East Hampton-Vinal Football Celebrates First Season

Back in September, prior to East Hampton-Vinal Tech playing its first varsity game, coach Joe Cefaratti had this to say about his goal.

“The biggest expectation I have is we want to be able to compete,” he said.

Based on that goal alone it was a successful season, but it was successful for other reasons as well.

EHVT held its end of the year banquet on Dec. 11 at Angelico’s Lake House Restaurant in East Hampton, bringing an end to the team’s inaugural season.

It was a time to celebrate the season it was, even though it almost wasn’t. In July, the state announced an end to sports in the Technical School system as a means to address its budget woes. For three weeks the season was very much in doubt. On Aug. 4, however, fall sports were reinstated and a couple weeks later the State Employee Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC) approved a concessions plan that eliminated many of the budget cuts that been announced.

“It’s been a long and interesting two-year journey to get us here,” East Hampton High School Athletic Director Shaun Russell said.

The first game set the tone for the season.

The BellHawks stood toe-to-toe with perennial power Cromwell, exchanging big play for big play. In the end EHVT lost, 40-24, but a message had been sent.

“We held our own,” Pete Dombrowski of the EHVT Touchdown Club said. “Nobody ran over us. Nobody ran over these kids. Nobody ran over the program. Every team that played us knew that we were there.”

Cefaratti was hearing the praise and shared a few stories of what others had to say about the team. His guys were getting recognition for being hitters, for being physical.

“We may not win every game, but one thing for sure, we are tough competitors and we are physical,” he told his team and others at the banquet. “People are noticing what you’re doing out there. By far, you guys got to the level of competition that you were able to be in every game, you were able to compete in every game, and yes, we didn’t win them all, but we were in every one of them, some closer than others.”

The recognition at the banquet extended to individual honors as well. EHVT (3-7) placed nine players on the All-Pequot Sassacus Division team, including two who made first team.

Steven Hall earned first-team honors at running back and Spencer Daly also made first team as the punter. Making the Honorable Mention team were: Daly, QB/PK; Alex Seppa, DB; Kyle Adams, TE; Zach Dombrowski, LB; Andrew Ferchaw, LB; Marcus Deren, C; Nick Anderson, DE; and Alex Pinter, T.

“I was excited,” Hall said after learning of the honor. “I didn’t know I was going to get it.”

There was plenty of other credit to spread around, too, not just for the season, but getting the program off the ground.

“None of this would have been possible on our end without the hard work and dedication and support of our parents, who have spent a lot of time and a lot of energy and raised a lot of dollars in a lot of ways to give these kids the opportunity to do this,” Russell said. “I’m very thankful and appreciative of that, knowing what it takes to run an athletic department, over 21 teams and 300 student athletes. It’s not an easy endeavor. It’s not just a few dollars out of your pocket. This is a serious commitment that had to be made by families in order for kids to be able to do this.

“I applaud all of you, the kids, the parents, the coaches. Bringing two schools together is another element that is not easy. It’s something were proud to say, now that we have a football team. We’re looking forward to 2012, but tonight the celebration is 2011.”

For the boosters, there is no offseason. Fundraising events are already being planned for the coming months.

“We’ll be hooking up with [Friends of East Hampton Football] to do a couple fundraisers together, we’ll be going door-to-door, we’re going to try and hook up with a couple of businesses in Middletown, we want to have a bowl-a-thon, there’s a lot of things being thrown around that we’re going to start right off with in January,” Dombrowski said.

Among the team’s needs are headsets for coaches, a blocking sled and a tackling sled. Money raised during the year also goes toward events such as the end of the year banquet.

Anyone wanting information on the boosters or interested in donating, may call 860-508-0751.

“The kids gave their heart, that’s all that matters,” Dombrowski said. “I think we had an absolutely positive outlook on the whole season and looking forward to next year.”