Game of the Week: Monument Takes on Pittsfield
PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- All across the commonwealth, high school football players have been waiting three weeks for Friday night.
At Pittsfield High, they've been building to this moment for years.
"I've been playing with these guys pretty much since my freshman year," senior quarterback and four-year starter Chad Shade said last month. "We're just looking forward to getting going this year.
"We've been getting better as the years have gone on. We started out pretty rough freshman year, but we've built our way up. And hopefully this is the year we hopefully get a spot in the playoffs."
The Generals start their quest for the post-season on Friday at Wahconah Park against Monument Mountain.
Even if this was not the only game this week involving two county teams -- and it is -- it still would be one worth watching.
For sure, there are other big games on the Week 1 schedule. McCann Tech opens in the Tri-County League and on the road at Pathfinder. Wahconah plays its non-league rival Northampton in the Pioneer Valley under the lights.
But Pittsfield-Monument is intriguing on a couple of different levels.
First, there are the Generals, senior-laden and hungry for a chance to fulfill years of improvement under head coach Brian Jezewski. Then there's Monument, the county's only program with a first-year head coach in Chris D'Anello, who hopes to wake up the echoes of past glory at his alma mater.
Pittsfield finished 4-4 last year and boasts an offense featuring Shade and senior back Devon Tucker, who turned heads around Western Mass last season.
Like nearly every other program in the county, Pittsfield has been struggling to maintain its numbers, but Jezewski said he expected to start the season right around 55 players -- a little low for the Generals but way more than most of the teams can hope for.
And that number includes a dozen seniors.
"I'm very fortunate to have Chad [Shade] as a four-year starter at quarterback," Jezewski said. "Devon [Tucker] has been a four-year starter. And a lot these guys have been in the program for four years. They understand what the expectations are and what it takes to be successful.
"We're trying to model ourselves after the Wahconahs, the Hoosacs, the Greylocks, the Lees and every other program."
Jezewski said the Generals have come a long way from the 0-10 season they suffered through in his debut seven years ago.
"We're a totally different program now, and that has to do with the commitment and the effort of the players, the commitment and the effort of the coaching staff," he said.
"It's the little simple things like sitting together in the cafeteria and eating lunch together every day. They truly are a committed group. They're a family."
The players families who want to see them in action at home had better catch them Friday night, or they will have to wait a while. Pittsfield had a Week 2 bye. In Week 3, it goes to Chicopee Comp. It plays a Saturday night game at Mount Greylock on Sept. 27 and does not appear at Wahconah Park again until Oct. 2 -- Week 5 -- against Lee.
Week 1 opponent Monument went 5-4 last year but missed out on the Western Mass playoffs.
D'Anello said he is fortunate to have 16 seniors returning to a program he served as an assistant coach for five years before taking the top job.
He also said that he wants to see the Spartans keep things simple on offense.
"I'm a former Monument Mountain player, and we were always a power team," he said. "That's what we want to lean towards.
"The way I envision my program being is something that's very, very disciplined. A little bit different from what's been going on in the past. We're going to have high standards and definitely get these guys training from the time they're freshmen on. I'm big into the cross-fit training, and that's what I think is important."