Reflections on Senior Night and Years of Covering Football

By Ron Goralski

T​his article will likely take a few detours from the game itself. I suspect you already knew that.

This is sort of my farewell article for football in Farmington – something that I have been a part of since we moved to town in 1997. Many, many people have had a huge impact on the youth and high school programs over the years and I am fortunate to have served with some of them. With the MudHogs, I was able to reach out to parents through Inside the Hog Pen. During the high school years, I have had the opportunity to write game summaries. For that, I thank Coach Machol for asking me to document the playoff season of 2013. It is tough – sometimes gut wrenching – to write about games that involve your own son, hence my sporadic contributions this past season.

So, here we go

In all honesty, my game notes were a mess. It was a night of special distractions. My children and grandchildren attended, as did my brother. My father, despite the rather tricky inconvenience of paralysis was there too – he rarely misses a game. A micro­burst, or one of its close meteorological kin, crashed into the 4th quarter like a terrible breakup song. Except our padded boys roared, danced, and played through the storm as though it was infusing them with more determination and attitude. The storm has perfect.

Time to walk

I was asked (I think) to select the music that serenaded us from beneath the goalposts to the 40­yard line. It is there where we stopped for photographs before taking a left hand turn towards the sidelines. A boisterous double­line of underclassmen awaited each senior as he ran between them. Many of those seniors had taken the time to teach – and sometimes coddle – younger teammates when they were filled with uncertainty. It is not something that your son will rush home to announce, that he has helped the backup lineman with his stance or showed his protégé how to protect the ball.

My own son, Matt, had a mentor during his sophomore year. Many of you remember how senior center, David Busel, went down with an injury halfway through that wonderful 2013 playoff season. Without David’s tutoring and patience, Matt would have struggled and most likely lost his opportunity to finish the season at that position.

The voice

Thank you, Tony Sposato, for making our Senior Night introductions a completely awesome beginning to an incredible night. Years from now, those are the moments that we talk about at Thanksgiving dinner. Those 15 minutes helped to resurrect a group of young men who were coming off an ugly loss. I urge those who follow to continue to make Senior Night a special event. Players, parents, school administrators, and coaches come and go. Traditions build pride – they build spirit – they last forever.

I implore you to get involved and donate your talents and time to this football program. You have a “voice” in the decisions that are made. Without the members of our Booster Club: the sound system still spits static; the new turf field ends up in another town; the field house is still a wooden shed; our full­color game program is a single page in black & white; and second­rate equipment and uniforms are worn by your children. I cannot imagine what this past season (or the upcoming banquet) would be like without the talents of people such as Pam Sucato or Jenny & Chris Popolizio (to name just a few). Thank you, Booster Club, for turning a stroll across a field into a brilliant and memorable array of sights and sounds.

Chit­ chat

Immediately after the game, I decided that I would get a group of seniors together and let them talk about the game, the future, and anything else that came to mind. My son Matt, Louie Ortiz, and Mike Popolizio have been playing together since the age of five. By virtue of having families involved in running the MudHogs, all three spent every autumn Sunday of their childhood doing whatever we asked of them. Akash Kumar and Joey Sucato joined the trio. I had a couple more in mind, but they were swallowed up in the parade of sweat and pride that headed to the showers.

I let the boys carry the conversation.

Akash: “I think we just wanted to come out here and do something that we would remember the rest of our lives.”

Me: “How about that monsoon?”

Joey: “That was great. We really needed it.”

Me: “Joey, you went from being a backup last season to practically leading the team in tackles. Tell me what happened.”

Chatter from the others: “He’s been a monster.”
“It was like he flipped a switch and became an animal.”
“For a D-­end, he has a ridiculous amount of tackles.”

Joey: “As soon as I got my chance at Bristol Eastern I flipped the switch – I don’t know what happened – and now – I’m just so happy I’m here right now. I remember my first day of practice in 7th grade – my pads went up to my ears – I was so nervous. I was always the “little Sucato or something like that” and then these guys got me into playing MudHogs. I was on defense just waiting for Michael to come around and smack me.

