Senior quarterback Trey Garea was eating lunch with his teammates when they were approached by Scott Benoit, the head coach of the East Haven football squad. Benoit relayed the news to Garea and the Yellowjackets that the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) had canceled the 11-on-11 fall football season as a result of COVID-19. After hearing the news, Garea and the Easties sat silently, stunned at the idea that their season was over before it even began.

“We were all shocked. We just sat there and looked at each other,” said Garea. “You could see a little bit of tears come out of some of our eyes. It’s so upsetting to get that taken away from you.”

The CIAC’s announcement to call off the traditional football season came on Sept. 4 in adherence with Connecticut Department of Health (DPH) guidelines that full-contact football is a high-risk sport. Last week, the CIAC Board of Control made the decision official when it voted to cancel the fall campaign.

Following a tumultuous offseason in which East Haven was forced to temporarily halt its practices, then saw its home field destroyed by a storm, Coach Benoit was disappointed with the CIAC’s decision.

“I have been very positive throughout this whole thing. I really thought there was a chance we were going to play. When I heard the announcement and the reasoning for why we couldn’t play, I kind of lost it. It was very upsetting,” Benoit said. “They cited risk as the reason why we weren’t playing. We have some of the best COVID numbers in the nation. There’s always going to be risk. What exactly does risk mean? It’s not unexpected, but it’s disappointing. I feel awful for our kids who have been great throughout this whole thing.”

On Sept. 9, numerous football teams from around the state attended a rally at the state Capitol building in Hartford in an effort to save the football season. Garea found out about the rally via a text from Brien McNamara, a senior on the Haddam-Killingworth football team. McNamara asked for Garea to help plan the event, and the senior captain did just that by posting on social media so that other athletes and coaches were aware of it. One of Garea’s tweets—a photo explaining the purpose of rally and some details about it—garnered more than 80 retweets and 100 likes.

“I thought it was fantastic. To see all the different teams that we play, teams we beat, teams that beat us—all of us were there for the same common goal, which was great,” Garea said. “It was the first time I’ve actually seen football players get along. Even though we weren’t on the same team, every single one of us locked arms and were there for one common goal—to get our season back, period. If it took us getting along, that’s what we had to do.”

Garea attended the rally with several seniors and juniors on the East Haven football squad. Garea was slated to lead the Yellowjackets as a captain alongside running back/linebacker Alex Duarte this year. Even with the season being canceled, Garea said that the Easties have stayed together and remained a team, regardless of the circumstances.

“It’s an honor to play with these guys. Our team chemistry is insane. We get along so well. I would not want to play with any other group of guys. The way we get along—we fight, we cry, we do it all together. I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” said Garea. “It has been an honor to lead these guys, all of them. All of them work hard, all of them want it just as bad as each other. It feels good being a captain of any team, but these kids are different.”

With the cancellation of the fall campaign, East Haven has been looking for alternatives to play football. The Yellowjackets have been in talks with other schools from the area about possibly putting together a club league. The league would not be sanctioned by the CIAC, but it would allow the Easties’ athletes to stay together and compete against other local teams, instead of joining any private leagues that might pop up in other parts of the state.

“It’s teams we know, it’s coaches we know, it’s local. It’s much more doable for us,” Benoit said of a potential club season. “I really don’t want our kids to be playing in these other leagues individually and playing for guys they don’t know. It just opens up a whole can of worms. I don’t know who is going to be coaching them. If we can stay together as a team and a coaching staff, it could be great.”

There is still the possibility that football could be played during the spring, following the CIAC’s reversal of its previous decision which stated that any sport that is not played during its usual season will not be made up at another time of the year.

Whether or not East Haven winds up playing football during the 2020-’21 school year, Garea knows just how much hard work his team has done. Even if there is no season, Garea said the Yellowjackets will always be remembered for the legacy they left on the field and the brotherhood they built while doing it.

“I want people to remember the mark that we left and the program that we built. We came from a team that went 1-9 to a team that went 7-3 back-to-back years,” said Garea. “I want people to know that we aren’t just a team; we’re a football program. We are guys that want to play. We want to do well, and we want to win football games. Even through the heartbreak of the season, we stuck together like brothers. It’s not just a football team. We’re a brotherhood.”