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12/16/2017 11:00 PMThe East Haven football team took some major leaps forward in its first two seasons with Melvin Wells at the helm. However, youth caught up with the Yellowjackets this year as the team finished 2017 with a record of 1-9.
“We had a strong indication one of two things were going to happen for us. Either we were going to be pretty good or we were going to struggle mightily based on our youth,” said Wells, whose team defeated Bassick 40-6 in its season opener. “Unfortunately, it turned out to be the latter of the two. It was for no other reason other than we are just a young, inexperienced outfit.”
At the end of the season, Wells resigned from his post as East Haven’s head coach, and so the search is on for someone else to take the reins.
“I just kind of need to catch my breath. Sometimes you have to take time to step away and relax for a bit. I’m going to be around the kids, but for the most part, I’m going to settle down, relax, and get myself healthy,” Wells said. “We have a great group of kids coming back, but it gets to a certain point where you’ve done all you can. My goal was to put this thing together and make it a better situation than it was when I got here. I believe I did that.”
East Haven had 50 athletes on its roster at the end of the year, but only four of them were seniors. The Yellowjackets’ seniors were captains Andrew Luzzi and Justin Fonacier, along with Seth Proto and Corey Franchi.
“Our senior class handled this season with a degree of dignity that goes well beyond their years...Every day of the season, they were the most positive, motivating guys that we had,” Wells said. “I can’t do anything but be appreciative that they did that for myself and the entire East Haven football program. Those guys love the program more than anybody I know. That is a difficult thing to do. It’s easy to quit.”
Wells said that he enjoyed working with his young club throughout the season. Unfortunately, the Easties’ inexperience resulted in too many miscues on the field.
“Our kids did a wonderful job of coming out and competing every single day. When we played well, for those periods of time where we did play well, we were really good. But when we made mistakes, our mistakes were glaring,” Wells said. “We have some very capable kids, but this year we did not have a McClay Marshall or Niam Coward, a guy to make up for those mistakes that we would make. When that happens, it’s very difficult to be successful in the SCC.”
Wells focused on turning those mistakes into positives for his young bunch. He and his coaching staff wanted to be teachers who made sure their athletes grew as football players.
“We teach. The best part of being a young team is they know no better. All they know is what we teach them. I had more fun coaching high school football than I did in a long time. I had the opportunity to teach and help these young men,” Wells said. “When they made mistakes, we took the opportunity to teach them what the mistake was and how to correct it. You’d be surprised what young people may pick up when you take the time to explain certain things. What that does unfortunately is take time. We could not go nowhere near as fast as we would’ve liked to have gone, because we had to teach the basics.”
Sophomore quarterback Tanner Divito completed 54 passes for 639 yards and two touchdowns this season. Sophomore running back Jacob Araujo led the team with 451 yards on the ground, while junior Michael Manning was close behind with 402 rushing yards. Sophomore Michael Castellano caught a team-high 19 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns, fellow sophomore Jake Marquardt caught 10 passes for 125 yards, and junior Evan Damian had 10 receptions for 101 yards. It was East Haven’s first season in a spread offense after two years running the Wing T formation. Wells thinks the Yellowjackets’ offense has the potential to fare very well during the next two seasons.
“This year, we had more receivers than running backs and, when that’s the case, you literally have to work with what you’ve got. Moving forward, they’ll be fine,” he said. “There are great receivers in Jake Marquardt, Michael Castellano, and Michael Caruso. Jake Araujo did a great job at running back, and Tanner grew and developed every day. I think they have a great opportunity now that they have a year in the system. They have a great opportunity to do some special stuff.”
On defense, junior Josh Rao recorded a team-high four sacks, while Proto and junior Ryan Cordova both had 111 tackles for the year. Franchi was named to the All-SCC Tier 3 team as an offensive tackle, and Cordova earned Honorable Mention. Luzzi and Proto were named to the Levi Jackson All-Star Team as linebackers.
As Wells steps away following his three seasons with the team, he believes the next few years can be promising ones for the Yellowjackets, who will have plenty of devoted football players returning to the fold. Cordova and Steve Minigione will be the captains for the 2018 team.
“There was never a moment where East Haven High School laid down and just kind of let up. That’s one of my proudest moments because we want to teach that mentality. All young people need that mentality win, lose, or draw. There’s no quit in this team,” Wells said. “After a 1-9 season, you have to be dedicated to stick it out. Most of these guys have two years still to play, so it’s a golden opportunity to do something special at East Haven High School.”