County Football Teams Come Together for Media Night
PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- Many Berkshire County high school students have not even returned to the classroom yet, but on Thursday night, Nate Stump offered a little geography lesson.
"It's nice when Berkshire County can go out and play big-time football and compete with the teams in the rest of the state who just think that Massachusetts goes from Boston to Springfield, black hole and then New York," Stump said at the county high school football media night at Pittsfield High School.
"We're out here, and we're doing something."
Stump, a senior at St. Joseph Central High School, is doing what he does in North Adams this fall as a member of the Drury High School varsity. The two schools are in the first year of a cooperative arrangement on the gridiron.
The county's third co-op (along with Lee-Lenox and Monument Mountain-Mount Everett) fit right in with the theme of the evening, which was set by Wahconah coach Gary Campbell.
Campbell initiated the annual gathering of coaches, captains and media a few years ago to help promote Berkshire County football to the outside world and promote camaraderie on the gridiron.
Once again on Thursday night, he used the gathering in Pittsfield High School's cafeteria to remind the youngsters in the room that there is plenty that unites them outside the 44 minutes each week they try to get the better of one another on the field.
"I know deep down you respect each other," Campbell said. "You may not like each other ... and when we are on that field, no doubt there's 'Get after it all the time.' But even though we may be rivals ... I have the utmost respect for you guys in here, and I say that because football is a different kind of sport.
"When you walk on that field and you put on that helmet, it's you against the other dude. And I love the other sports. I was lucky enough to be on a state championship basketball team at Wahconah, I ran track, I did all those other things. And I loved the other sports. But there's something about putting on that helmet and all of a sudden you've got the butterflies and you've got to run 90 mph at a dude who is coming to get you to.
"That takes a special breed. And there's not a ton of that out there."
Like Stump, Campbell reminded the players that Berkshire County plays a pretty good brand of football. The county's schools play in three of the state's six divisions of football, and last year two of those schools -- Wahconah and Hoosac Valley -- won Western Mass titles and competed in the semi-finals of the first true state tournaments.
Having something to prove can be a powerful motivation.
"There's definitely a chip on the shoulder when it comes to Berkshire County, and there should be," Campbell said. "Because we kind of feel that left out part. But it serves us well when all of us go down and play those teams, whether it's in scrimmages or whatever."
And while many of the county's programs struggle to keep their rosters full -- and some, like St. Joe, succumb to a trend of dwindling numbers -- Pittsfield High coach Brian Jezewski reminded the senior captains from across the county how much of an inspiration they can be for the future of Berkshire County football.
"This is my son, Bryson, he's 8," Jezewski said. "He plays for the Pee-Wee Saints team here in Pittsfield. And there's one thing, guys, that's really, really important. I stress this to my guys: He looks at all you guys like you're NFL players.
"Make sure when you guys go out there you handle yourselves with class, like we always do. ... Understand these guys, when they see you, you're like superheroes to them. Understand it's really important, and it's a great responsibility we all share."