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09/03/2020 12:00 AMAfter dealing with practice restrictions and a brief shutdown mandated by the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC), the East Haven football team must now contend with the damage brought forth by the severe storms that rolled through the area on Aug. 27.
Though full contact, 11-on-11 football has been ruled out for this fall by the CIAC as of Sept. 4 due to the activity's classification as high-risk in terms of spreading coronavirus, there is still hope that a modified, 7-on-7 form of football could take place with the support of the Department of Public Health (DPH) as guidance from the National Federation of State High School Associations has classified 7-on-7 football as a moderate-risk activity, which the DPH has supported given Connecticut's current COVID metrics.
In a 7-on-7 format, teams would forgo an offensive line, outside of a center, to snap the ball to the quarterback. That would result in far less contact at close quarters that is typical of a battling offensive and defensive line. With no blocking, the passer is given a certain amount of time before the defense can send pass rushers to cause the play to be ruled down, which would be accomplished in a variety of ways (e.g. a one-handed tag or two-hand tag of the ball-handler or grabbing a ball-handler's flag in the case of flag football). In other words, 7-on-7 football means no blocking or tackling, which would lessen the possibility of spreading saliva droplets between athletes.
Regardless of format, the Easties still require a field on which to practice. Frank Crisafi Field, at which there was a new turf surface set to be unveiled this fall, was hit so hard with wind that the visitor's bleachers were ripped from the ground and sent flying on to the field. Due to the damage, Head Coach Scott Benoit expects the Yellowjackets to play their home games at the Crisafi Practice Field located at Joseph Melillo Middle School. East Haven used to play its home games on that field before moving to the field at the high school.
Despite the unexpected change in plans, Coach Benoit said that his team is staying focused on putting in the necessary work to prepare for the upcoming season. Last week, the Yellowjackets held their practices at the baseball field at East Haven High School.
"I told the kids after the storm, 'This has no bearing on how we prepare.' Our kids have done a great job of not letting it distract them," Benoit said. "There's nothing we can do about it, so we've got to press on. The Parks Department lined the baseball field for us at East Haven High School, and it's wonderful. We're just moving right along."
After putting fall sports activities on hold on Aug. 14, the CIAC announced on Aug. 23 that teams would be allowed to resume their conditioning sessions the next day and then begin participating in non-contact sport-specific skillwork on Aug. 29. The CIAC has also set Thursday, Oct. 1 as the date for the tentative season opener.
While there are still plenty of things up in the air regarding the fall season, the Easties were happy to be out there on the practice field last week. Coach Benoit has been impressed with how his athletes have looked during the early going. Benoit said that many of them have been training year-round for the rigors of the football season and are in better shape than he expected coming into camp.
"They've done a very good job," said Benoit. "We've had very good workouts since we got the whole team back together. It has been great to be back out there practicing. It has gone well."
East Haven has been practicing in groups of 10 or fewer and won't participate in a full team practice until Monday, Sept. 21 at the earliest. Consequently, Coach Benoit said that East Haven's practices have been a bit disjointed thus far. However, he added that the Yellowjackets have accomplished a lot in a short period of time and are adhering to their game-plan as best they can.
"We're following the rules, and that's paramount right now. My job as a coach is to prepare kids to play games and win games," Benoit said. "Really, our approach to it really hasn't been that much different. We've been working individual drills with all the coaches. It has been great."
After going 7-3 for the second-straight season last year, the Easties feature 15 seniors on their roster in 2020. Two key members of the senior class are East Haven's captains: quarterback Trey Garea and running back/linebacker Alex Duarte. Benoit credited his captains for keeping everyone on the squad unified throughout the summer.
"They've done a great job all summer," said Benoit. "We could have started in July, but we didn't. They got the team together over the summer. They worked out since the end of school in June, conditioning three times a week. They have a good understanding of what we want done."
Aside from the captains, the other athletes in East Haven's senior class are Lawrence Mingione, David Amatruda, Frank Piscitelli, Alex Madureira, Eric Araujo, Ryan Mikolajcak, Kristjan Fonacier, Tyler Kruse, Gunner Horton, Christopher Lombardi, Robert Cofrancesco, Anthony Cofrancesco, and Mat DiVito.
Although his team has encountered numerous obstacles, Coach Benoit wants to make sure that the Yellowjackets "won't let it define them" as they gear up to hit the gridiron. Benoit called the 2020 edition of the Easties a resilient bunch of athletes who are ready to go forward, regardless of any circumstance. Benoit feels that everything East Haven has dealt with during the past few months will serve as a lesson about how to overcome adversity.
"These kids have been through a lot, especially now. You've got COVID-19, you've got not being in school since March, now you have the field being destroyed," Benoit said. "This is stuff they can carry with them for the rest of their lives. They have put all these distractions aside and focused on the goal of being the best team we can be."
Assistant Sports Editor Chris Negrini contributed to this story.