Printer Friendly Version - Guilford Youth Football 8th-Graders Enjoy a Sensational Campaign

The Guilford Youth Football 8th-grade squad went 9-2 on its way to making the title game in the Shoreline Youth Football Conference this past fall. Pictured from the team are (front) Jaden Iannaccone, Brady Hallihan, Caden Welch, Charlie Messercola, Julian Schlessel, Jake Jahnige, Grady Holabird, Henry Sedas, and Joe Tafro; (back) Nate Shippy, Jean-Paul Meguerditchian, Jacob Helland, Timmy Hastings, Ryan McCullagh, Trevor Ridley, Tyler Hilgert, Jaco Corso, Buddy Gambardella, and Zachory Giboski. Photo courtesy of Sandra Ridley

The Guilford Youth Football program’s 8th-grade team went on an exciting run to the Shoreline Youth Football Conference championship game during the 2019 fall season. The team finished with a record of 9-2 to cap off a steady rise in the 16-team conference throughout the past three years.

After there were not enough players for Guilford to field a team in the boys’ 4th- or 5th-grade seasons, Head Coach Dan Tafro and his assistant coaches managed to form a 6th-grade team two years ago. For many of the players, it was their first time playing organized football. The team finished at 3-7, but was competitive and established a solid base to build from.

Guilford started out at 0-3 in its second season, at which point the team began to turn a corner and started jelling. Guilford finished with the year with a record of 6-1-1, tying an undefeated first-place Newtown team along the way. The season culminated with Guilford competing in the Bowl Championship, which is a playoff for teams not seeded in the top eight.

This year, the boys really put it all together as Guilford went 7-1 during the regular season to finish second out of 16 teams. The team added two playoff wins before losing to an undefeated Cheshire squad in the championship. Guilford won eight games in a row at one point, including consecutive wins over upper-division teams like Branford, Madison, Wallingford, Shelton, and Southington. In only three years, the team developed into a force to be reckoned with.

The athletes on Guilford’s team were Jaco Corso, Buddy Gambardella, Zachory Giboski, Brady Hallihan, Timmy Hastings, Jacob Helland, Tyler Hilgert, Grady Holabird, Jaden Iannaccone, Jake Jahnige, Ryan McCullagh, Jean-Paul Meguerditchian, Charlie Messercola, Trevor Ridley, Julian Schlessel, Henry Sedas, Nate Shippy, Joe Tafro, and Caden Welch.

Guilford was coached by Head Coach Dan Tafro, along with assistant coaches Chris Gambardella, Sean Hallihan, Nolan Holabird, Paul Jahnige, Scott Ridley, Michael Shippy, and Carter Welch.