Zanor: Dodd to host Futures All-Star Game, new pro league begins, other thoughts
Just thought I’d empty out my reporter’s notebook while hoping we get four unbeaten college football teams (Georgia, Michigan, Washington, Florida State) in this year’s final four-team playoff …
*Killingly, Griswold-Wheeler, Fitch and Windham carried the Eastern Connecticut Conference football flag into last Tuesday’s state quarterfinals. It wasn’t pretty. Killingly and Fitch fell to defending Class L and Class MM state champions New Canaan and North Haven; Griswold-Wheeler couldn’t hold off Pequot Conference power Cromwell-Portland; and Windham had a tough time against Sheehan, which competes in the football-rich Southern Connecticut Conference.
Yup, the ECC went 0-for-4 but all four teams were heavy underdogs. And a case could be made that Killingly didn't belong in Class L but that’s a story for another day.
I know this is no consolation but I hope all four teams can heed the words of New Canaan’s Lou Marinelli, the state’s all-time leader in career wins and perhaps the GOAT of Connecticut high school football’s coaching fraternity.
Marinelli addressed Killingly’s players and coaches following the Rams’ 49-14 win Tuesday at Dunning Field and had this to say: “To take a two-hour bus ride to come down here and then to come out here in the cold like this … you drove us crazy. You guys did a great job. Don’t let this ruin your season. You guys had a great season. You really did. Now, you got some young guys coming back … (Marinelli looks at Killingly running back Soren Rief and says, ‘I can’t say enough about you.’) … Congratulations on a great season … Don’t let this ruin it for you.”
More: 'They left everything out on the field': Killingly football can't keep up with New Canaan
Indeed.
Killingly had moved up to Class L this season and after going 0-2 no one gave them much of a chance to make the playoffs for the eighth consecutive year. Yet they ‘took care of business’ and went 7-1 the rest of the way to join some of the state's top teams in the Class L fray.
“The kids never stopped playing,” Killingly coach Chad Neal said. “All season long our kids played hard for 48 minutes every game.”
They don’t use the word “rebuild” in the Quiet Corner. Neal and his longtime staff have built one of the state's top programs. They’ve been to the state finals four of the past six seasons. But Killingly had a number of sophomore starters on both sides of the ball this season.
“Those guys got a lot of experience but they played varsity ready football this year,” Neal said. “They played at a high level. The key was in practice. They just kept staying the course and with the leadership of Soren (Rief) and Darin and Devin (Exarhoulias), they were able to lead those younger kids and show them the way.”
And how about Griswold-Wheeler? The senior-laden Wolverines had a season for the ages, losing only one game to playoff-bound Windham and making the playoffs for the first time since 2006. Griswold then nearly knocked off Class S power Cromwell, falling 26-18 at Pierson Park.
More: 'Nothing to be ashamed of': Griswold-Wheeler's first playoff trip since 2006 comes to end
“We have nothing to be ashamed of,” Wolverines coach Gregg Wilcox told Bulletin correspondent Larry Kelley. “I'll take a 9-1 regular season and good showing in the states every year."
Baseball All-Star game returning to Norwich
A baseball All-Star game is returning to Norwich this summer!
The 2024 Futures League All-Star Experience will take place at Dodd Stadium on July 22-23. The festivities include the league’s annual All-Star Game, Home Run Derby and other events.
The defending champion Norwich Sea Unicorns are hosting the event for the first time.
“Coming off of the 2023 Futures League Championship and celebrating the 30th season of baseball at Dodd Stadium in 2024, the All-Star Experience is a great addition to what we expect to be the best season of Sea Unicorns baseball yet,” Sea Unicorns general manager Lee Walter, Jr. said in a press statement. “Full plans for the two-day event will be announced in the coming months, but we hope the fans of the Futures League, and more specifically, the great people of Southeastern Connecticut, are as excited for this as we are!”
“Dodd Stadium is the perfect fit for our 2024 Futures League festivities,” Futures League commissioner Joe Paolucci added. “The fans of Norwich will have an opportunity to see the best of the best that our league has to offer and we are all excited to see what the 2023 Organization of the Year has in store for us. It is going to be a great event that will help to continue to grow our league.”
This will mark the first All-Star Game hosted at Dodd since 2013. The minor league Double-A All-Star Game drew 8,000 fans to Norwich on July 10, 2002. The Eastern League All-Star Game drew another large crowd on July 11, 2007, while close to 5,000 Norwich baseball fans attended the New York-Penn League All Star Game on August 13, 2013.
Collision course
Are St. Thomas More and Putnam Science Academy on a collision course to meet for the National Prep Basketball Championship in March? Jere Quinn’s Chancellors improved to 5-0 with a recent 109-59 victory over West Point Prep.
The New England Recruiting Report’s first prep coaches poll of the season had the Mustangs and the Chancellors ranked 1-2. Here’s what Adam Finkelstien of “The Upside” had to say:
1. Putnam Science - The reigning champions have reloaded and are poised to contend once again. The impending return of Oswin Erhunmwunse adds another layer to their formidable lineup including Ben Ahmed, Justin Johnson and Mekhi Conner, making them a force to be reckoned with in the upcoming season. (5 First-Place Votes)
2. St. Thomas More - With a star-studded duo in Tyler Betsey and London Jemison, St. Thomas More enters the season with not just talent but also depth in Justin Menard and Ben Defty amongst others, positioning them as strong contenders in the NEPSAC this winter. (4 First-Place Votes)
A Putnam Science Academy-St. Thomas More matchup for the national championship would have to be played at the Mohegan Sun Arena.
New professional hockey league
The brand new Professional Women’s Hockey League officially drops the puck on New Year’s Day with a New York versus Toronto holiday matinee at 12:30 p.m. at Mattamy Athletic Centre in downtown Toronto. The inaugural game is the beginning of a stretch of five home openers scheduled over the first six days of the 2024 calendar.
Boston hockey fans will get their first look at their PWHL franchise on Wednesday, Jan. 3. Boston hosts Minnesota at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell at 7:00 p.m.
“Giving our athletes the opportunity to step onto the ice to compete in front of our passionate fans has been the driving force of our efforts, and it’s going to be an exciting reality on New Year’s Day,” PWHL Advisory Board member Stan Kasten said in a press statement. “It’s time for the best women’s hockey players in the world to lift our game to greater heights."
Stuck in the '70s
On Dec. 3, 1978, the New England Patriots couldn’t hold off Tom Landry’s Dallas Cowboys in a 17-10 loss at Texas Stadium. In a matchup of first-place teams, the Pats (10-4) had a 10-3 lead thanks to a 52-yard touchdown run from Sam “Bam” Cunningham. But Roger Staubach (15-of-27, 243 yards) rallied the Cowboys (10-4) by tossing two second-half TD passes to Tony Hill and Billy Joe Dupree.
The game was broadcast on NBC with the legendary announcing duo of Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen.
Jimmy Zanor is a sportswriter for the Norwich Bulletin and can be reached at jzanor@norwichbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter@jzanorNB.
This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Zanor: Dodd to host Futures All-Stars, a new pro league, and more
