On Thursday, two days after being officially appointed East Haven’s new football coach, Anthony Lucibello met with his new team for two hours.

He is relishing the opportunity to turn around the Yellowjackets’ moribund program, one that has suffered many losing seasons in the Southern Connecticut Conference. And he wanted to be straight with the players right from the start.

“I told them to cancel their gym memberships. The only place they will be lifting is at East Haven High School,” said Lucibello, 43, a teacher at Whitney Tech. “The East Haven teams I played against while I was in high school (at North Haven) had success. It’s been quite some time since they have been successful, obviously. ...You play together, you go to school together. It’s about building an entire program and the way you carry yourself.”

Lucibello, a Cheshire resident, has been a career assistant at several schools, including North Haven, Guilford, Hyde, Hamden and, most recently, Cheshire.

Via e-mail from Ludlowe AD Dave Schulz

Athletic Director Dave Schulz has announced the hiring of Vinnie Camera as its new varsity football coach. 

Vinnie started the football program at Platt Tech in 2007 and has been its head coach ever since. He began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Fairfield Prep prior to moving on to Platt Tech.  A graduate of East Haven HS, he was a three year letter winner playing football for Fairfield University where he earned his degree in 2001.

 “Vinnie was the standout candidate in the interview process and we are looking forward to him joining our staff at Fairfield Ludlowe," Schulz said.

DIVISION I

OFFENSE

OL-Dennis Flanagan, Sr., Amity
OL-John Thomas, Sr., Hamden
OL-Zack Creeron, Sr., Xavier
OL-Greg Purcell, Sr., Amity
K-Ed Groth, Sr., Shelton
WR-Kris Luster, Sr., Xavier
WR-Chris Perry, Sr., ND-WH
WR-Kyle Drost, Jr., Shelton
WR-Kyle Anderson, Sr., Hand
RB-DeAngelo Berry, Sr., Xavier
RB-Ervin Philips, Jr., West Haven
RB-Cameran Tucker, Jr., ND-WH
RB-David Attolino, Sr., Amity
QB-Tim Boyle, Sr., Xavier
QB-Brendan Bilcheck, Sr., Hand

DEFENSE

DL-Alex Chow-Yen, Sr., Cross
DL-Peter Gerson, Sr., Hand
DL-Eddy Williams, Sr., West Haven
DL-Anthony Palazzolo, So., Fairfield Prep
LB-Nick Crowle, Jr., Fairfield Prep
LB-Matt Walsh, Sr., Hand
LB-Max Tylki, Sr., Xavier
LB-Kadialy Toure, Sr., West Haven
LB-Chris Golger, Sr., Fairfield Prep
DB-Alex Tuccero, Sr., Hand
DB-Jack Cunningham, So., Cheshire
DB-Sam Pascale, Sr., Cheshire
DB-Amore Gee, Sr., West Haven
DB-Vincent Sansone, Sr., Cheshire
P-Ysaan Frazier, Sr., Wilbur Cross

DIVISION II

OFFENSE

OL-Matt Marcarelli, Sr., North Haven
OL-Zach Hubler, Jr., Foran
OL-Nick Casagrande, Jr., Law
OL-George Knoth, Sr., Law
OL-Sean Merrill, Sr., Sheehan
OL-Colton Schilling, Sr., Guilford
WR-Nick Weissauer, Jr., Foran
WR-Ryan Bohne, Sr., Lyman Hall
RB-Harold Cooper, Jr., Hillhouse
RB-Jalon White, Sr., North Haven
QB-Jake Kasuba, So., Foran
QB-Joe Nault, Jr., Guilford
UT-K.C. Horton, Jr., Guilford

DEFENSE
DL-Andrew Klarman, Sr., Branford
DL-Mark Spadacenta, Sr., East Haven
DL-Anthony Jones, Sr., Branford
DL-Teno Simpson, Sr., Hillhouse
LB-Mike Halloran, Jr., North Haven
LB-Ford Linell, Jr., Guilford
LB-Alex Borkowski, Sr., Branford
LB-Terrell Fairweather, Sr., Hillhouse
LB-Quincy Pecora, Sr., North Haven
DB-Je'Vaughn Moore, Sr., Hillhouse
DB-Kyle Paolella, Sr., Sheehan
DB-Darryn Horner, Sr., Hillhouse
DB-Andre Anderson, Sr., Hillhouse

