Greenwich Cardinals are No. 1 for first time in school history
From 4-5, to 7-4, to 12-1 and then this memorable fall season — each year, the Greenwich High School football team showed significant improvement under coach John Marinelli.
Taking over a proud program in 2015 — one that produced eight state titles and 12 FCIAC championships — Marinelli put his systems in place during his first season, which was a learning one for the squad. In 2016, Greenwich qualified for the Class LL playoffs, losing to Darien in the quarterfinals and in
2017, it fell to the Blue Wave in the finals.
Last season’s success set Greenwich up nicely for what it proceeded to accomplish this fall. Outscoring their opponents,
579-54, during the course of the season, the Cardinals finished their 2018 campaign with a record of
13-0 and the CIAC Class LL title in their possession.
Dominating from start to finish, Greenwich claimed the LL championship with a decisive 34-0 victory over rival New Canaan at crowded Boyle Stadium on Saturday. With the win, Greenwich officially reestablished itself as one of the state’s premier teams and Monday it was recognized as the No. 1-ranked squad in Connecticut.
The Cardinals were voted No. 1 in GameTimeCT’s Top-10 poll and The Day of New London
Top-10 State Coaches poll. Hand, the lone other undefeated team in the state was ranked second, Class M champion St. Joseph third and New Canaan, the preseason No. 1 team placed fourth.
“This is the first time ever in Greenwich history that the team has finished at the No. 1-ranked team,” Marinelli said. “With the history and tradition this team has, to be the first Greenwich team to finish No. 1 is incredible.”
Incredible — that’s the type of season it was for the Cardinals. And for Greenwich, their season began way before senior quarterback Gavin Muir threw his first touchdown pass of the year, or senior running back Tysen Comizio reached the end zone for the first time this fall. It began that first training session shortly after last fall’s season.
“Walking off the field a year ago, after the loss to Darien, they really wanted to come back to the finals,” Marinelli said. “We challenged them as a coaching staff and the work they did in the offseason set us up for this season. It was a really good group of seniors that inspired their teammates.”
Behind strength and conditioning coach Pat Mediate — a veteran on Greenwich’s coaching staff — the Cardinals’ conditioning program enabled the athletes to improve their strength, skills and stamina.
The Greenwich football team received a Strength of America Award from the National Strength and Conditioning Association over the summer. In 2017, Comizio was chosen as a NSCA All-American Athlete of the Year.
“Our program is based on making our athletes more athletic, instead of bigger,” Mediate said during a summer interview. “We try to develop our program to prevent injuries and increase performance.”
During the offseason, the Greenwich players got together for weight lifting/ training sessions four days a week.