Norwich

The highest athletic standards within the Eastern Connecticut Conference belong to Norwich Free Academy. They are justified. NFA is the largest school. By a considerable number. Winning should be a byproduct of such numbers.

The greatest jealousies fly NFA's way, too. Nothing is ever good enough. When NFA wins: Well, what do you expect? When NFA loses: You can't win with, what, 12,000 kids at the school? BWAH HAH HAH HAH.

And on the band plays.

It'll never change.

Except, you know, in the interest of fairness, that old thing, the folks around here who care about high school sports might want to pay attention. The football team is back in the state finals again, second time in three years now, in large part because of an "athlete."

You'll note the word "athlete" appears in quotations. It's always been code for discussions about all things NFA football, why more "athletes" don't participate, because, well, there's 12,000 kids, right?

"Athlete," in this case, could mean hulking linemen or jet-quick skill kids, which NFA must produce, because there are so many kids. (As if Nick Saban would ever scour the mean streets of Canterbury). Take a closer look, though. A year after Marcus Outlow took his abilities to Boston College, there are two more who have a chance to draw notable recruiting interests, too.

Khaleed Exum-Strong and his 2,000 (and counting) yards earned many hosannas this season. Well deserved. Good kid. Tough kid. But the one whose butt Exum-Strong sees before every snap has a chance to be the next great one.

Jawaun Johnson, quarterback. Sophomore. "Athlete." Kid's a player. Already. And his improvement this season - unsteady through mid-October, unbelievable since - rank among the reasons the Wildcats play Southington for the state title Saturday.

Johnson is another example of how sports are about lineage. Sometimes within a family, sometimes within a team. If he doesn't already, he'll belong in the conversations with past NFA quarterback greats Major Williams, J.J. Justice and Joey Paparelli.

"Here's a guy who's a sophomore. Obviously Major played as a true freshman. (Johnson) is very explosive player," NFA coach Jemal Davis said. "I would say Major didn't have that explosiveness, but Major had football savvy. Pap had awareness of the game. J.J. (Justice) had physical size.

"What Jawaun brings," Davis said, "I think he brings a combination of all those things. He's not going to be at the point where he's going to be a physical presence, but he's an athletic presence. And he's also a cerebral guy, kind of like Joey. He understands what we're doing and the reason I think we've had two games in which he and Khaleed have rushed for over 300 yards is that he understands what he's doing. He's making the right reads and not forcing the issue."

Understands what he's doing: That means he's understanding NFA's zone read run game. Not easy for a sophomore. It requires varying degrees of smarts (when to keep it and when to pitch it), courage (out on the edge as volcanic defenders lay in wait) and football sense (the timing as to when to make the right decision).

When it works: Oy. Just ask New London, which gave up a combined 606 rushing yards on Thanksgiving to the Wildcats. Or New Britain.

"They run, run, run and they just sit there and wait for you to get out of position," New Britain coach Tebucky Jones said after Saturday's state semifinal. "Once you get out of position, they caught us a few times. When we did things well, they couldn't move the ball. When we didn't, they got us."

That's the curse and the beauty of it: Stay patient enough and endure the 2-yard gains, because when the defense loses its discipline, if for a second, it's the glorious view of green turf.

From a sophomore.

Davis repeated this week what he's said during the year, seeing "glimpses of greatness" from his sophomore. And he's but a sophomore. If he uses the next two years to get stronger, he'll become part of NFA lore and legend.

It would start Saturday when the Wildcats, considerable underdogs to No. 1 Southington, pulled the shocker.

Of course, some of the locals would still dismiss it.

It's NFA.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro.

Twitter: @BCgenius