Inside the Huddle: Opening Day

We worked all summer long from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. every single day for this one game - opening day. Last year when we played Central Islip we got ran off the field, and by halftime the game was over. We all know about that and keept it in our minds all day as we mentally prepared ourselves.

About 6th period my phone vibrated and I had a text from a very close friend and mentor of mine, Sachem grad Lucas Brum. He sent a long message reminding me of what happened last year and to do anything in my power to prevent that from happening again. He said he wished he could be there to support us all, but he wishes us all his best.

That actually meant a lot to me to hear that from him, in my mind Lucas is one of the best linemen we ever had at Sachem East and he is someone that I have looked up to since I started playing football. He took me under his wing last year and taught me a lot about the game that I was just starting to get to know, and after last season Lucas would always drive me and Steve Casali to Steel Fitness to train with us twice a week, helping us get bigger and stronger for this year. Now that he is in college playing for Stonehill it just meant so much to hear from him on game day as I was preparing for C.I.

All day long from my peers at school I would hear negative comments about how we were going to get killed again this year. Not many people thought we had a chance but I knew that they would all be coming to the game to see if just maybe we had what it takes this year.

Then it was three hours before kickoff and we were all watching film as a team and studying the play of C.I, so we could get a feel for what was coming. Then we all got dressed and everyone was nervous and as amped up as ever to play and it was still about an hour and a half away at that point. The next hour and a half might have been the slowest of my life, every second felt like a minute as I sat in the wrestling room with my fellow linemen getting ready to play.

Finally we took to the field in front of a packed out crowd of students and parents all screaming as loud as they could. The feel for the game was just so unusual and different. It was much different from any game I ever played in. Something just felt right, the new jerseys, new sound system, full house of exited fans that now seemed as though they had hope for us to pull out a win. Everything just felt right at that moment as we took the field.

If you saw the way we played that night everything actually was right, as we scored a touchdown on just our second drive of the game. Soon after that the defense capitalized with a pick six by Billy Merone and we jumped out to an early 14-0 lead. From here on out the offensive line play was great, everyone was fired up and we went on to win 26-8.

The fans were awesome and I’m sure as a fan it must have felt great to see Sachem East football finally win a game, but as a player there simply is not a better feeling. It has been 729 days since we have last won a football game at the varsity level and this one was much deserved. We know what we put in all summer and in the offseason, and to see it finally payoff is amazing.

This is a great win for our school, community, players, fans, and coaching staff as Coach Woj got the win in his first game as head coach. As the clock hit 0:00 and we saw the final score everyone was at a loss for words. I remember hugging all my teammates and just screaming in excitement. Soon as we left the field as a tradition we all went into the corner of the building and let our fight song be sung for all to hear as we celebrated in triumph.

Once we were all changed and dressed, the celebration still didn’t quite end. We then went into the back end of the parking lot with our parents and had a tailgate party that lasted until around 10:45 p.m. We were all walking around congratulating each other and eating all kinds of food as we were all pretty much still for a loss of words to what just took place on our home turf.

Saturday then came quick as ever and we had film at 7 a.m. We watched the film together and saw a lot of good things but just as many flaws and holes that must be filled before Bay Shore. It was an exciting film period because I can hardly remember the last time watching a film of us winning. Last year’s film sessions were always tense and no one wanted to watch the game a second time after losing the way we lost many games last season. At 11 a.m. on Saturday when film was complete… that was it for C.I and it was onto Bay Shore and working all week to try and upset them this Saturday. I think we will be fully prepared and ready to go, but we shall see, everyone’s happy but no one is satisfied with our win last week and all this week our motto will be “Let’s get another one!”