Tony Bonito (center) addresses his Coventry Co-op team after a victory last season. The Patriots went 10-0 and won the Pequot Uncas Division (Photo via Coventry Patriots on Facebook)
Vitals
- COACH — TONY BONITO (13th year, 68-58)
- CONFERENCE — Pequot Uncas
- PLAYOFF CLASS — M (co-op)
- HOME — Coventry High School Field
- 2017 RECORD — 10-1, lost to SMSA Co-Op in Class M quarterfinals
- 2018 OPENER — Sept. 7 vs. Lewis Mills, 7 p.m.
Top Players
- NICK GRIMALDI, Sr., OT/LB (5-11, 180)
- SID GREEN, Sr., OT/DT (6-0, 200)
- JORDAN SMITH, Jr., RB/DB (5-11, 170)
- KALEB CARLSON, Soph., RB/NT (5-8, 165)
Key Losses
WR/DB Nick Pronovost (All-State / All-Pequot), QB/DB Jacob Carlson (All-State / All-Pequot), RB/DE Ethan Valdes (All-Pequot), OL/DL Riley Gardener (All-Pequot), RB/LB Shaun O’Connell (All-Pequot, TE/LB Brandan Sklenar (All-Pequot).
Outlook
After going 0-10 in 2015, and improving to 5-5 the following fall, Coventry’s co-op squad reached the mountaintop a year ago, finishing 10-1, winning the Pequot Uncas Division and earning the No. 2 seed for the Class M playoffs.
But team’s dream season ended with a heartbreaking, 33-29 Class M quarterfinal to SMSA/University/Classical Magnet, which Coventry had beaten just the week before to complete the program’s first undefeated regular season.
Despite the frustrating end, football was back in the sleepy little community just a Hail Mary away from UConn‘s Storrs campus.
This fall, Bonito, the 2017 Pequot League Coach of the Year, finds out how deep his program runs as he has to replace eight starters on both sides of the ball in 2018.
“We are undersized, have a lack of depth and very inexperienced,” Bonito said. But he did add one promise to his team’s preseason outlook: “We are going to play hard.”
Two of the team’s key returnees are linemen, giving the squad something to build around in the trenches. Both Grimaldi and Green are seniors and can provide leadership to go with the experience they offer.
The loss of two all-state players and six All-Conference players, however, might mean a rebuilding year is in the offering. Plus, it has to replace its quarterback, top running back and top receiver, as well.
Bonito has already built the co-op squad into a contender once, so he knows the way to get back there moving forward.
2018 Schedule
- Sept. 7 — LEWIS MILLS,* 7:00 p.m.
- Sept. 15 — at Ellington,** 1:00 p.m.
- Sept. 21 — CANTON,** 7:00 p.m.
- Sept. 28 — ROCKVILLE,** 7:00 p.m.
- Oct. 5 — at Haddam Killingworth,* 6:30 p.m.
- Oct. 19 — GILBERT/NORTHWESTERN,** 7:00 p.m.
- Oct. 26 — STAFFORD/SOMERS/EAST WINDSOR,** 7:00 p.m.
- Nov. 3 — at Windsor Locks/Suffield/East Granby,** 1:00 p.m.
- Nov. 9 — at Granby Memorial,** 7:00 p.m.
- Nov. 16 — at SMSA/Univ/Classical,** 6:00 p.m.
Home games in CAPS
*Conference game
**Division game
4-6 at best likely 3-7
Luckily there are a number of other weak/down teams on their schedule this year. 3-7 would be a good year, based on what they lost from last year.
People said they would go 5-5 at best last year, but they rolled over nearly everyone the entire season. The only downfall was that SMSA just seemed to have their number, but SMSA’s weaknesses were shown in the next round. I’m not expecting another 10-0 season by a long shot and in fact I know very little about this team (no one really knows much considering how much they lost) but I don’t like to make predictions, let’s just see what happens.
I heard Coventry youth eliminated tackle football this year, that will show up sooner or later at the HS level.