LYMAN HALL

Coach: Rob Marone (1st year)

League: SCC

Last season: 4-6

Top offensive players: Pete Barney, 5-10, 175, Sr., FB; Devin Cruz, 5-9, 170, Sr., HB

Top defensive players: Jared Bias, 6-0, 260, Sr., DL; Ryan Bohne, 5-9, 165, Sr., LB

Key losses: Kyle Upton, QB; Joe DeSandre, RB/LB; Connor Riordan, OL/DL

Inside the huddle: Lost its two top skill players in Upton (2,071 yards passing, 15 TDs in 2011) and DeSandre (1,086 rushing yards, 16 TDs). Replacing them may be difficult. Trojans have just seven seniors and will be young and inexperienced. The development of sophomore Kyle Smith at quarterback will be key. Smith completed 4-of-16 passes for 34 yards and an INT last season. The running backs (Barney and Cruz) saw limited time last season and they need to adjust to life on the varsity level quickly in order for Lyman Hall to be effective offensively.
See you there:Marone is in his first season as head coach. Lyman Hall opens the season on the road at East Haven on Sept. 14, 7 p.m. Marone's father, Mike, is the athletic director at East Haven.

EAST HAVEN

Coach: Greg Volpe (5th year)

League: SCC

Last season: 2-8

Top offensive players: Dom Dellacamera, Jr., RB; Mike DeMarco, Jr., RB

Top defensive players: Mark Spadacenta, Sr., DE; Bryant Maranda, Sr., LB

Key losses: Niko Fiorillo, QB/S; Joe Costanzo, RB/LB; Mike Vessicchio, WR/DB; Shawn Tarnawa, OL/DL

Inside the huddle: Very young team, small numbers, depth will be an issue, so remaining healthy will be key. Volpe says the team has implemented a new offense, which may take time to develop. Easties lost most of their skill players to graduation. Volpe says East Haven is the smallest team in the league, and is at a disadvantage against most teams.

Stat Facts: According to Max Preps, Dellacamera rushed 42 times for 184 yards and one score in six games that stats were entered last season.

Mike Vessicchio , East Haven, football: Senior caught a 70-yard touchdown pass, threw for an 85-yard score, had an 80-yard punt return for a touchdown and had two interceptions in 34-25 win over Platt Tech.

HONOR ROLL

Michael Andranovich, Foran, soccer: Senior goalkeeper helped the Lions to a 3-0 week by posting three shutouts versus Platt Tech, Law, and Hamden. He also had 20 saves versus Hamden.

Gary Ormond, Hamden, football: Junior had nine receptions for 220 yards and four touchdowns and added a 60-yard punt return for a touchdown in Hamden’s win over Branford.

Read today's article here. East Haven will attempt to snap 36-game losing streak. The Easties face Platt Tech (0-5) tonight at 7 at Law High in Milford.

Bunnell 55, Barlow 19: Quarterback Bryan Castelot threw three touchdown passes and Kevin Hernandez added a 59-yard touchdown run to lead Bunnell to its SWC interdivision win at Stratford.
Castelot completed 11-of-15 passes for 225 yards, including a 73-yard touchdown pass to Bryan Camille, 11-yard touchdown pass to Josh Diaz and 17-yard touchdown pass to Jibril Chisholm.

Woodland 21, Kennedy 6: Jack DeBiase ran for 153 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries and also intercepted two passes for Woodland in its NVL victory.

Shelton 38, Sheehan 11: Shaq Holman scored a pair of touchdowns, including a 99-yard kickoff return, and Jonathan Groth threw for a pair of scores to lead the victory in Shelton.

Amity 44, East Haven 6: Kyle Kalanta rushed for 201 yards and three touchdowns as Amity gained 447 yards of total offense in the rout at Amity.

