New beginning for Simsbury football program beginning Friday

Players from Simsbury race onto Holden Field before facing Conard last season.

It’s a new beginning in Simsbury this fall for the Trojan football team with a new head coach and new coaching staff.

Vinny Guiel replaces Dave Masters, who resigned last spring after 10 years as head coach and 32 years coaching high school football. Simsbury will also have a new offensive coordinator and a new defensive coordinator.

A few familiar faces will be gone on the gridiron, too.

Quarterback Patrick Matyczyk, who completed 126 of 199 passes for 1,442 yards and eight TDs graduated along with the team’s top two receivers – Andrew Kerwin (33 receptions, 335 yards, 1 TD) and Shane Butler (20-188, 1 TD). Matyczyk was the team’s leading rusher with 685 yards and 10 TDs on 101 carries.

But the cupboard isn’t bare for the Trojans, who open the season on Friday night at Holden Field by hosting Fairfield Warde in a Connecticut Football Alliance contest.

Sophomore Cole Roberts (79-236, 1 TD) returns at running back along with receiver Stephen Warton (19-353, 3 TDs) and tight end Issac Soto. Roberts caught 13 passes for 134 yards.

Junior Braeden Saino is expected to start at quarterback. Saino, whose family moved to Simsbury, was the starting QB a year ago for Chicopee High in western Massachusetts and completed 134-of-259 passes for 2,252 yards and 25 touchdowns. Saino threw for 449 yards and five touchdowns in a win over Palmer, Massachusetts last fall.

Still, it will be an adjustment for Saino. Chicopee would be considered a Class S school in Connecticut so the competition in the Central Connecticut Conference will be a step up for the young man.

“We’re moving in the right direction,” Guiel said recently. “We’ll have a chance to succeed. If we can play assignment football, if the players do their jobs and don’t try to do too much, we have a chance to shine.”

Guiel said the Trojans (2-8, 1-6 CCC Tier II) will take what the defense gives them.

“We’ll mix things up and whatever the defense gives us, we will take. I’m not going to put us in a box.”

Guiel, a teacher in Southwick, Mass., likes the size and athleticism of his offensive and defensive lines, led by returning players Griffen Humes and Aaron Zappone.

“I’m excited and ready to go,” Guiel said.

Simsbury will be looking for their first winning season since 2019, the final season before the pandemic. Simsbury has won just three of their last 20 games but they drop a 18-15 decision to Fitch last season and a 21-20 game against Platt. \

For the past three seasons, Guiel was the head coach at Amherst/Pelham Regional in Amherst, compiling a record of 17-13. His best record with the Hurricanes came in 2023 with an 8-2 mark. He also as a head coach at Smith Vocational in Northampton for one season (2018) and spent two years as an assistant coach at West Springfield High and four years as an assistant at Holyoke High.

Simsbury High
Head coach: Vinnie Guiel, first year; Career, four years, 22-18
Nickname: Trojans
Conference: CCC Tier II
Last season: 2-8, 2-4 CCC Tier II
Last winning season: 10-2 in 2019
CIAC playoff class: Class MM
Playoff appearances: 5, (1-5)
Last CIAC playoff appearance: 2019
League or division championships: 17. Most recent title: 2009 CCC Division I (shared)
Opening day record: 54-52-3. Last opening day win: 2021, Simsbury 37, New Britain 0
Social media: Twitter or X: none; Instagram: Simsbury_Trojans_football
Team website: https://www.simsburygridiron.org/
Of note: Simsbury will be playing Fairfield Warde for the first time in program history in a Connecticut Football Alliance contest. … This will be Simsbury’s second-ever game against Platt. … At the other end of the spectrum, Simsbury first placed East Hartford in 1910 and Enfield in 1921. … Two-time New England wrestling champion Max Konopka is stepping away from football to concentrate on his wrestling career. Konopka was a linebacker and running back a year ago. … Guiel comes to the program from Western Massachsetts where he was the head coach at Amherst/Pelham Regional for three seasons (2022-24) and Smith Vocational in Northampton (2018), going 17-13 in Amherst and 5-5 at Smith.

2025 schedule
Friday, Sept. 12: FAIRFIELD WARDE, 6:30 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 19: ENFIELD, 6:30 p.m.
Thurs. Sept. 25: HALL, 4:15 p.m.
Sat. Oct. 4: at South Windsor, 1:30 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 10: EAST HARTFORD, 6:30 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 24: at Platt, 6:30 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 31: at Windsor, 6:30 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 7: at Conard, 6:30 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 14: BRISTOL CENTRAL, 6:30 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 21: at Glastonbury, 6:30 p.m.

Other 2025 Valley previews

Lewis Mills 2025
Granby/Canton 2025
Farmington 2025