#TrainingCampTour Day II: Brookfield
August 19, 2015
2014 state champion Brookfield have their eyes on the ball and a shot at ending Newtown’s three-year reign atop the SWC.
The Best Bobcats There Could Ever Be?
Brookfield head football coach Rich Angarano will be happy to introduce you to anybody on his team or on his staff if you make the trip to Long Meadow Hill Road. He implored me to take an impromptu photo of his offensive line and told them to look mean in the shot. He called a brief staff meeting so that I could meet the guys responsible for crafting a 2014 ClAC Class M championship offense and defense. Finally, as our time at practice neared its end, he introduced me to “The Weapon”.
Dane Borges is a kicker. Coach was quick to let me know that most kickers do not earn scholarships, but he’s really proud of this kid and thinks that he is a virtual lock to head to college on a scholarship. “The Weapon”, a nickname given by Angarano, nailed all 62 extra points in 2014 and hit 8 of 10 field goals attempted. I had to ask coach if his guy could make the big kick if called upon.
Me: “If we throw up a graphic (on CPTV Sports) and show the names of the long snapper, holder, and kicker, we won’t jinx the kid right? He will hit the big field goal?”
Coach: “He can hit it. He can hit it. The kid has a live leg. A lot of schools are looking at him.”
I witnessed a brief demonstration from “The Weapon”. He easily nailed three 45-yard field goals and begged coach to move him back to hit some tries from a further distance, but coach wanted him and holder Johnny Roscigno to get back to their position drills.
Rich Angarano is poised to lead his Bobcats to a second consecutive state title in 2015. He says that “continuity” will take them there.
The offensive (and essentially defensive) line photo, the coaching staff with just one new member (a 2008 state champion player), and the demonstration by the field goal unit were all opportunities for Rich Angarano to showcase the team’s most important attribute on-camera: continuity.
“Remember what I told you earlier (about continuity), Frankie!” exclaimed Angarano after the field goal attempts. “These three have been together for three years!”
The Bobcats will aim to be the first team in Brookfield history to win back-to-back titles. Coach is very excited about their prospects since many of his players are returning seniors with two years varsity experience. That means that they know their system due to the fact that the coaching staff has not changed. Additionally, the team won the Pop Warner National Championship and the International Bowl at Disney World back in 2011.
There is a continuity at Brookfield that began many years before last year’s 14-0 Class M-Large championship game shutout of Berlin. Oh…and Bobby Drysdale is back. The senior has rushed 3,592 yards and 51 touchdowns in the last two seasons. He can deliver a mean hit on defense, as a member of a front seven completely intact from 2014. Drysdale has also earned a commitment from Harvard in the offseason to play in Cambridge next year.
What can Bobby Drysdale do next on a CT high school football field? He already has a state title and 51 rushing TDs!
“Bobby, great player,” claimed Roscigno. “He makes his own things happen.”
“He uses his eyes,” said Angarano. “He uses his eyes to run and uses his eyes on defense to get to the ball.”
All eyes will be on Bobby Drysdale and the Brookfield Bobcats in 2015. They can certainly repeat in Class M and may be legitimate contenders to be the number one team in the state at the end of the year.
Follow the #TrainingCampTour as it happens on Twitter. Please check in to cptvsports.org nightly for other team training camp recaps. For more on the Brookfield team, tune in to the 2015 High School Football Training Camp special on September 4, 2015. Finally, the Bobcats will play LIVE on CPTV Sports November 6th at 7 p.m. against Masuk-Monroe.