Whalers have become believers under Roman
Howdy,
It's never easy to get a team to believe it can win, or trust the process, after losing so many games the previous year.
First-year New London head coach Juan Roman and his staff are gradually getting the Whalers to believe after last season’s 2-8 bummer finish. New London is 3-0, highlighted by last Friday’s 41-7 win over Killingly, a Class M semifinalist in 2015.
“Coach Roman definitely puts us in position to wins games,” senior quarterback Melquann Gomez said. “We still have to trust the process a little bit. Sometimes we go back to our old ways, but they do a tremendous job staying on top of it.”
Roman said, “Belief, to me, would be that we come out every day in a business-like fashion, we bust our tails at practice, and we get out of there and there’s no moaning and groaning. ... That they believe. Right now, we have talent. Talent goes a long way sometimes.
“Success breeds belief, and so all of the sudden (the players think), ‘Wow. We scored six touchdowns tonight. I guess (the system) works.' So those are the things that will breed success. Success breeds belief, but in the end, I’d like it to be a consistent, on-going belief.”
New London managed just 143 points last season. It's already scored 138 this year.
“Biblically, there’s belief that saves you, which is called justification” Roman said. “Then there’s the belief that you apply to your life, which is sanctification. How are you going to live now that you believe?
“They might believe now. I want them to walk it, walk it, walk it, so that if anybody comes out here and watches one of our practices, they can go, ‘Damn. That team. They’re serious.’”
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There was a word for NFA quarterback Shea McManaway most of last season as he filled in for then-QB Jawaun Johnson, who was ill: Overwhelmed.
“That’s a great description,” NFA coach Jemal Davis said. “He wasn’t prepared. When the season started he was behind an all-conference player. This year, he’s prepared to be a starter. He understands the system. He’s playing with great confidence.”
McManaway, a junior, finished 9-for-15 for 141 yards and a 59-yard touchdown pass to RJ Darby in Friday’s victory over Fitch. He completed passes to five different receivers, dropping back easily.
After NFA ran every play on its first series, the Wildcats came out spreading the field on their second drive, with McManaway hitting Caleb Parker for 13 yards. He was 4-for-5 on the series, including a 25-yard completion to Isaiah Price.
McManaway also ran seven times for 50 yards.
“Shea has gotten better. He keeps working to improve,” Darby said. “He’s nice and cool.”
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Waterford coach John Strecker was excited about many things after his team’s victory, but none more than the play of senior defensive end Nahied Fleming, who was dominant at times. Strecker said he has college coaches calling about Fleming … Waterford’s special teams performed well. Luther Wade (30-yard kickoff return), Kyle Cardoza (28-yard punt return) and Spencer Hoagland (punting, kicking) all excelled. Cardoza also had an interception … The Lancers welcomed a new player to the field Friday night. Senior Jeff Evans, who averaged 10 points and 10 rebounds per game last year for the basketball team, played some at corner, as the Lancers tried to temper Montville receiver Bradley Johnson, who had 161 receiving yards … Montville defensive end Nik Angell was among his team’s leaders in tackles. … The Indians played without running back Andrew Petherick, who is likely done for the season and K.J. Fletcher, who may return soon.
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Thanks to Mike DiMauro (Montville-Waterford) and Vickie Fulkerson (Fitch-NFA) for their contributions to these notes.
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Thanks for reading. More in Tuesday's blog.
Vaya con dios.
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