Notre Dame of West Haven 52, Branford 20: Ahmir Vess rushed for 206 yards and two touchdowns as Notre Dame crushed Branford.

North Haven 13, Hamden 2: Joe Schwab rushed 25 times for 151 yards for the visiting Indians in this SCC interdivision contest at Hamden.

Valley Regional/Old Lyme 40, Lewis Mills 0: Quarterback Jimmy Fairfield-Sonn had touchdown runs of 74, 13 and 43 yards and added a touchdown pass to lead the Warriors to their Pequot Sassacus win in Deep River.

Haddam-Killingworth 36, Old Saybrook 3: At Haddam, Dan Milardo ran for 113 yards on seven carries, including a 73-yard touchdown, to lead H-K to its victory.

Sacred Heart 38, Derby 19: Ray Kreiger passed for two touchdowns and ran for another in Derby’s NVL home loss.

It’s crossover week in the SCC, when teams from Division I compete against opponents from Division II. Below are some interesting tidbits released by SCC commissioner Al Carbone.

There are three match ups being played for the first time since the inception of the SCC in 1994 (Foran at Xavier, Law at Wilbur Cross and Hillhouse at Cheshire).
In addition, there are six games being contested for the first time in a number of years.

*Branford at Notre Dame (first meeting since 1997, a 20-0 Notre Dame win).

*Guilford at West Haven (first meeting since 1997, when West Haven won 42-7).

*East Haven at Amity (first meeting since 1999, when Amity won 21-12).

*North Haven at Hamden (first meeting since 1999, a 27-8 Hamden victory).

*Lyman Hall at Hand. Hand won the last meeting, 27-19, in 2001.

*Sheehan at Shelton. The former Housatonic League (pre-1994) and former SCC Housatonic Division (from 1994-2003) rivals meet for the first time since 2003, when Shelton emerged with a 52-7 victory.

Matt Hoey rushed 19 times for 80 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Indians to this SCC interdivision win in the season opener for both teams.

Will Stitilis caught a touchdown pass from Ethan Curry for Guilford (1-0).

Mike Vessicchio caught a 34-yard touchdown pass from Niko Fiorillo for East Haven (0-1), which has lost 32 straight games.

To read the story about East Haven coach Greg Volpe being rehired at East Haven, click here.

The following SCC teams have bye weeks for the 2010-2011 season. These teams have the option of scheduling non-conference opponents for the next two seasons.

Week 1 Lyman Hall
Week 2 Fairfield Prep
Week 3 Law
Week 4 Wilbur Cross
Week 5 Foran
Week 6 East Haven
Week 7 North Haven
Week 8 Sheehan
Week 9 Branford


Athletic directors in the Southern Connecticut Conference recently approved several changes to the league’s football scheduling format, SCC commissioner Al Carbone confirmed Thursday.

The actual schedule has not yet been approved, but the new format will used for both the 2010 and 2011 season. The current four-division set-up will remain the same.

However, teams can now play crossover games against opponents in the three other divisions, instead of crossing over to just two divisions, as was the case in 2009.

There are nine teams who currently have an open week. Those teams have the option of scheduling non-conference opponents as part of the new two-year cycle.

Also, a team can request a division change as long as they follow proper league policy. The request will then be reviewed and voted upon by the ADs.

Carbone also confirmed that Hyde declined an invitation to join the league next season. Carbone said that since Derby defected the SCC for the Naugatuck Valley League last winter, the SCC offered invitations to Masuk, North Branford and St. Joseph. All three declined.

Wilbur Cross will now play East Haven today in New Haven at 4 p.m.

The game was originally scheduled for Friday.

Former North Haven football coach Gregory Volpe, who more recently was coach of the Hartford Knights and later the New England Knights (same team) was named the new coach at East Haven.

The East Haven Board of Education voted 7-0, with two abstentions, Tuesday to hire Volpe.

Volpe takes over for current school athletic director Mike Marone. The Easties have lost 21 straight games, with their last win coming on Thanksgiving over rival Branford in 2006.