CHESHIRE – The opening kickoff was minutes away and the fans were filling up the home stands at Alumni Field. However, there was a different feel to things as the undefeated Rams welcomed Hamden to town.
Before the playing of the national anthem, a moment of silence was held in honor of Wayne Candela, the former Cheshire athletic director, who passed away in Florida on Oct. 6. He was 78.
In a city and a program that embraced the tradition of past players and difference makers, it might be hard to find somebody who made more of an impact on Cheshire High athletics than Candela.
Whether it was being one of the driving forces in the creation of the Southern Connecticut Conference, a successful softball coach, somebody who pushed for the addition of multiple sports, or being an advocate for female sports, Candela’s impact goes much farther than
a moment of silence before a dominating 41-0 win that raised the football team’s record to 6-0.
“Gentleman” was the first word that came to mind when former Amity athletic director Paul Mengold spoke of Candela’s legacy.
“A man’s man” was how former Shelton High School AD Jim Benanto, a former college teammate of Candela’s described a man who served as the athletic director at Cheshire from 1987-2003. Benanto didn’t stop there.
“People should try to be like him because he was a great role mode.”
None of the players who suited up for Cheshire on Friday night were born when Candela wrapped up his successful run with the Rams. However, they were inspired to come through for somebody who set the stage for future generations of student-athletes at Cheshire.
“This is a town that loves its people and we are very proud to be from Cheshire and to represent the people who have put this program to where it is and that is what matters to us,” Cheshire senior defensive lineman and co-captain Evan Russo said.
During another impressive win, scores of the various Cheshire sporting events played over the loudspeaker. With each announcement of a win by the Rams, it was not hard to feel the positive vibes through the Cheshire athletic facilities.
That was right in line with the way things ran when Candela was helping the Rams to incredible success on the playing field and even more importantly, off the field.
“How do you sum up who he was as a person and what he did for athletics at this school,” Cheshire football coach Don Drust said. “It is a challenging thing and the easiest way to get to it is you look at how much of a positive footprint did he leave here for us to be able to do this?”
Senior running back Jeff Gonzalez ran for two touchdowns, caught a touchdown pass and completed a pass on the first offensive play of the game.
Logan Kranyak returned an interception 15 yards for a score, Adam Vernon scooped up a fumble and rumbled in for a 10-yard TD while Aniston Marsh connected with Liam Suomala for his second and final TD pass of the game.
The only question that remained was whether the Rams would finish with the shutout.
A Cheshire fumble gave Hamden its best opportunity in the final drive of the game. The Rams, playing mostly with backups at that point, sealed the deal.
“That shows the strength of our team,” Russo said. “We are ready to play at the highest level in this league and I believe the score reflects that against a great team.”
It is impossible to look back on Candela’s stint as the athletic director with the Rams without thinking of the Cheshire football team breaking Ansonia’s state record by winning 49 games in a row from 1992-96. The Rams won six consecutive state titles from 1992-97.
There were plenty of magical moments and more than 60 state titles while Candela ran the athletic department at Cheshire. However, that is only part of his legacy.
“He has done a lot of good things for not only student-athletes at Cheshire but throughout the SCC,” Mengold said.
“He was able to get other people to see the big picture. He was the athletic director during a period of time when Cheshire was pretty successful in most of their sports. He was a tremendous softball coach before becoming the athletic director, his teams were always
successful. He always preached having good sportsmanship. I think that was paramount with him and I always admired that.”
The Connecticut high school softball community also took the passing of Candela hard as he was one of the people who pushed for more opportunities for softball and other female sports.
“He was ahead of his time because he did a lot for women’s athletics,” Cheshire AD Steve Perosino said.
“Not a lot of people in his time were like that and he could have easily back in those times got lost in all those teams that were winning on the football field and on the baseball field. I am sure he loved every minute and enjoyed watching his boys playing on those teams but he also was an educator and he kept the girls at the forefront of his mind too. We want to honor him and we want to respect our history so it was great to be able to do that.”
The football team is reminded of that history each day thanks to the rock that honors the memory of former Cheshire student-athlete Tommy DiDomizio. DiDomizio died in a car accident a few months before Cheshire won the first of six consecutive state championships.
“Touching that rock, it is the first thing that we learn about,” Gonzalez said. “Just knowing that story, knowing that we have those roots, it is something special and it gives you a little extra oomph on the field.”
There are also regular conversations about the past greats. Many of the parents of the current players grew up in Cheshire so the tradition is passed along from generation to generation.
“When you put the C on your helmet, it means something,” Russo said.
This Cheshire team is looking to add to that legacy. The Rams are second in the current CIAC Class MM ratings. Three of the four remaining games come against teams with winning records including a showdown with undefeated West Haven.
“We’ve been playing together since fourth grade,” Gonzalez said. “We have a really tight senior class that leads this team. Our offense has been clicking, our defense has been clicking and we just progressed each week. Being 6-0 is where we expected to be.”
The best could be yet to come.
