That was amazing,” said Merrill, who’s from Thompson and attends Ellis Tech. “I’d never caught a pass in a game before. I’ve known Alex since kindergarten. My connection with him is great. We’re best friends.”

Merrill would return the favor. He connected on a 54-touchdown pass to Grauer, who made a terrific leaping catch before breaking free.

Nicolosi, a senior at Ellis Tech from Sterling, was a show in himself. Second play, one of his cleats started coming apart. A few plays later, with it flapping wildly, he came out to get his cleat taped together.

“I’ve had them since my freshman year,” said Nicolosi, a senior at Ellis Tech from Sterling. “I got it retaped twice. I’m going to need new ones for next week.”

“Mason is a lot of fun,” Asermelly said. “Going back to August, his football IQ has come a long way. He makes plays for us in all three phases.”

At 5-7, 200 pounds, the fullback-linebacker, is a human bowling ball.

“He’ll run through a wall for me,” Merrill said.

“We love him,” Schiavetti said.

A handful players urged him to talk about “Dumb & Dumber.” It turns out Nicolosi and one of his teammates look the same, are built the same, act the same, so there you go.

Nicolosi’s second interception at midfield turned into the first pick-six of his career.

“I saw the quarterback eyeballing his receiver,”

Nicolosi said. “I ran and got it perfect timing. It was surreal running down the field with nothing in front of me.”

When the game ended, Merrill started flying into chest bumps with everyone in sight. With the team gathered like it was awaiting a teammate after a game-winning home run, Asermelly ran into the joyous pack. Now 2-0, this was an important win for the program.

“I’m going to tell you the same thing I told my wife when I asked her to marry me,” Asermelly said in the post-game huddle. “I love football and I love you!”

The boys roared in approval. Many of these kids, particularly the Ellis kids, already are working toward their career goals. Electricians, roofers, carpenters. Merrill has plans to be a barber, Shiavetta a plumber.

They love football as much any player in the CIAC.

“Our chemistry is great,” Merrill said. “And our energy is amazing.”

“Our mental part of the game today was really strong, especially on the defensive side — that’s coach Brown,” Asermelly said on the ride home. “Lots of checks, recognition, game specific stuff. And our oline really stepped up.”

Those cramps Asermelly said would happen? As with practically every team across the state in the first two weeks, they happened to ATI. The Pride had none.

“With so many two-way guys, what it tells me our guys are truly giving their best in practice every day,” Asermelly said. “Two weeks in a row, you see our opponents kind of fatigue down the stretch and we were able to thrive and put games away.”

As the buses took the right off 101 and onto Maple Street in Killingly, a voice from the back rang out.

“Hey, where’s our police escort?”

Joe Asermelly shook his head and smiled.

Lights on, the parents waiting to give rides home, beeped their horns as the boys filled from the yellow buses.