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01/26/2022 11:00 PMWith his dad a college coach and both of his brothers playing the sport, Matt Dodge grew up with a football in his hands. After watching his brothers succeed with the North Haven football team, Matt followed in their footsteps and finished his journey by earning All-SCC and All-State honors as a senior captain last fall.
When Matt was younger, his father Mike served as defensive coordinator for the Southern Connecticut State University football team. Matt and his brothers, Nick and Tom, would attend the games and, following the final whistle, they’d pick up a ball and run around the field until their mother Lisa told them that it was time to go home.
By watching his brothers play and learning from his dad, Matt gained plenty of valuable insight about football. The sport was always a big deal in the Dodge household, to say the least.
Matt started with organized football in North Haven’s youth flag league at age 6, after which he began playing tackle in 4th grade. The more he played football, Matt realized that the sport was helping in grow in more ways than just physically.
“Football teaches you a lot in terms of determination. You learn to push through a lot of things,” says Matt. “I’m definitely going to take the skills I learned in football to the real world.”
Matt played for North Haven’s JV team as a freshman and was constantly competing against older athletes. In his sophomore season, Matt earned the job as a starting cornerback for North Haven’s varsity squad. While he took some lumps during his freshman campaign, Matt says that experience helped him adjust to life on the varsity gridiron.
“Going up against the older kids freshman year made me adapt a little easier. All I was seeing [was] these huge guys with beards,” Matt says. “I was just trying to do my best every time.”
After his junior season was canceled, Matt came back for his senior year and was determined to be a dominant cornerback. Matt feels that cornerback is the most difficult position in football, and he loves taking on the opposing team’s top receiver.
Prior to Matt’s senior season, Head Coach Anthony Sagnella told him that North Haven needed him to play on offense, too. Matt wound up playing quarterback, running back, and wide receiver, as well as cornerback, during his senior year. Matt found it challenging to learn about the offensive side of the ball, but he was willing to do whatever it took to help his team succeed.
“It was definitely rough learning a lot of the things. Freshman and sophomore year, I played corner on defensive days and scout corner on offensive days,” says Matt. “Learning all the new plays was a challenge I had to overcome. Athletically wise, I was able to play the positions pretty easily.”
Matt had to do much more than just learn a playbook in order to adapt to playing offense. He had to completely switch his diet and play through cramping issues that he developed from being on the field. However, Matt’s teammates had become like a family to him, and he was to motivated compete for them no matter what position he was playing.
“I’ve been playing with most of these kids since 4th grade. They’re not teammates. They’re family at this point,” Matt says. “We use that word a lot in North Haven football. You don’t want to disappoint your family. So, you just go out there and do your best.”
Coach Sagnella also worked with Matt’s brothers in the North Haven football program. Sagnella says that the youngest Dodge brother did everything that was asked of him and proved a unique talent for his team.
“Matt is a very special athlete. There wasn’t much he couldn’t do for our team last fall. He could run the ball, throw, catch, return kicks and punts, and play great defense at corner,” says Sagnella. “He was the third Dodge to play for us. All of them were captains and All-State players. Their father was a college coach for 30 years. It’s a luxury to have a coach’s son in the program. They really get it.”
After making the switch to playing both sides of the ball, Matt had a standout season for North Haven as a senior. Matt was named to the All-SCC Tier 1 Team as a cornerback with fellow seniors Steve DiCristina and Jake Langner, in addition to earning All-State accolades alongside Langner.
Matt also served as a senior captain with MJ DeVilliers for the 2021 campaign. Matt feels proud of what he accomplished, especially the fact that he was able to fulfill the destiny that his brothers left for him.
“There was definitely a switch from being the little freshman whose brother was captain to actually being the captain,” Matt says. “It was pretty special after both of my brothers were captains and All-State guys. I needed to fulfill my destiny, I guess you could say.”
Through football, Matt connected with his family at home and made another family on the field. Whether it was his blood brothers or his football brothers, Matt feels happy that it all came in North Haven.
“Playing for North Haven is a bit different than playing for anyone else. It’s really special to play for this program,” says Matt. “I really wouldn’t want to play anywhere else.”