The Guilford football team made some big-time strides in its first season with Head Coach Anthony Avallone last fall. Now, the Indians are ready to step up and display the payoffs of an offseason that was dedicated to bolstering the physical and mental skills that are needed to succeed on Friday nights.

Avallone returns to the sidelines for his second year as Indians’ head coach following a 2017 season that saw the squad go 4-6 overall with a record of 4-1 in SCC Tier 3 to finish second in the division. Coach Avallone said that while Guilford gave up some size last year, the team addressed that concern during the offseason. The Indians put in extra time on both the practice field and in the gym, where they implemented a more rigorous fitness regimen.

“After last year, we met as a team and talked about what we did well and what we needed to work on. We were a little undersized as a team, and there were a couple games where that hurt us,” said Avallone. “We made an offseason commitment to training with the weight room, conditioning, and a more regular training schedule.”

Avallone said that Guilford has a young team that only features nine seniors this season. However, the coach also noted that the Indians have several juniors and sophomores who’ve seen success in the program and are hungry to prove themselves at the varsity level.

“We want to work on getting depth and make sure there are little degrees of separation between our first-, second-, and third-string guys. We are a fairly young team and have a lot of sophomores and juniors that will play,” Avallone said. “We had a JV team that went 9-0 last year, so we will see how that translates to varsity. We are excited and look forward to this year, and camp has been successful.”

The Indians have yet to name any captains for the 2018 campaign. Junior Ethan Vashel will be taking the snaps as Guilford’s starting quarterback with fellow juniors Charles Schioppo and Charles Wolcott, a transfer from North Branford, slated to play running back. Seniors Miles Gabriel and Tyler Filley are primary receivers for the Indians, whose offensive line will be anchored by seniors Will Lawrence, Juan Colberg, and Colin Downer.

“We’re excited with Ethan. He got experience as a sophomore and is a highly coachable kid. Will is a two-year starter and has done a nice job, and Colin and Juan have had good camps,” Avallone said. “We’re happy to have Charles Wolcott, and Charles Schioppo has done a great job in camp. We have rising seniors in Miles and Tyler.”

Avallone felt that Guilford could have finished with a .500 record or better last season. As he gears up for this year, the coach feels optimistic about the fact that the youth-football and high-school programs are growing together in town.

“We are looking at continued growth. We made progress last year, but lost opportunities to get to 5-5 or 6-4,” Avallone said. “We want to create a solid nucleus and build on relationships with the youth program, which is growing in head count. To keep doing that, we have to create a winning high-school team.”

The Indians will have to wait a week before they get a chance to test their mettle in a game this year. Guilford has a bye week for Week 1 and will kick off its campaign with a contest at non-conference opponent Waterford at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 14. While the extra week creates a few issues from a preparation standpoint, Avallone said that Guilford will be ready to thrive on the gridiron when that first whistle sounds.

“We have a unique challenge in front working towards Sept. 14. It’s a competitive disadvantage to have that first-week bye. We’ve been able to put our foot on and off the gas, so we aren’t peaking too soon,” said Avallone. “The practices have been competitive, and there’s been a lot of teaching taking place in teaching them about what we are trying to accomplish. Waterford is an [Eastern Connecticut Conference] team, so we are expecting a competitive team, and we will prepare to win.”

Guilford’s assistant coaches for this season are offensive coordinator Nick D’Angelo, defensive coordinator Mark Chapman, running backs/linebackers coach Frank McDermott, line coaches Bob Swan and Ronnie LaCointe, and secondary coach Bill Hice.

2018 Guilford Indians Football Schedule

Friday, Sept. 14: at Waterford at 6:30 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 21: vs. Sheehan at 7 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 28: at Shelton at 7 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 12: vs. Notre Dame-Fairfield at 7 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 19: vs. East Haven at 7 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 26: vs. Foran at 7 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 2: at Law at 7 p.m.

Thursday, Nov. 8: at Bassick at 6 p.m.

Thursday, Nov. 15: vs. Lyman Hall at 7 p.m.

Wednesday, Nov. 21: at Hand at 7 p.m.