One happy Camp-er: GNH star Camp leading the state in touchdowns
WINSTED — Freddie Camp may lead Connecticut high schools this fall with 30 touchdowns. He may have scored them in almost every way imaginable. He may have led the tri-op from the northwest corner of the state to the Class SS semifinals. But can he hit the fastball?
Why, yes, he can. Among Camp’s many feats, perhaps his most impressive came as a sophomore in June 2021 on the baseball field.
He drilled a double to lead off the fourth inning off Frank Mozzicato in the Class M state championship.
“See it. Hit it,” Camp said. “I saw it. I hit it.”
Sounds simple enough, but nobody else safely did that day at Palmer Feld as Mozzicato, drafted seventh overall by the Kansas City Royals, struck out 17 and walked no Northwestern hitters in East Catholic’s first state championship.
The unbeaten Mozzicato allowed only nine hits all season. ERA 0.16.
“We came in thinking we’re trying to win no matter who we’re playing,” Camp said. “We obviously knew Frank’s better than most. That hit felt pretty good. I think the others he gave up all season were singles.”
The last high school hit Mozzicato allowed leads us to the next high school hit Camp will take on the football field.
On Sunday afternoon, the outstanding three-sport senior from New Hartford will lead Gilbert/Northwestern/Housatonic against Valley Regional in Deep River. Valley’s battle cry is “Defend The Hill.” Well, we’re going find out if GNH can Camp on the Hill.
A lot of folks thought Windham, which thumped Killingly, 41-26, this season on the road, would handle GNH in the Class SS quarterfinals Tuesday night. Wrong. Camp scored four touchdowns on runs of 11 and 5 yards, a pass reception of 77 yards and a 44yard pick six in a 34-0 rout.
“We expected to come out, punch them in them mouth and do everything we can to stop them, and we did,” Camp said. “Our defense is rock solid.”
The 77-yarder came off, what coach Scott Salius called a little shake and back move on a seam route.
“I broke my defender, I was wide open and it was a bucket. Nolan (Risedorf ) made a good throw.”
Among his 30 touchdowns, Camp has 19 rushing, five receiving, three on interceptions, two on punt returns, including one for 86 yards, and one kickoff return. His favorite way to score?
“Probably punt returns,” Camp said. “But, really, anytime the ball is out there I’m going to go get it.”
He plays center field, shortstop and pitches in baseball. It gives a glimpse into his versatility. He plays tailback and can spread to the slot and wide receiver. Depending on the game, he plays safety — a center fielder in pads — or corner. He kicks off and has 10 touchbacks. He punts. He is 2for-2 passing with two touchdowns.
His 1,075 yards rushing ranks 26th in the state, but
because GNH (9-2) has had a bunch of lopsided games he averages nine carries a game. Most ahead of Camp have carried twice as much.
“He has a great ability to cut, move, turn on the jets when he needs to,” Salius said. “If I can draw a similarity to an NFL great, he has the ability to stick his foot in the ground like a Barry Sanders and immediately react.
“On defense, he has great closing speed on the ball and can react to the ball in the air.”
Salius pointed to a 58yard touchdown run on Thanksgiving against St. Paul.
“It was a jet sweep to the boundary,” Salius said. “He had no right to score, but he stuck his foot in the ground, bobbed and weaved his way all the way across the field making people miss the whole time.”
Among his six touchdowns against St. Paul was a 98-yard interception return. He had a 94-yard touchdown reception against Ansonia that Salius said probably covered 130 yards.
Not bad for Freddie Fumble.
“He fumbled a couple
times early and the North Branford fans started calling him Freddie Fumble,” Salius said.
Camp answered with TD runs of 55, 54 and 85 yards and a punt return of 72 for a TD.
Advice to Valley fans: Don’t chant Freddie Fumble.
Rhode Island, Stonehill, Bryant, Maine, Fordham, are among the FCS schools recruiting him. He has been in touch with Syracuse and Boston College. Some want him for offense. Some want him for defense. Eastern Connecticut, Salve Regina, UMass have talked to him about baseball. He’s an all-conference basketball player, too, and some schools have talked to him about playing two sports.
“I don’t really know yet,” said Camp, 6-1, 185 pounds. “Wherever the path takes me.”
“He is being pulled in a lot of different directions,” Salius said. “Everyone wants a piece of Freddie.”
Playing multiple sports, Camp gets around. He played summer ball with Valley quarterback Grady Lacourciere.
“We’re friends,” Camp said. “We’ll talk — after the game.”
Camp’s cousin Carlos Watkins, who plays for the Dallas Cowboys, is from North Carolina and played at Clemson. Camp was born in North Carolina, started playing football at five, a year before moving to Connecticut.
“Bonding (as a tri-op team) has been pretty easy,” Camp said. “We’ve played with or against each other in a lot of sports growing up. Gilbert is our rival, but some of my best friends go to Gilbert. We have a strong brotherhood and big Sal is one of the best coaches in the state.”
The two share a chuckle about their facilities at Gilbert. Let’s just say it’s not Darien or Greenwich. Portable lighting for practice. Only day games.
With a drop-off and pricker bushes on one end, teams only kick extra points at one side of Van Whyy Field. If there had been a home game Tuesday night it likely would have been at Torrington.
“We are a grass roots organization,” Salius said.
From Salisbury to New Hartford, from Hartland to Kent, the tri-op encompasses 12 towns and Salius counts players from 11 of them. Winsted kids who attend Northwestern vo-ag get a bus ride to Gilbert, so the football players hop on it for practice. Housatonic Regional has a bus that drops off players for practice, but no ride back. Parents, often carpooling, pick them up. The longest ride is an hour from Gilbert High to the farthest point in Kent on the New York border.
“Logistics are a pain,” said Salius. “I’m envious of schools in one town who have a morning, summertime weight lift. Managing it time wise, practices, homework, waiting for all three schools to get here to start practice is the hard part.
“The easy part is the bonding. When they’re young the same towns compete against each other in sports. There are combined teams as they get older in a higher level. By the time they get here, most everyone knows each other.”
Gilbert and Northwestern formed in 2002, one of the oldest co-ops in state. Housatonic joined them in 2021 and the team made the Class M playoff last year before losing to eventual state champion Killingly.
“From that experience, we saw what it takes to win a state championship,” Camp said. “We don’t want another bus ride home like that.”
This year to reduce travel, the tri-op joined the NVL.
“Anytime, you see a team with a whole bunch of slashes and dashes and co-op it gives a sense of anonymity,” Salius said. “You see a team like that you kind of write you off, a thrown-together team. People forget we were a Class M playoff team last year that shut out two other Class M playoff teams (Granby/Canton and Ellington).
Risedorf, Devin Devita, who’s going to play baseball at Southern New Hampshire, Aiden Avenia …
“And, of course, Freddie,” Salius said. “An entire corps of skill plays all returned. Nobody else seemed to really recognize it. We played Naugatuck and Ansonia tough in our losses. It was where did they come from? We were here all along.”