Summer over, football kicks off fall practice at John Jay

Kyle Halsey (66) is a returning starter on the line for the Wolves. JIM MACLEAN PHOTOS

By JIM MACLEAN 

For most people, August is vacation time, the end of the summer and time for fun in the sun, hopefully near a beach or water to cool off in the heat. However, for high school athletes, summer ends early with practice to get ready for the upcoming fall season.

Monday, Aug. 17, was the official first day of practice for football teams in Section 1, with other fall sports set for their first official day on Aug. 24.

John Jay is one team that was anxious to get out on the field for the first day of practice to start a new era with a new coach in a new league. The Wolves were out there for a double session on Monday with a young squad eager to improve after finishing with just one victory last year. With upper class numbers running low and a lot of sophomores and freshmen on the varsity, John Jay elected to compete in a new developmental league this fall as the Wolves hope to turn the program around.

“I can’t give the kids who are here enough credit for showing up,” John Jay coach Brendan Connolly said of his seniors. “This is hard work, and it’s a testament to their character. For the seniors that are here, who were willing to stick with it and chose to do a difficult thing even though they might not reap the rewards, but down the line they can come back and say they were the cornerstones to turn this around and build something.”

One of those senior veterans was Kyle Halsey, a returning starter on the offensive line and at linebacker on defense, and he admits he couldn’t wait to hit the field on Monday for the first day of practice.

“Football has been everything to me since third grade, my favorite time of year,” explained Halsey. “Playing under the lights, out there with your brothers in front of your hometown, there’s no better feeling. I’m super excited, new coach, new season, it’s my senior year and I’ve been looking forward to this my whole life.”

With the decision to compete in the developmental league, some players elected to transfer to compete at private schools, but the Wolves returned with most of the juniors and sophomores from the varsity roster last year with a year of varsity experience under their belts.

Junior James Tesi burst on the varsity scene last fall as a sophomore, establishing himself as one of the top receivers in Section 1 before suffering an injury. He set a new school record for receptions in a varsity game with 20 catches in one game. Now, he is anxious to do his part to help turn the program around.

James Tesi was one of the leading receivers in Section 1 last year for the Wolves. 

“I’m excited to get back out here, we’ve been working hard all summer, first year in the new league and it’s a year to get better and develop the program,” said Tesi. “Football games are a big event for the school and it’s not fun to lose at home and we’ve got to start putting some wins together. By the time I graduate I want to get the program back to be able to compete against teams like Somers and Yorktown. That’s the fun part competing in big games, and we have to show the young guys how to get better so we can develop and compete.”

The Wolves have a core of players returning with varsity experience, but the junior varsity team folded last fall due to a lack of players to field a team, and that was part of the reason for the move to the new league. Connolly knows the program needs to build up its numbers and gain experience to compete against the Class A powerhouse programs in Section 1. The varsity has about 35 players on the current roster.

“We need to earn the right to play against Somers and the seniors are laying the foundation to do that in the future,” coach Connolly said of his seniors. “We had a good first day and we have to focus on what we can do to get better every day. We’re going to be good in time and right now we’re at the early stages. They have to set the standard for the program. We want to get back there and we have to earn that right.”

John Jay will open the season on the road against Goshen in Section 9 on Thursday, Sept. 3.