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Farmington Valley Football

Young Farmington team looks to continue growth and secure some victories

Brian Buono, center, returns in the backfield for the Farmington High football team this fall.

Brian Buono, center, returns in the backfield for the Farmington High football team this fall.

FARMINGTON – It was a young team that the Farmington High football team put on the field a year ago that included plenty of sophomores and juniors. And it showed. The Indians (2-9, 0-5 CCC Div. II West) were outmatched, frequently. 

“We were just undermanned,” Farmington High coach Chris Machol said. “It wasn’t their fault.” 

Machol hopes some of those hard lessons from 2014 will help the Indians earn additional victories this fall. “We’re a lot more experienced and the kids are more mature,” he said. “It’s nice to not come in and start from scratch. We’re not breaking in a lot of new players.” 

Junior Brooks Mihalek will get the starting nod Friday night when the Indians host Wethersfield in their home opener. He will split time with sophomore Zach Conrad. Both got playing time at the end of the season a year ago. 

Senior Michael Popolizio, last year’s opening day quarterback, has been moved to tight end and defensive end.  Popolizio was the team’s leading rusher a year ago with 426 yards and six touchdowns. 

“We didn’t have that many explosive plays on offense or defense last year,” Machol said. There was one game that was an exception – a 55-12 decision over RHAM. In that game, Farmington scored three touchdowns on kickoff returns (2 by Connor Martin, 1 by now-junior Brian Buono) and scored another touchdown on an interception return from now-senior Xavier Amos. 

Seniors Akash Kumar and Matt Goralski look to be anchors on the offensive line as guards and on the defensive line as tackles. Junior center Ryan Witter and junior tackle Ben Wogen are ready to go. Defensively, the top two tacklers from last year return in Miguel Zayas (42 tackles) and Amos (43). 

Buono, who ran for a season-high 94 yards in the Thanksgiving Day snow game with Plainville, is ready to go in the backfield. The top receiver returning is senior Sean Dunleavy, who caught 21 passes for 234 yards a year ago. 

T.J. Nanos (10) returns a kick in last year's Thanksgiving game against Plainville on a snow-covered field.

T.J. Nanos (10) returns a kick in last year’s Thanksgiving game against Plainville on a snow-covered field.

The Indians drew a tough opening day opponent in Wethersfield and they still challenging games against defending state champion Windsor and Middletown. But Machol is confident that Farmington will be more competitive this fall with a stronger, older and more experienced squad. 

Farmington remains in the CCC Division II but moved from the Western Division to the Eastern Division with E.O. Smith, Middletown, RHAM, South Windsor and Windsor. The CCC realigned last spring with the addition of Avon as the 33rd member of the league. Initial realignment had Farmington moving up Division I but when Weaver joined the Bulkeley co-op team, they moved up to Division I and Farmington slipped back into Division II. 

FARMINGTON
Coach: Chris Machol, 7th year (37-25)
Last year: 2-9, 0-5 CCC Division II West
Of note: The Indians went 2-9, snapping a streak of four straight winning seasons under Machol – the longest stretch of consecutive winning campaigns since the early 1940s. Farmington had eight straight winning seasons from 1934 through 1941.

Schedule
Fri. Sept. 11: WETHERSFIELD, 7 p.m.
Fri. Sept. 18: at Bristol Eastern, 7 p.m.
Fri. Sept. 25: at E.O. Smith, 6 p.m.
Fri. Oct. 2: WINDSOR, 7 p.m.
Sat. Oct. 10: at Hartford Public, 1 p.m.
Fri. Oct. 23: MIDDLETOWN, 7 p.m.
Fri. Oct. 30: MALONEY, 7 p.m.
Sat. Nov. 7: at RHAM, 2 p.m.
Fri. Nov. 13: SOUTH WINDSOR, 7 p.m.
Thur. Nov. 26: at Plainville, 10 a.m.

Gerry deSimas, Jr., is the editor and founder of The Collinsville Press. He is an award-winning writer and has been covering sports in Connecticut and New England for more than 30 years.

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