Even though it was raining at Vanacore Field, there was no way that a little inclement weather was going to dampen anyone’s spirits at the North Haven football team’s 13th annual Spring Brawl fundraiser, especially the brave young lady that the event was centered around.

Amelia DePino is a member of this year’s senior class at North Haven High School who was diagnosed with leukemia in January. When the football team’s upcoming seniors were thinking about who they wanted to support with this year’s Spring Brawl, they thought about DePino—someone they’ve known for years after growing up together in North Haven. Like they do every year, the Indians’ athletes worked hard to make the event take shape, and their efforts culminated on June 16, when people showed up in droves to support DePino and her family, while watching their hometown football players hit the gridiron for a hard-fought, yet friendly scrimmage.

DePino has cheered on North Haven’s football players many times in the past, but right now, they’re the ones rooting for her. DePino said it means everything to her that the Indians chose her as the benefactor of the 2017 Spring Brawl.

“It really hits home,” she said. “It means a lot, because I go to school with these boys, and I’ve gone to school with them for four-plus years now, so it means a lot to actually be there with them, supporting them, and them supporting me, because I’ve been to so many of their games, supporting them and what they do. So it means a lot. It’s really special.”

DePino said she was “completely blown away” when she found out that the proceeds from this year’s Spring Brawl are going to help her in her battle against leukemia. And that goes way beyond the financial support. DePino said the fact that she has the backing of an entire town is providing an uplifting wave of emotional support as she strives to defeat this disease.

“It gives you a boost to know that when you get down sometimes, when things get rough, the boys were always texting me, and they’re always there, and all the people in town always asking, so it does help to know that there’s a whole town behind me,” said DePino.

DePino was initially unsure if she was going to be able to attend this year’s Spring Brawl. However, she said that she feels good and her “numbers are good,” and so there she was alongside her mother Annetta for the coin toss, with a smile that was like a ray of sunshine on a rainy day.

“I’m really excited. A lot of my treatment, I couldn’t even finish my school year in school, so being around people, being around familiar faces that I would see in the hallway, it means a lot,” DePino said. “I couldn’t be happier. I’m happy I made it, because when they planned it, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make it. And now that I’m here, I’m super excited.”

North Haven football Head Coach Anthony Sagnella was one of DePino’s teachers at the high school, and it’s heartwarming for him that his athletes chose to support one of their classmates for this year’s Spring Brawl. In terms of what strikes him about DePino, one word quickly came to the forefront for Sagnella, who feels the Indians can learn a lot from how she’s been dealing with the most adverse of circumstances.

“Courage, number one,” Sagnella said. “She has just not let her situation beat her down. She’s strong, and she’s resilient. And she’s what you want football players to be. When you’re in the locker room with the guys, those are some of the words that you throw around, and she’s demonstrated that. She’s living it every day. So they can learn from her.”

Mark Montano, who is one of North Haven’s senior captains for the 2017 season, said the Indians have been inspired by the courage that DePino has displayed throughout these past few months. While football is a serious sport, Montano and his teammates know that the gravity of what DePino is going through is much greater than anything that happens between the hashmarks—and they admire her for how she’s dealing with it.

“It’s awesome to see the fight in her and how resilient she is, and that she’s battling this,” said Montano. “We talk about football—it’s a battle, it’s a fight—and she’s doing this with her life, like Coach Sagnella said earlier. So it’s really inspiring to us as a team to see how strong she is.”

Montano represented Team Maroon at the Spring Brawl, while fellow senior captain Korbin Pecora competed for Team White. Pecora said that one of the reasons why this year’s edition of the Spring Brawl is so special is because the Indians are banding together to make a positive impact on the life of their own at North Haven High School.

“It’s a huge honor to be able to do this event, play this game for someone in our school, one of our classmates. It’s awesome for all of us to be able to give back to the community, especially when it’s someone who’s in school with us every day,” Pecora said. “It means so much to be able to help someone and, as a group, just do things for the community.”

When the game was over, DePino stood among the North Haven football family and thanked everyone for everything that they’ve done to help her. DePino knows that she will always have North Haven in her corner, and she feels honored to live in a town where so many people go out of their way to show how much they care.

“It’s surreal. It’s definitely surreal. To see all these people that you constantly see at games to support the team out here to support you when you’re fighting something, it means a lot,” DePino said. “I never thought this would happen. I never thought I could bring this many people to a game.”

Let’s Play Some Football

Team White scored the first two touchdowns and went on to a 20-14 victory versus Team Maroon in the 13th annual Spring Brawl. Alex Ciaburro plunged in for a TD on 4th-and-goal from the 1-yard line with four minutes left in the first quarter. Anthony Bello kicked the extra point and White had a 7-0 lead. On Maroon’s first drive, Ciaburro recovered a fumble and motored 35 yards to the 5, after which Korbin Pecora took it in for the score. John Crispi booted home the extra point and Team White was up 14-0 after one. With 7:33 left in the first half, Shamus Meehan picked off a deep pass for Maroon, and they followed by driving 85 yards for a touchdown. Gabe Martinez rushed for a first down on fourth down, and then Meehan completed a bomb to Steven Erbe at the White 1-yard line with 40 seconds left. Martinez scored from a yard out, and Mohammed Shreiteh kicked the point after to cut Team White’s lead to 14-7 at halftime.

Team White scored on its first drive of the second half as Ciaburro converted a 1-yard TD run for a 20-7 advantage late in the third quarter. Martinez broke off a 54-yard run on Maroon’s next series, but Maroon would up losing a fumble deep in Team White territory. However, White fumbled right after that, and Devan Brockamer pounced on it to set up Maroon with 1st-and-goal from the 10. Early in the fourth quarter, Jeff Williston scored from two yards away, and Shreiteh hit the extra point to make it 20-14. Maroon soon recovered another White fumble, and then Martinez had another long run to get his club near the red zone. On 4th-and-8 from the 23, Martinez threw a touchdown pass to Erbe, but it was called back on a penalty, and White regained possession. On the game’s last drive, Team Maroon got the ball with 3:04 remaining. Martinez completed a pass to Erbe to get into Team White territory with a minute left, but time ran out on Team Maroon, despite a great effort that featured a few desperation laterals on the final play.

• This year marked the seventh time that the North Haven football team’s Spring Brawl has served as a fundraiser. In the previous six years, the event raised approximately $46,000 to support Special Olympics Connecticut, The Benhaven Group for Autism, the late Matthew Jacques, Anthony Longley, and Hunter Pageau, as well as the building of a new playground at Green Acres Elementary School.

• Prior to game, the referees presented this year’s benefactor, Amelia DePino, and her mother Annetta with a donation, as did Richard Branigan, who is the president of Kids for Kids, Dancing for Life.

• The honorary coach for Team White this year was Dr. Doug Rollins. The assistant coaches were Indians’ football players from the Class of 2017 in Tom Dodge, Colin Finkle, Kyle Melillo, Matt Rademacher, Craig Somma, and Carson Tebbetts. Dr. Dave Fanatarella, who like Rollins, is a dentist that lives in North Haven, served as the honorary coach for Team Maroon. The team’s assistant coaches were also football players from this year’s senior class in Vinnie Anastasio, Dustin Byrnes, Paul Murray, Bryan Searles, Jack Steinman, Max Sullivan, and Jake Tantorski.