By Dave Stewart
MaxPreps.com
NEW CANAAN, Conn. - It’s been nearly seven months since New Canaan quarterback Charlie Westfal orchestrated one of the greatest championship game comebacks in Connecticut high school sports history.
In the aftermath of the Rams’ 34-30 win over Daniel Hand in the Class MM final, there were some bittersweet feelings. It was as much a glorious feeling as it was an ending to a great story.
So when Westfal received another, final chance to play for head coach Lou Marinelli of New Canaan in this week’s Hall of Fame Football Classic, it was something the recent NCHS graduate wouldn’t even think about passing up.
“It’s everything I could ask for,” Westfal said Monday at Dunning Field. “He’s been the best coach I’ve ever had in my entire life, and a life-long friend. I didn’t think I’d have another chance to play for him, but I’ve got one more and hopefully, I can make the best of it.”
The Hall of Fame Classic between Fairfield and New Haven counties will kick off Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Ken Strong Stadium in West Haven. Fairfield County will be looking to snap a three-game losing skid at the game, after losing last year, 31-6.
Westfal, who will play at Washington and Lee this fall, will also be like a kid in a candy store with a couple of old enemies, and one teammate, on the receiving end of his passes. Starting at wide out for Fairfield County are St. Joseph’s Mike Carino (5-9, 186), who heads to Endicott this fall, and Ridgefield’s Sean O’Dea (5-11, 170). At tight end will be New Canaan’s Ryan Kilbane (6-0, 189), who will play at Elon.
“O’Dea and Carino are great and Kilbane’s amazing, too,” Westfal said. “To be honest, we all aren’t familiar with each other yet. There’s a lot of really great kids and great athletes out here. It’s amazing being able to throw to these kids. Some of the catches these kids make are unbelievable — they’re once in a lifetime-type catches.”
Fairfield County will be running the spread offense which helped New Canaan High School earn back-to-back Class MM championships, and last fall made Westfal one of the most prolific passers in the state. The 5-11, 182-pound Westfal completed 187-of-288 passes — a 64.9 percent clip — for 2,669 yards and 25 touchdowns. He was intercepted 11 times. In the State final, Westfal threw for 375 yards and four TDs as the Rams came back for the victory.
Westfal has also been a big factor in helping players from around Fairfield County adapt to the offense in a short period of time.
“I wasn’t sure I was going to do this, but when Charlie said he’d play, I had to say OK,” Marinelli said. “This is a lot of work to put together, but it’s an opportunity to coach him again. He’s like a quarterback coach explaining to all those kids what’s going on, how everything works and things like that. Having Charlie out there is like having a coach on the field.”
As for running the spread offense in this annual game, Marinelli said it’s been a great boost for the kids.
“I actually I wish I had done it when I ran the Connecticut-Rhode Island game,” Marinelli said. “Rather than banging away and banging away, this seems so much better for an All-Star game. And kids love to throw and catch — and we have some pretty good receivers, too.
“Ryan (Kilbane) is going to start at wide and he’s got great hands. He’s certainly very steady and you can always count on him. The other two wideouts who will start are Carino, who had that tremendous game against us with St. Joe’s, and O’Dea from Ridgefield. It’s exciting to have those kids in this kind of offense. It’s exciting for us to have Charlie throwing to those kids, who seem to catch everything.”
Backing up Westfal at QB are John Honey-Fitzgerald (6-3, 195) from KLHT and Mike Escobar (6-2, 201) from Danbury.
“The first couple of days were really hard, even for me coming back,” Westfal said. “The hardest thing is really the quarterbacks getting to know the offense and the terminology, but the other two quarterbacks have really learned very quickly — a lot faster that I ever could. I’ve been really impressed with them.”
When Fairfield County isn’t throwing the ball, it’ll have plenty of options to turn to in the ground game, including Weston’s 1,000-yard rusher Dylan Hannum (5-9, 210), Bridgeport Central’s Joe Richardson (5-11, 185) and Darien’s Kevin Joy (5-11, 182).
The offensive line includes New Canaan’s Kyle Duncan (6-1, 280) at right guard, Central’s Dewayne Guscott (6-3, 321) at left guard, Trumbull’s Alex Testani (6-0, 250) at center, Trumbull’s Dave Wowk (6-4, 270) at right tackle, and Central’s Tim Reese (6-2, 268) and Wilton’s Joe Smith (6-4, 275) at left tackle.
Leading the defense is coordinator Rob Trifone from Darien High School. Trifone said putting the defense together is made a bit easier by the fact that the roster includes numerous great athletes.
“You’re dealing with good athletes, you just line them up in the right positions, run to the ball and there’s not that much to remember,” Trifone said. “It’s coming together well. We have very athletic people, which helps as the down linemen are very athletic and can run very well. When you can get stuff like that, it makes everyone look good.”
Up front, Fairfield County’s line will include Bunnell’s Jeff Farrell (6-2, 250) and Hopeton Quarrie (5-10, 240), along with Bridgeport Central’s Ken Cobb (5-11, 230). At outside linebacker are Fairfield-Warde’s Chike Madu (6-4, 200) and Central’s Trevardo Williams (6-3, 215), who will spend a year at the Canterbury School before joining UConn in 2009.
The inside linebackers are New Milford’s Cody Wallace (6-1, 230) and Weston’s Hannum, while the secondary features St. Joe’s Carino, Danbury’s Escobar, Harding’s Byron Jackson (5-8, 185) and Staples’ Jeff Frusciante (6-0, 190).
“The three down kids — Farrell from Bunnell, Hopeton and Kenny Cobb have looked very good,” Trifone said. “And in the secondary, Ryan Carino sticks out and Mike Escobar does a nice job. All in all, we-re pretty steady and we’re pretty much two deep at every position.”
And that will certainly help when the game kicks off Friday night after just 10 days of practice.
“It’s been hectic, but it’s a pleasure working with the kids that we’ve gone against in the past, Marinelli said. “The kids have all been great. They’re really good players, they’re fun to be around and it’s been a pleasurable experience.”
Dave Stewart, the Sports Editor of the New Canaan (Conn.) Advertiser, is a MaxPreps.com writer and photographer. He may be reached at 203-966-9541 or at sports@ncadvertiser.com