New Britain High School Football Sparked City
By Matthew Cannata | Sports Correspondent at December 12, 2023 | 9:15 am | Print
Last Saturday, the New Britain High School Golden Hurricanes football team lost to Norwich Free Academy in the opening round of the playoffs, 30-6. Despite not advancing to the Class LL Large Championship Game, the Hurricanes had a successful season in which they sparked a city that has longed for football success.
Prior to this, the last time the football team made the playoffs was in 2004. To put things into perspective, head coach Tebucky Jones was still playing in the NFL as a member of the New Orleans Saints and this year’s seniors were in second grade. George W. Bush was the president and gas prices averaged $2.17 nationwide.
Indeed, 2004 and the few years prior to that were the glory years for the Hurricanes. In 2000, under the direction of Len Corto, they advanced to the Class LL semifinals before losing to Shelton, who was led by quarterback Dan Orlovsky, who now plays in the National Football League. When Corto was named the Athletic Director for the district shortly after that season ended, he stepped down and hired Jack Cochran, one of the most successful, yet controversial, head football coaches in New England. Under Cochran, the team won three state championships in four years.
After Cochran left New Britain in March 2005 to become the head coach at New London, Paul Morrell was named his replacement and coached the team until 2010, finishing with an overall record of 36-25. Tebucky Jones was then named his replacement shortly after. Since 2005, neither Morrell nor Jones was able to lead their team to the playoffs, never mind replicate the kind of success the program had under Cochran.
Until this year. There were high hopes coming into this season for the football team. There were over 20 seniors on the roster and Jones had said that it takes a few years to turn around the program. While some say that Jones also had extra motivation after the tug-of-war he went through with district administrators regarding his job status, he disputed that, saying that all of that had been put in the past.
“I don’t harp on the past. I’m just glad I came back. I’m really proud of the kids. The one thing I learned though, and like my mother always told me, keep your friends close and your enemies even closer.”
They started off the season slow, losing to Northwest Catholic in the opening game. They would go on to win their next three games by a combined score of 95-46. Excitement started to pour back into the community after their fans started to realize that this team might be for real. When they would then go on to win the five of their seven remaining games to secure a spot in the playoffs, the excitement couldn’t be contained. Jones said that feeling of excitement validated what they had done all season.
“We all put in a lot of hard work and believed in what we were trying to teach the players. We always told them to fight to the end, regardless of whether you win or lose. It was a great group of players that worked hard all season.”
Messages on social media were popping up every day leading up to their first playoff game, dozens of stories were written on the team’s success, a pep rally was held at the high school and the buzz in the air was something that hasn’t been felt in a long time here in New Britain.
Then, when the rain came pouring down early Saturday morning with a forecast of more rain and colder temperatures as the day went on, many had wondered what the attendance would look like, especially because it was in Norwich, which is about a 45-50 minute drive.
However, by the time the ball was kicked off to start the game, it was hard to tell which team really had the home-field advantage. Including the marching band, there were close to 250 New Britain supporters braving the unfavorable conditions. The fans were screaming and yelling while the band was doing their best to make lots of noise to support their classmates on the field.
Of course, as the game went on and New Britain slowly fell behind more and more, the fans became quiet but not many left. Instead, the vast majority stayed until the end to cheer this special group of players one last time. As the players huddled in the end zone one last time as a team, with tears running down the face of several players, Jones had one more message for this group.
“Keep this taste in your mouth and never forget it. Hard work pays off and it will always continue to pay off. Let’s continue to work hard and take it even further next year.”
For now and until they kick off in 2015, these players and coaches can be proud of not only what they did on the field, but what they did for the city of New Britain and the pride they brought back to so many who had longed for it for so long.
