Central Finds the Passion

Central football team finds the passion 11/18/2009 by Chris Elsberry -
 Connecticut Post BRIDGEPORT -- 

Jose Castillo usually got the Harding game. He's an alum of the East End school, and what better person to talk about how special it is to beat the Presidents? But before Central's game against Greenwich, head coach Dave Cadelina told Castillo, "You're giving the speech." Normally, the day before a game, a member of the Central coaching staff talks to the team about that week's opponent. And for the Cardinals, Cadelina gave the duty to his longtime assistant. Castillo has been a coach at Central since 1993, going back to the previous head coach, Jay Miska. In all of those years, the Hilltoppers had never beaten Greenwich. It wasn't just a monkey on their backs, it was a gorilla. Knowing what a win over the Cardinals would mean, Castillo spoke from the heart. He was passionate. And emotional. "He hit a lot of nerves," Cadelina said, remembering that speech. "It was perfect." That next night, under the home lights at Kennedy Stadium, Central threw that gorilla off its back with a remarkable 14-13 win over Greenwich. That victory led to an even bigger win -- 42-7 last week over No. 1 New Canaan -- which led to a berth in Friday night's FCIAC championship game against undefeated Staples. 

Another chance to throw another gorilla off the Hilltoppers' back. "That's what we hope," Cadelina said Monday, sitting in his tiny office in the Hilltoppers' gym. "We knew what was at stake (against New Canaan) and the confidence generated from the Greenwich win certainly had to have helped. We have a great bunch of athletes who have worked hard, and we told them all year long the only ones that are going to beat them is themselves." The only blemish on Central's 8-1 record is a 21-0 loss to Trumbull in a game that was scoreless at the half. "When we played against Trumbull, we felt we should have won that game. We felt that we were the better team, but we just had a bad day," said senior running back/defensive end Dominick Luckey. "We didn't want to feel like that again." 

The Trumbull loss was followed by a 44-0 romp over Westhill, setting up a showdown with the Cardinals. And when coach Castillo spoke, every one of the Central players listened. "I just told the kids that everybody goes through life trying to put their stamp on something. We haven't beaten Greenwich, and I said no matter how many championships they've won, no matter how many times they've beaten us, it comes down to one thing -- they're high school kids, just like you are," Castillo said. "I told them this was their opportunity to do what no other Central team has done and they went out there and did it. I guess they needed to hear that because when we went into the stadium, they were serious, you could see it in their faces. They were looking to put their stamp on something." And they did, earning their biggest victory in program history ... until they followed that win with a rout of New Canaan, ending the Rams' 24-game unbeaten streak. "Coach Castillo ... he said that it's not always the best team that wins, it's the best team that night," Luckey said. "The one thing we wanted to do was bring home that win for him. He'd never beaten Greenwich before, it really meant something to him, and I think we really played for our coaches rather than ourselves."

 In 2004, Central played for the FCIAC title, losing to Greenwich 43-27. That year, the Hilltoppers also made the CIAC Class LL playoffs. New Britain destroyed them 59-7. In 2007, Central earned another Class LL playoff berth, losing to Greenwich (again) 35-13. And while the FCIAC title is still to be decided, there is a new buzz running through the school, the kind that comes with beating Greenwich and New Canaan for the first time. "The Central community from the 1960s, 50s, whatever ... the players, the coaches, myself, we're all getting e-mails, we're getting visitors stopping by asking how can they get tickets," Cadelina said. "People are telling me they're all wearing their Central stuff. This is even more exciting when we went to the states in 2007. "This has surpassed that by quite a lot, even in 2004 when we went to the FCIAC championship, it's surpassed that. We were 10-0 at the time but we hadn't beaten Greenwich or a top-ranked team like that. 

So now that we've beaten two top-10 teams to get there, everyone's excited about the possibility of winning this game." The last time Central played Staples, in 2006, the Wreckers held on for a 17-14 decision. That day, Cadelina said he shook hands with Staples coach Marce Petroccio afterward and said, "Marce, I'll be back." To which Petroccio replied, "I know you will." It took three seasons, but here they are again. "We earned the right to be here, we didn't just walk into the situation. We won't be intimidated," Cadelina said. 

Contact Chris Elsberry at celsberry@ctpost.com"