With the close of the 2021 football season, the Dodgers are graduating 15 football seniors including captain and middle linebacker Joe Carfano, captain and outside linebacker Mike McGuire, captain and running back Luke Denison, and defensive end Ian Reilly. While these seniors may be going their separate ways, they are taking with them memories that will last a lifetime.

“I’m going to miss the bonds I’ve made with so many people over the years,” Carfano said. “I’ve known some of these guys since I was 5 years old so not being able to play with them anymore is going to be hard.”

This unbreakable Dodger bond was a common theme among these seniors. “I’ve only been playing football for 3 years but in that short amount of time I’ve made some friendships that are probably going to last for the rest of my life. It’s really a special program that we have here in Madison,” said Reilly.

Despite their obvious love for the game, there were still challenges that had to be overcome. “As a captain, I had the extra responsibility of putting everyone else before myself,” Carfano said.

McGuire added the difficulties of losing last year’s graduating seniors.”Their class made up the majority of players who started along with some really big players who filled important roles like quarterback and receiver, but the team has done a tremendous job of stepping up to take on the challenge. A lot of young guys and players who have never had a varsity start really stepped up for the team and allowed our team to succeed.”

Carfano and McGuire both talked about the challenges of having a whole new varsity squad since the majority of their starting varsity players were seniors last year. Yet no difficulty was too great for the Dodgers. Both McGuire and Carfano are proud of the work the new players put in to get where they are now.

McGuire has complete confidence in the team next year, knowing that they will not back down and will lead the Dodgers to a great season. “I know Anthony Contessa, Greg Randall, and Cade LaFerriere will all step up as leaders and have monster seasons next year,” Denison said. 

Other key players expected to step up include quarterback Brayton Boyer. “That is a leadership role on the team,” Reilly added. “You are pretty much the head of the offense. It is someone you can look up to. I can see him and a few other guys stepping up, like Robert Ferris and Aniello Vacchiano. I think it’s a good group of kids and I think they will do great things.”

McGuire added to the extensive list of players who would step up, mentioning names including James Amorosi, Hendrix Farrell, Jack McGuire, Luke D’Ambola, Brandon Quintero, Jayson Candelario, Joey DeMarzo and Mayson Messuti. It is safe to say that these seniors are leaving the team in good hands!

Still, “I’m going to miss all the little things like the locker room jokes and messing with the underclassman, but the two things I’m going to miss the most are Coach Lib and getting to fight another team under the lights every Friday night,” Denison said.

“The thing I am going to miss most about the team is definitely my teammates and the coaches,” said McGuire. “The comradery that is shared amongst the teammates is something I will always remember. We truly are a family and a brotherhood. Everyone is always rooting for each other whether it be during practice or in game. The coaches could not be more encouraging and enthusiastic. It doesn’t matter if we just came off of a big win or terrible loss, the coaches are always looking towards the next team we are playing and wanting to improve our game. Our entire coaching staff is really the epitome of how a staff should coach their team.”

Memories are not the only thing that the football seniors are taking away with them. They will also carry with them many lessons that they learned throughout their highschool football careers.

“No amount of mistakes or mess ups can define you as a person,” Reilly said. “We all mess up like on the team sometimes and instead of clinging to it and thinking about it too much our coaches teach us to move past it and learn from those types of mistakes. The coaches always tell us the worst type of mistakes are the ones that reoccur and we never learn from.”

In addition to Reilly’s learned lessons, McGuire added that the biggest takeaway is to always have pride in what you are doing. “I take pride in the fact that my team never gives up no matter how bad we are losing or how much we are beating our opponent. Everyday in our pre- practice huddle, we always say pride on three. This team has too much pride to give up or be satisfied which is why we always strive to be better.”

As these Dodgers prepare to leave the team, it is abundantly clear that this team is a family. The memories and friendships these teammates have made will last them a lifetime. The pride they have in their team that will remain even after they are gone goes to show how much everyone truly cared. Even though these senior player’s time has come to an end, a new senior class is already stepping up and preparing to lead the team to greatness next year.