A year after going 4-6, the program's first losing season since 1999, Hyde has quickly reversed its fortunes.

The Howling Wolves are 3-0 entering this week's Pequot Conference contest with Cromwell, also unbeaten.

Although last season's finish was disappointing, Hyde learned some valuable lessons.

"A good number of these kids from last year were football players," Hyde coach Melvin Wells said. "They played and went through the ups and downs of the season. They saw early on that without a good amount of leadership and dedication, you're not going to be successful."

Wells, though, insists that's not a knock on last year's seniors. Sometimes a team has the horses to be competitive. Sometimes it doesn't.

"Last year's group, we just had a small senior class," Wells said. "We had the desire, but we just didn't have a whole lot of out-and-out talent. That was just the reality of it. We weren't as physical as we've been in the past. It's hard to win when you're not physical. They did the best they could with what they had, but we learned lessons as we went through the process."

Wells said this year's squad has really focused on playing team football.

"None of us are good enough to do it by ourselves," Wells said. "They all have to feed off each other in order to be successful."

Hyde's 14 seniors have all contributed, especially quarterback Kevin Jones.

"He's done a wonderful job so far," Wells said. "He's led this time at quarterback the way they need to be led. He makes plays when they need to be made. What I mean by that is he's not a greedy player by any stretch of the imagination. He does whatever it takes to win."

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