“Out with the old, in with the new” was a motto throughout this season for the East Haven football team, which finished 7-3 to give the Yellowjackets their first winning record in 15 years. East Haven brought in Melvin Wells from Hyde as its new head coach and he sent out the old way of doing things by making his players believe in what the team could achieve.

“It was a very exciting time because, at the end of the day, I did everything I could do for Hyde. I thought I was stagnant there and didn’t think I could do more,” Wells said. “With this opportunity to coach at East Haven, it was intriguing because they had an opportunity to be successful, but didn’t have the leadership to do so. When we got here, we saw a hungry group of kids.”

With Doug Cotto as East Haven’s defensive coordinator and Chris Cuomo at offensive coordinator, Coach Wells worked closely alongside his staff to prepare his athletes and give them a chance to be competitive in every single game.

“Doug Cotto and Chris Cuomo did a phenomenal job of installing and preparing the kids every week to play competitive football,” Wells said. “It was like dealing with a clean sheet of paper. The kids did a great job of playing the game the way we taught it and I can’t ask more. Just pay attention and you’re given a chance to win.”

The Yellowjackets set a tone for their winning season by kicking it off with a 29-21 victory versus Guilford, after which they beat Hamden by a 34-31 final in four overtime periods in what was one of the most exciting games in the state this fall.

“To be a part of a game, especially against Hamden, these kids will live with that for the rest of their lives,” Wells said. “It was dubbed the game of the season based on how it was played, the record-breaking fashion. It was very exciting. Once that happened, I could tell the team forgot the old ways and started thinking the new.”

East Haven continued to get better as the season wore on and even had a chance to continue playing football after Thanksgiving. On that day, the Yellowjackets would have clinched a spot in the Class M State Playoffs had they defeated Branford, but took a 10-7 defeat and narrowly missed a postseason nod.

“I don’t think we as a staff or team recognized that moment. They never had the experience and, for us, we were living the wave of success, so we were conducting business as usual. That moment was not business as usual because we had the ability to do something successful,” Wells said. “We rolled into the Branford game and felt confident, but they were as confident and capable and did what they needed to do to win that game. We went to get it, not take it, and that’s a hard pill to swallow.”

The four captains for the Yellowjackets this season were Mike Crosby, Austin Thornberg, Trevor Angelo, and Nicholas Defaranos. The quartet worked in tandem with their teammates to lead a struggling program to new heights and, for that, many of East Haven’s players were rewarded. Thornberg was a Class M All-State selection and also made the All-SCC Division II Team. He ran for 1,118 yards, scored 10 touchdowns, and returned a kickoff for a score. Defensively, Thornberg made 95 tackles and intercepted eight passes. Other All-Conference selections were Mike Griffith, who caught 15 passes for 370 yards with three touchdowns and also made 65 tackles, while securing a team-high 10 interceptions; Niam Coward, who finished with a team-best 120 tackles and five sacks; plus Crosby, who recorded 81 tackles with four sacks. Steve DellaCamera, Dalton Petroccio, and Angelo were named to the New Haven Gridiron Club’s Levi Jackson Team and Sal Luzzi was the squad’s CIAC Scholar Athlete.

All of these individual accolades are nice, but what East Haven accomplished as a team this season was truly special. Coach Wells said he had five goals entering the year: have a winning season, be competitive, win its division, reach the State Playoffs, and play in the state final. Even though they didn’t accomplish every goal, the Yellowjackets achieved much more than what many predicted at the outset of the season and had one of the best years the program has seen in quite some time.

“There’s nothing I’d change about our season. We have a great amount to look forward to,” Wells said. “Our goals haven’t changed. The kids had a smell of what that tournament feel is like. It’s different and the kids seem really hungry for it.”

From the Sidelines

Wins for East Haven this year were versus Guilford (29-21), Hamden (34-31 in four overtimes), Law (17-6), Lyman Hall (35-0), Sheehan (39-0), North Branford (37-13), and CREC Co-op (42-6).

The Yellowjackets’ losses came against North Haven (47-0), Foran (41-17), and Branford (10-7).

The 13 seniors for the Yellowjackets were Austin Thornberg, Kyle Rinaldi, Mark Moreno, Trevor Angelo, Sal Luzzi, Jason Brissette, Noah Fiorillo, Mike Griffith, Steve DellaCamera, Nicholas Defaranos, Mike Crosby, Dalton Petroccio, and Noah Parlato.

East Haven scored 247 points this year and allowed just 175.