Sports

East Hampton-Vinal Ready to Start New Chapter

Football coop debuts Saturday against Cromwell.

The season that almost wasn’t is about to begin for the East Hampton-Vinal Tech football team.

What should have been a summer of anticipation and excitement as the young coop looked forward to its first varsity season together, was instead replaced by uncertainty and disappointment as the state announced plans on July 15 to trim about $13 million from the technical high school system, including all sports.

“Everybody was upset over it including myself,” coach Joe Cefaratti said.  “We were looking forward to our first year as a varsity program and all the excitement and it just kind of really took the wind out of our sails. We were already doing summer workouts, conditioning, weight lifting, and we had to suspend it immediately. That was the directive from the superintendent. It was about two-and-a-half, three weeks that we were pretty much in a holding pattern where we couldn’t do anything. “

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So, it was left up to the players to continue with their conditioning.

“The kids worked out on their own but we couldn’t be there and supervise them with their summer workouts,” Cefaratti said. “We told them to follow their summer running program, work out on their own, with their friends, and hopefully things would work out, and they did. It was three weeks where everyone was on pins and needles, but it worked out.”

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On Aug. 4, fall sports were reinstated and a couple weeks later the State Employee Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC) approved a concessions plan that eliminated many of the budget cuts announced in July.

“Fortunately we were very lucky to get the fall programs reinstated as quick as we did,” Cefaratti said. “Now we’re thinking football.”

Cromwell and senior quarterback Anthony Morales will give Cefaratti and the BellHawks plenty to think about in their season opener on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Palmer Field in Middletown.

“They have a lot of athletes,” Cefaratti said. “We have to be able to be up to the test. We have to be able to stay with their athleticism that’s the bottom line. Whether it be in coverage … no matter what. We have to be able to stay with them and play to their level.”

Despite a strong 7-2 junior varsity record in 2010, the lack of varsity experience is Cefaratti’s chief concern.

“Varsity experience is going to play a big part in our season,” he said. “We’re going into this first varsity game against Cromwell with very little varsity experience, if any, by anyone.”

The schedule also presents a challenge. The Pequot League's Sassacus Division has three schools (Cromwell, Hyde and Valley Regional) that qualified for the Class S playoffs last season.

“Some of the teams we’re going to be facing have excellent athleticism at the skill positions,” Cefaratti said. “We’re going to have our hands full trying to stay with them in certain aspects of these skill positions.”

But Cefaratti, with 30 years of coaching experience, is keeping expectations real.

“The biggest expectation I have is we want to be able to compete,” he said. “My goal is to be in every game. If we can be in every game, win, lose or draw, I think it will be a successful season. I think we should be able to compete with this coop and the amount of kids we have.”

Perhaps unlike other coop arrangements, Cefaratti is happy not to have to worry about the chemistry he has seen with his team. The two schools might be divided by a river, but are connected in other ways.

“What excites me is the unity of the two schools,” said Cefaratti, who arrived at Vinal five years ago as a physical education teacher. “A lot of these kids knew each other before they even started playing football here with this new coop because a lot of the Vinal kids live in East Hampton or they have ties to East Hampton, so it ends up being a good mix.”

Quarterbacking the offense is tri-captain Spencer Daly. The senior, who attends East Hampton High School, will run a Delaware wing-T offense that employs a wing back, tight end, two backs and a split with the quarterback under center.

The BellHawks will look to run more than pass.

“I think they’ve adapted well to the offense the past two years,” Cefaratti said. “I think they have a good grasp of it.”

And the coach sounded especially confident in Daly’s ability to run the offense, and lead.

“He has a lot of football savvy,” Cefaratti said. “He has great leadership skills. He’s a competitor. He’s going to compete. He knows where to put the guys in different situations in addition to knowing where he’s supposed to go. He knows where everybody is supposed to go on that field offensively on every play.”

Joining Daly as captains are running back Steven Hall and linebacker and offensive tackle Andrew Ferchaw.

Vinal had a previous coop arrangement with Coginchaug until the Blue Devils went off on their own after the 2009 season because they had too many players for a coop per CIAC rules. For East Hampton, Saturday marks its first varsity football game.

2011 Schedule

Saturday: Cromwell, 6:30 p.m., at Palmer Field (Middletown)

Sept. 23: Old Saybrook/Westbrook, 6:30 p.m., at Palmer Field

Oct. 1: Nonnewaug, 10:30 a.m., at Palmer Field

Oct. 7: Haddam-Killingworth, 6:30 p.m., at Haddam-Killingworth

Oct. 14: Coginchaug, 6:30 p.m., at Palmer Field

Oct. 21: North Branford , 6:30 p.m., at North Branford

Oct. 29: Lewis Mills, 2 p.m., at Muzzy Field (Bristol)

Nov. 5: Hyde Leadership, 1 p.m., at Bowen Field (New Haven)

Nov. 11: Morgan, 6:30 p.m., at Palmer Field

Nov. 18: Valley Regional/Old Lyme, 6:30 p.m., at Valley Regional

Editor's note: The time for Saturday's game was changed to 11 a.m. and the Oct. 1 game to 10:30 a.m.


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