The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
A fabulous Homecoming weekend
Middletown High kicked things off in style Friday with an easy win over Bristol Central.
Some thoughts on the Homecoming football weekend in the city.
Middletown High kicked things off in style Friday with an easy win over Bristol Central, although I thought the Central kids played tough and hit people. The Rams just got out-talented and were nomatch for Middletown’s speed.
There is a tendency to think of MHS as the Dario Highsmith Show, but while he is a great high school player, this team has a lot of weapons. Hunter Belzo, Shawn Houle, Tywan Scarborough, Gene Footman, Kejoun West and Austin Meeker are all skill position kids who are good players. And, of course, there is Isaiah Thompkins who is just the best linebacker around.
The halftime crowning of the kings and queens was a lot of fun. The Class of 2015 Queen and King were Kelly Deegan and Tom Di Mauro, the juniors were Lena Santoro and Gene Footman, the sophomores were Gabby Caminito and Stephen Vaughan and the freshmen were Liliana Cotto and Zachary Rivera.
The band/flag corps/dance team halftime show -- maybe the best one in recent years -- wowed the crowd and the MHS kids did it again on Saturday at the Wesleyan game. Good for them.
Saturday’s show at Xavier was first-rate. The new field was blessed by Fr. Greg Galvin, the former Chaplain at Xavier, and the pre-game dedication ceremonies were emceed by headmaster Br. Brian Davis. Mayor Dan Drew declared Saturday Larry McHugh Day in the city and McHugh, after whom the field was named, made brief remarks thanking all in attendance. Prior to the ceremonies, McHugh, who
is also the President of the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce and chair of the UConn Board of Trustees, told The Press, “This is the biggest honor I have ever received. The whole week has been a flood of memories and I’ve gotten more than 100 emails from friends and former players from all over the country. It means a lot ... this is where everything started for me.”
At halftime the undefeated 1974 team was honored on the field on the occasion of its 40th anniversary. It was named the unofficial state champion -there were no playoffs then -- and was ranked in the Top 10 nationally.
Almost as an afterthought, there was a football game and Xavier, as is its habit, turned it on in the second half to run away froma very youngWestHaven team 27-7.
That big crowds turned out for both games -- more than 1,500 at both MHS and Xavier -- was even better.
he finale was a tremendous college football game won by Amherst 33-30 over Wesleyan in overtime. I managed to get there for the fourth quarter and the dramatic finish. From a local perspective, the game was a disappointment, but from a non-biased view, this was one heckuva game.
There were three key plays. Wesleyan missed an extra point, or it would have won in regulation. With 1:34 remaining and Wesleyan leading 30-27, Wesleyan’s Jesse Warren got off an awful, 12-yard punt which set up Amherst at the Wesleyan 49yard line. With NFL-kicking prospect Phillip Nwosu, all the Lord Jeffs had to do was get in sight of the goal posts for the game to be tied, which Nwosu did with a a 41-yarder.
Any kind of decent punt and Wesleyan likely would have been home free. Woulda, coulda, shoulda means nothing.
The third big play was what most observers -- including that of a friend of mine who has forgotten more football than I will ever know and who was in the stands right on the play -- thought was an awful spot by the officials on a fourth down run by Kyle Gibson in OT. The ball came up a couple of inches short of a first down. “Not only was it an awful spot,” said my buddy. “It was easily a first down.”
Giving Amherst the ball in OT at the 25-yard line with a weapon like Nwoso was handing the win to the Lord Jeffs. They took it.
The announced crowd of 3,750 was perhaps smaller than expected, but it’s fall break at Wesleyan (Rule No. 1 about college: the more the tuition, the more time off. Trust me.) which meant most of the kids were off-campus.