Despite not quite accomplishing the ultimate goals of winning a division or state championship, the seniors on the Morgan football team had quite the send-off this fall. Finishing with a 10-2 record—their only regular season loss coming at the hands of division champion Valley Regional followed by a loss in the Class S State Playoff quarterfinal to Woodland—the Huskies went from a one-win squad just two years ago to winning 10.

“Our goal was to be a playoff team and we knew we could be good enough. We did want to win the Pequot South, but we finished second behind the only team we lost to in the regular season,” said Coach Mike Eagle. “We didn’t meet that ultimate goal, but as far as getting to the playoffs and changing our season around and being a winning team, we met those goals and did a great job.”

Leading the pack were senior captains Riley Cronan (OL/DL), Mark Zumpano (WR/DB), and Alex Lipka (QB, Offensive MVP), along with junior captains Jake Ward (RB/SS, Team Most Valuable Player for the second year in a row, All-Pequot) and Greg Lee (OL/LB, Defensive MVP, All-Pequot).

“As a group, this was my first class of seniors—they came in and we went 4-6 with 28 kids on the team, then the seniors all started their sophomore year and the juniors started since they were freshmen. They’ve seen both ends of the spectrum: the 1-9 losing end and this season at 10-2. They’ve been through a lot and I couldn’t be happier with their contributions that they’ve made over the years. To really come in and buy into the program, buy into what we speak and what the coaches say and do it on a day-to-day basis, to come into the offseason in the winter and summer and be program guys—for them to do that is something special.”

The Huskies also saw solid play from seniors Steven Jara-Torres, Wagner Guiterrez (Coaches’ Award), and Jake Mastroianni, along with juniors Eric Peterson (All-Pequot), Jake Tuener (All-Pequot), Joe Lee (All-Pequot), and Jace Garcia (All-Pequot); sophomore Chucky Kostek (OL), and 14 freshmen that came from nearly no background to very little experience as Clinton does not have an 8th grade program.

Despite losing so many seniors, Eagle is optimistic about next year’s squad as top running back Ward will return, as will several other core players.

“We expect to make states, win the league, and compete for a state championship and be in the mix,” said Eagle, who was assisted by Tom Drew, Chris Ward, Kyle Murphy, Marvin Meyer, Jake Luchuk, Sal Fiorillo, and Mike Aresinowicz, along with general manager Mike Eagle, Sr. “We want to play 14 total games next year. Things are looking bright for our program in the future and a lot of that goes to our coaching staff, which has been the same group of guys for years now and that consistency leads to success.”