Running with Red
2015 was a dynamic year for the Redmen! Killingly advanced to the playoffs for the first time since a state title victory in 1996 AND they won a home playoff game against Stratford. KHS finished 10-2.
“We talked to the kids in the beginning {and told them} that we are 0-0 right now and our goal is to be 1-0,” revealed head coach Chad Neal. “Last year was last year, but we want to build off of last year because they experienced last year.”
Neal’s squad rushed for 3,271 yards last season and with Austin Caffrey gone due to graduation (1,926 rush yards, 23 touchdowns), the Redmen are unlikely to repeat that performance. His brother Zack is back on the team, but he picked up just 36 of those yards. Look for Spencer Lockwood to break out again after an 1,158-yard season.
Austin did the television and newspaper interviews for the Redmen. He was their leader on and off the field. Captains Kyle Derosier and Kelsy Rhines must pick up the slack in the leadership department.
“We have had good players,” identified Neal. “The other thing is having a quarterback that is back there for his fourth year. We started him as a freshman and he has come along every year.”
Derosier completed 48 passes for 761 yards and 14 touchdown passes in 2015. Here is what this signal-caller brings to the table…
“My arm basically. I don’t mind running, but I’m not a good juker. I let the running backs do that and hopefully I just get us down the field a little quicker.”
Killingly returns 13 seniors to the 2016 squad: six starters on offense, seven on defense. Rhines made 47 tackles a year ago as the team’s linebacker. His unit gave up a mere 12 points per game last season.
“I like to hit,” proclaimed, Rhines. “I like to go after people. It is just one of the things that I have been raised with.”
Killingly has been placed in ECC Division III alongside Griswold, Plainfield, and Windham. They tied with Griswold to win the “small division” last year, formally known as “Division II”. The ECC has re-aligned for the second straight year as the conference’s future is in flux. The fear is that competition between small and large teams is unfair for the smaller schools. Killingly, along with its divisional mates, have the option to play cross-overs with other ECC groupings. Neal has scheduled the best possible competition.
“We have to get through our division games and win our division, but we are playing a full ECC schedule,” intimated Neal. “We are going to play crossovers with the Division II and three games with the Division I, so that’s going to prepare us in some games coming ahead.”
I have made it sound as if the Redmen have a lot to overcome due to the loss of Austin Caffrey and ECC re-alignment mania. They certainly do, but mostly because of a battle occurring away from the field. Wide receiver Vasileios Politis was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma back in March. Politis will miss the entire 2016 season. He is halfway through his six chemotherapy treatments and has garnered full support from the locker room.
“It’s definitely something that I know I’m going to do,” stated Politis. “Football is definitely not over for me. I am thinking past high school. I’m thinking maybe a prep year or something.”
V.P. (as his teammates call him) will be the subject of the first Best In Connecticut Sports Spotlight on CPTV Sports In Focus of the 16-17 season, beginning September 15th at 8 p.m. For now, Politis will help out this season as a consultant to the wide receivers. His inspiring journey can lift Killingly to a second consecutive playoff berth.
-Frankie Graziano, CPTV Sports
Leave a Reply