Printer Friendly Version - Wells Looks to Lead East Haven Football Out of Lengthy Drought

Senior captain Trevor Angelo has done his best to learn a new offense for his final season as a Yellowjacket and Head Coach Melvin Wells said he’s done a great job leading the team through early practices.

The East Haven football program hopes to have reached the end of its recent coaching carousel with the hiring of Melvin Wells. Wells, who was the head coach at Hyde for the past eight seasons and posted a 58-30 record, is aiming to bring similar success to the Yellowjackets.

The Easties haven’t had a season in which they went better than .500 since 2000, when then-Head Coach Rusty Dunne led them to a 7-3 mark. Last year, East Haven finished 3-8 under Anthony Lucibello, who resigned in October, and Jim Vicario, who took the reins on an interim basis.

“Honestly, I think at the end of the day, the kids appreciate the fact that they’re being coached the way they deserve to be coached and they’ve been given the opportunity to compete and be given an opportunity to have a chance to be successful. They didn’t feel like they were being given as good a look as they possibly could,” Wells said. “Sometimes, a new set of faces and a new approach to things revitalizes a program and I think that’s what has been going on with us lately.”

One big challenge Coach Wells may face in his first year at the helm is changing the attitude and culture of East Haven football. Enduring 14-straight losing seasons takes a toll on a program and Wells knows he needs to right that ship.

“The biggest concern we have right now is our football team’s ability to bounce back from adversity. Our good times are very good, but our bad times can be very bad, and sometimes they take longer than we needed to be corrected. That’s a matter of attitude and approach. Our kids sometimes get down on themselves and they find it very difficult,” Wells said. “What we as coaches are doing is everything we can to be positive and remind them that we’re going to be OK. The more they come to trust us and believe we’ll be there—win, lose, or draw—I think that’ll clean itself up.”

One positive entering 2015 is that Wells has the luxury of featuring a bunch of returning players, including senior captain quarterback Trevor Angelo.

“He’s been an absolute pleasure. He’s come around very well in regards to running the offense that we’ve put together. The Wing T isn’t the easiest thing in the world to figure out,” Wells said. “He’s grasped it really well and proven himself to be a great leader of a football team. He’s been doing all the things right when nobody’s watching and that’s why the kids voted him captain.”

Along with Angelo, East Haven’s other captains are Nic Defaranos, Austin Thornberg, and Nick Crosby. Defaranos and Crosby will be huge assets along the offensive and defensive lines and Thornberg should get plenty of looks running the ball in the new offensive scheme. Wide receiver Mike Griffith was a big-time playmaker with his game-breaking speed last season. If Angelo, Thornberg, and Marshall run the ball effectively, they’ll create plenty of space for the swift wideout.

“Our biggest strength is our offensive line. They’re an older, so we feel very comfortable with the fact that they’ll be able to help us get the ball down the field,” Wells said. “Our backfield core, we feel very strongly about. Austin Thornberg is a really good running back, as well as McClay Marshall. Those two guys and our O-line should help us get down the football field and do some really good things.”

Coach Wells understands that the biggest issue for the Yellowjackets this year could be their defense. East Haven allowed plenty of yards and lot of touchdowns last season and Wells knows the unit will be put to the test.

“The team has always been an aggressive outfit, which makes it easy. What we’ve done is we’ve tried to make our rules in regards to playing defense as simple as possible and take the thinking out of the game. We’ve made their read keys and rules as simple as possible, so the kids can just go play football and not think too much about it,” Wells said. “We’ve really modified a lot of the verbiage and rules that comes with playing spread teams and Wing T teams and we’ve basically just lined them up, put them in right position, and let them play. So far, we’ve been OK. We’re not perfect yet, but we’ll be competitive.”

Wells called each game on the schedule important and said he and the team are looking forward to every one of them. There are a pair, however, that look at little bigger on paper and those are against SCC Division II powerhouse North Haven, plus fellow Rt. 80 resident North Branford, a team the Yellowjackets don’t typically play.

“As usual, North Haven has a phenomenal outfit and they’ve always done great job. We’re looking to put ourselves in a position to be successful at the end of the day,” he said. “We also have a really great opportunity to play North Branford this year, which is a first and may be a last, so the kids understand that’s a huge game in regards to once-in-a-lifetime deals. Those two are two big games that the kids are really looking forward to.”

Wells left the Hyde and the Pequot Conference for a chance to lead East Haven to SCC prominence and thus far he’s loved all the support he’s received. Now, it’s about putting in the work.

“Since I’ve been here, the people in the community and school have been nothing but supportive. I’m expecting nothing less than a successful season in regards to on the field, academically, and program-wise. Other than that, I’m hoping we really turn this thing around in a hurry,” Wells said. “That’s a huge task because it didn’t take 10 minutes to get here, so it may take a little longer to get back, but we’re up for the challenge.”

The 15 seniors on this year’s Yellowjackets’ team are Johnny Thomas (RB/LB), Thornberg (RB/S), Kyle Rinaldi (WR/CB), Austin Doredus (K/P/RB), Mark Moreno (RB/S), Angelo (QB/CB), Sal Luzzi (RB/LB), Jason Brissette (LB/RB), Noah Fiorillo (RB/LB), Griffith (WR/CB), Steve DellaCamera (LB/TE), Defaranos (OL/DL), Crosby (OL/DL), Dalton Petroccio (OL/DL), and Noah Parlato (TE/DL).