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12/15/2017 11:00 PMAlthough the second half of the season didn’t go the way the Indians wanted in terms of the win-loss column, the Guilford football team competed hard against every opponent right through the final seconds of the 2017 campaign, while developing a foundation for future prosperity.
First-year Head Coach Anthony M. Avallone and the Indians won three of their first four games this year, before losing five of their last six to finish at 4-6 overall, including a record of 4-2 in SCC Tier 3. In reflecting upon his first season at the helm, Coach Avallone knew it was going to be a big adjustment period for the Indians, but said that they never used that as an excuse, and worked diligently from the offseason training sessions through the last whistle of the year.
“If you remember, the coaching staff came on board in May, so we had to get the process going quickly with spring ball. It required that the boys dove right in with both feet, and they did a great job with that,” said Avallone. “We had a good June with two back-to-back weeks of training after finals were done, which was a big commitment to ask of them. We had to do camps and spring football to get things out of the training, which put a lot of pressure on all of us. The kids worked hard, and we had to learn new behaviors. They lifted several days, and we did a passing league with Madison, Clinton, and Old Saybrook. Things like that got us to stay together throughout the summer, which we needed to jell.”
Following an Opening Night win over Branford, the Indians notched a victory versus Creed-Career-Whitney Tech, although it came with a price, as junior starting quarterback Jack Strand suffered an injury. Still, the Indians went on to win two more games and, although the victories were hard to come by during the second half of the year, they continued displaying the physical and mental toughness needed to give their opponents their best shot.
“Jack getting hurt in the second game put a wrench into things. We still competed hard and surprised a few people because of how hard we competed,” Coach Avallone said. “At 3-1, I was cautiously optimistic, because the beef of our schedule was coming up. [Sophomore backup quarterback] Ethan Vashel did a nice job. We played Brookfield, which was a sound team and knew it was a critical game. They took four turnovers from us and turned them into touchdowns. It was the first game where we lost the turnover battle. Foran was a good team with an All-State-type quarterback that single-handedly beat us. When we played Law, we knew they were better than .500, but we had many chances to win that game. We knew we had a real test with East Lyme. We knew Hand was the best team we would see. They are well-coached with good athletes. The game feels like it negated the gains we made this year. We had a team that was right there, but we just didn’t execute when we needed to.”
One reason why the Indians were able to persist through such a big transition was the heart and hustle of their 16-man senior class that was led by captains AJ Moscato, Carter Cox, and Brett Skapczynski. Coach Avallone said his seniors had a positive impact by showing their teammates how hard you have to battle under the Friday night lights.
“I don’t think we could’ve pulled off what we did in the time frame we had without this dynamic senior class. Everyone understood their role towards leadership. We had some good freshmen that came in, and the seniors led by example, worked hard every day, and were good role models for the underclassmen,” said Avallone. “The 3-1 start was a huge accomplishment, but they way we played in [a 17-0 loss to SCC Tier 1 team Shelton] without Jack at quarterback was also a big moment. The second half of the year felt like a hit in the stomach, but there were positives there. We learned how to compete.”
Seniors Tanner Small and Moscato made the All-SCC Tier 3 Team on offense for Guilford, while fellow senior Jack Gabriel earned All-SCC honors on defense. Moscato ran for 569 yards and eight touchdowns on 110 carries to win the Indians’ Offensive Most Valuable Player Award. Senior Carter Cox had 58 tackles and was chosen as the team’s Defensive MVP. Seniors Clay Huffman, Tyler Melillo, and Sean Russell shared the Indians’ Sportsmanship Award.
Looking to the future, Coach Avallone hopes to see his athletes apply the lessons they learned throughout 2017 in subsequent seasons, while further embracing the notion that being a football player requires a year-round commitment.
“We have to continue to physically get bigger. Football is a year-round sport. The work you put in the offseason is a direct correlation to success during the season, and there is an area of opportunity there,” Coach Avallone said. “We can control how big we come into the season, and the kids directly control that.”
From the Sidelines
The Guilford football team’s 2017 varsity roster was comprised of seniors AJ Moscato, Brett Skapczynski, Carter Cox, Clay Huffman, Sean Russell, Sam Jankura, Jack Gabriel, Luke Duffy, Lucas Napolitano, Tom Spinner, Corey Sondak, Anthony J. Avallone, Tanner Small, Tyler Melillo, Jack Surgenor, and Lucas Wilson; juniors Jack Strand, Owen Zephirin, Samu Samu, Dan McGowan, Tyler Filley, Miles Gabriel, Chris Kehlenbach, Colin Downer, Juan Colberg-Martinez, Will Lawrence, and Dan Leary; and sophomores John DeLoughery, Shane Burns, Ethan Vashel, Dylan Hegedus, Mike Clarke, Devlin Ahlefeld, Owen Nizolek, Joe Palmer, Ryan Eldridge, Branden Veras, Charles Schioppo, Aidan Chiaia, Ryan Hagberg, Evan Russell, Luke Standrowicz, Jakob Bradley, and James Melillo.
Head Coach Anthony M. Avallone was assisted by offensive coordinator Frank Ralston, defensive coordinator Mark Chapman, backs/linebackers coach Frank McDermott, and line coach Nick Gargano.
The Indians’ wins came against Branford (35-14), Creed-Career-Whitney Tech (23-21), East Haven (35-9), and Bassick (42-0). Guilford’s losses came against Shelton (17-0), Brookfield (31-21), Foran (37-12), Law (13-7), East Lyme (21-6), and Hand (49-7).