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Sports

Optimism Palpable as Farmington Gridders Open Camp

Passionate seniors, large junior class and some talented sophomores are anxious to establish winning tradition under third-year coach Chris Machol.

The weather greeted nearly 60 football candidates Monday with the favorable elements of a traditional autumn day.

Oppressive humidity could have presided, raising beads of sweat on tortured brows, but not this day. The bright sun reflected the attitude that Farmington High football is on the upswing.

The pain from the 1-10 debacle in 2008 and the 3-7 campaign of 2009 were soothed by the 6-4 record last year, but a 60 percent success rate doesn’t approach what the Indians yearn for.

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Many of them weren’t even in preschool yet when Farmington last made the state playoffs. In 1999, the Indians won the Nutmeg League crown, completed an undefeated regular season and trounced Holy Cross 33-0 in the first round of the Class L playoffs.

“Our main goal right off the bat is to make the playoffs,” senior center Matt LeBlanc said. “That’s at least eight wins to have a chance.”

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The winning season last year, the second in head coach Chris Machol’s tenure, has stimulated the campus on the hill and the townsfolk below.

Work crews are putting the finishing touches on the Greg Warren Memorial Building — which will house a new concession stand, storage room and rest rooms — making attending football games more comfortable than ever before.

The stadium lights that Warren, who died of cancer last winter, worked so hard to put in place, tower majestically over the complex — beacons of his legacy.

“Just playing under the lights is the greatest feeling ever,” said Mike English, a tri-captain along with Sean Fern and Anthony Greiner. “We’re very thankful for [the Warren Memorial]. Every time we’re out here running, we’ve seen five or six guys building it.

Greiner said, “It’s becoming more of a community thing.”

Wherever Greg Warren is, rest assured that his favorite music is playing and he’s aglow in knowing his hard work and determination have paid the dividends for which he strived.

A new day has dawned, and the seniors have plenty of reason for inspiration and optimism.

“I’ve never been on a team that believes that we’re going to win as much as this one,” Fern said. “Last year, it was, ‘maybe we’ll go .500 or have a winning season.’ This year we want to go 10-0.”

English, a two-way senior end, is imposing and fit at 6-foot-4, 210 pounds. He senses that his teammates want to replace the stretching, running and weightlifting of early preseason with some pad-to-pad popping.

“We have a bunch of kids who love to come out and hit,” English said. “Today it was, ‘Aw, when are we going to put on pads? When is this running stuff going to be done?’ I think that’s the most important part of football.”

He spoke of enhanced off-season preparation, including participation in a camp at Fordham University right after spring semester, six weeks of competition in a passing league at St. Paul in Bristol and unprecedented attendance for weight room sessions four days a week.

“We brought 22 guys down to the Fordham team camp for four days,” Machol said. “Good competition. The only other Connecticut schools besides us were (defending Class S champion St. Joseph-Trumbull and defending Class L champion Masuk-Monroe).”

LeBlanc also feels a change in attitude. It can be summed up in the banner on the wall that players can’t miss when they enter the Farmington locker room – “One Team, One Tribe.”

“The culture’s changed,” he said. “In years past, it was everyone playing for themselves. I think the whole team is playing for each other and even the town.

“When Coach Machol took over, it kind of created a buzz and we’ve improved every year. People are coming out to the games and they want to see us take the final step, to have that big season, to make a playoff run, and I think we’re ready to do that.”

Greiner added, “All of us want to be remembered as one of the great teams that have played at Farmington High School. That’s good motivation.”

Machol said his depth chart is nearly set, a point for optimism in the opinion of Fern, a middle linebacker/fullback.

“We have a bunch of returning starters,” he said. “Most of our defense is coming back. Four out of five linemen are back. There’s a big junior class behind us and a passionate senior class that wants to go out and win.”

LeBlanc spoke glowingly about talented sophomores ready to step in. Ivan Guadalupe, a 5-11, 180-pound fullback, and quarterback candidate Jeremy Buck are among them.

“Essentially I had the depth chart for varsity pretty much made up,” Machol said. “I told them the [10-day spring practice] was basically a tryout and the summer was a confirmation.”

Many of the boys were wearing t-shirts that exclaimed, “No Excuses,” on the back.

“Anybody you saw wearing it was here for 20 or more days this summer,” Machol said. “That’s a good number. Of our starting 11, eight of them have that shirt.”

The first day of practice signals a universal optimism in football camps, but the feeling here is different. Indeed, the culture surrounding Farmington High football has changed. A winning tradition can’t be far behind.

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