Me: “And I’ve heard some of those speeches, it seems like you’ve taken on a bit of a leadership role.” (Some smiles and laughter from the others.)

Joey: (Hands over face) “No – nooo…”

Me: “OK, you three over here. We have Louie, Matt, and Michael. You guys started playing together when you were five­ years old.”

Louie: “Playing here in our last home game, I remember playing Manchester in our last game of A­-squad (MudHogs); they destroyed us playing on this field. When we came out tonight, I remembered that game and not wanting that feeling where my last game, ever, on this field was going to be a loss. I think we all kind of felt the same thing. This senior class still has most of the kids we had as sophomores. To have a whole class make it this far is ridiculous. It’s good to see that we came out tonight, Senior Night, and we were able to do something.”

Matt talked about having made a youth football career of snapping the ball to Mike or Louie and then playing center, with Mike as QB, for their freshman and junior years. The three of them put a verbal timeline together that included championships and winless seasons. None of the wins or losses seemed to matter now – just the fun – just the opportunity to play football with and against each other.

Mike: “I remember back in the MudHogs, always playing against the Kennedy boys (Colin and Conner) and it was actually a pretty cool experience getting to play them in a preseason game (against Lewis Mills). And I just know that the guys that I played with are going to be friends for life. It’s something special. Even now, starting to look back at the season and who’s been with you the whole time – definitely friends for life.”

We talked about college plans and how Akash had just been accepted to one of his top choices. Mike is most likely headed to a Springfield­area school where he is being recruited to play football. Joe has many options, “just as long as it is outside of Connecticut.” And then there’s Matt and Louie – both playing the game of academic catch­up – and despite Louie’s joke of “being back here next year,” both will be attending college as well next fall.

The picture

I asked to take a picture and they immediately fell into a formation. As if choreographed, they got down to one knee and faced the scoreboard. The numbers on their jerseys measured the varying widths of their backs. The scoreboard was bright in the distance. The numbers were blurry and unreadable through the lens of my phone’s camera. The first click was perfect but I took another. Then they faced me, arms draped over shoulder pads, and then smiles emerged. I clicked twice again. Thank goodness because the first one was blurry, as was the view through my eyes. A few tears showed up just to prove that old guys cry too.

Nobody wanted to leave the field. It was a slow walk back. I noticed parents waiting at the gate. I had forgotten I was keeping their boys from them. Hugs. Kisses. Tears. Smiles. For this quintet, football in Farmington was over.

This is football

I am not sure what it will feel like on Thanksgiving afternoon as we exit the Plainville field and get into our cars. This emotional sap will find it hard to say goodbye to everything that has made youth and high school football special to our family. Of course, by next week, we will treasure the change of pace as we slide into other interests and commitments. However, this is football – it is football that swallowed us up whole and dropped us into the belly of this community, connecting us to so many fabulous friends. Football turned our 5 ­year old brat into a thoughtful young man.

I have a feeling that it is football that will never quite shake us loose.

Oh, wait! The game

The Indians took a 7-­0 lead into the locker room at halftime on a Brian Buono 4-­yard TD run. Farmington opened up the second half with Alexis Walker burning up the sideline and winning a 55-­yard race to the end zone, extending the lead to fourteen. South Windsor came back with a 3-­yard TD run, but after a missed 2-­point conversion attempt, trailed the Tribe by eight. On Farmington’s next possession, Mike Popolizio took the snap from center and plowed his way to the end zone from 2 yards out. Sean Dunleavy’s third PAT of the game put the Indians up 21­-6 heading into the final quarter.

South Windsor was not about to hand Farmington a Senior Night gift. On their next possession, they stuck with the ground game scoring from 10 yards out but again failing on the 2­-point conversion. Farmington led 21-­12. A Prince Philip INT stopped another SW drive and Farmington snagged its third win against six losses.

Farmington closes out the 2015 season on Thanksgiving Day with a 10 a.m. kickoff at Plainville High School.

Photo credit: Ron Goralski