Wallace Will Help Revive New Haven Football

timparry — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:56:17 +0000

When the University of New Haven returns to the football field in 2009, a Fairfield County All-Star will be a part of it. New Milford linebacker Cody Wallace, who will play in the Hall of Fame Classic tonight, is a part of Chargers head coach Peter Rossomando’s initial recruiting class.

And though the Chargers won’t take the field until 2009, Wallace said his first year as a football player will be a busy one. They will compete as a pseudo-junior varsity program in 2008.

“We’re going to be playing quality teams like Yale and have a chance to build some camaraderie before the real season starts in 2009,” Wallace said.

Wallace was a captain this past season for the Green Wave, and had 105 tackles, 21 tackles for loss, six sacks, and four forced fumbles. He was also first team all-state and all-SWC.

And as much as he is looking forward to being a student athlete at New Haven, he wants to prove his worth to his Fairfield County teammates tonight.

“It means a lot for me to be chosen to play for this team, I am proud to represent my town,” Wallace said. “I can’t wait to prove why I belong on this team when game time comes around and I knock some heads around.”

Football Scholar-Athletes Honored

timparry — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 16:18:45 +0000

Thirty of Fairfield County’s finest football-playing scholar-athletes were honored April 10 by the Ralph DeSantis chapter of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame. Also honored at the dinner at Continental Manor in Norwalk were the head and assistant coaches of the year in the SWC and FCIAC, as well as two officials of the year.

Three players received $500 scholarships to be used towards their college education as well: William Bass (Bassick), Richard Holmes (Danbury), and Chris Payne (Wilton).

Wilton’s Tim Eagen was introduced as the FCIAC’s coach of the year by his mentor, Tom Fujitani, who he served under as an assistant coach for several years, and thanked his assistant coaches and the Warriors’ booster club for its efforts in helping to build a top-notch program. Ridgefield’s Kevin Callahan introduced one of his former players, New Fairfield’s Andy Buchsbaum, as the SWC’s coach of the year.

Carl Cairo (Greenwich) and John Pereira (Pomperaug) received their league’s respective assistant coach of the year awards.

The scholar-athletes honered were:

William Bass, Bassick
Nick Verderosa, Bethel
Chris Green, Brien McMahon
Kenneth Cobb, Bridgeport Central
Steven Moss, Brookfield
Jeffrey Farrell, Bunnell
Greg Passineau, Canterbury
Richard Holmes, Danbury
George Rhein, Darien
Matthew O’Laughlin, Fairfield Ludlowe
Thomas Marx Jr., Fairfield Warde
Jonathan Meyers, Greenwich
Scott Hickling, Joel Barlow
Victor Ciancetta, Masuk
Chris Lemoine, New Canaan
Patrick Cassidy, New Fairfield
Jonathan Henion, New Milford
Eric Puffer, Newtown
Cyprian Oyomba, Norwalk
Patrick Purrell, Notre Dame-Fairfield
Stephen Barton, Pomperaug
Tyler Strittmatter, Ridgefield
Michael Dinihanien, St. Joseph
Jason Zins, Staples
Justin Shumyhora, Stratford
John O’Leary, Trinity Catholic
Jameson Cherilus, Trumbull
John Midy, Westhill
Dylan Hannum, Weston
Chris Payne, Wilton

Also honored were a few unsung heroes of the game, the referees. Without them, of course, the games wouldn’t count in the standings. Bob Seirup, who has been working with the Fairfield County Football Association for 54 seasons, was honored as its official of the year. Bill Vasutro was the Colonial Football Association’s honoree.

Local Sports Feed » New Milford

Wallace Will Help Revive New Haven Football

Football Scholar-Athletes Honored