by Rachel Hunter
The Village of Gouverneur Board of Trustees at its regular meeting on Feb. 19 bestowed a special commendation to the 2018 Gouverneur Central Wildcat Varsity Football for their outstanding season.
The Wildcats were once again undefeated in regular season, and went 8-0 before being dominated by the Ogdensburg Free Academy Blue Devils in the Section 10 Class C Championship. This is the third season in a row that the Wildcats went undefeated, under the coaching of Head Coach Sean Devlin, Assistant Coach Travis Dann, Assistant Coach Justin Young, Assistant Coach Cody Hartle, and Assistant Coach Frank Bush (who also serves as the GCS athletic director). The team included the following GCS student-athletes:
Joseph Cummings, Mitchell Shippee, Jacob Shippee, Mitchell Tyler, Caleb Farr, Connor Wood, David Baker, Cayden Stowell, Nicholas Embry, Blaine Platt, Riley Simmons, Slater Rusin, Shane Shampine, Garrison Gonyeau (Captain), Jared Wilson, Jacob Link (Captain), Peyton Schmitt (Captain), Daniel Hall, Logan Phillips, Brock Cox, Dawson Miller, Carter Hance (Captain), Keegan Matthews, Christian Butler, Carter Simmons, Carter Wilson, Zackary Macaulay, Logan Garrison (Captain), Steven Jackson Jr., Joseph Rotundo, Nicholas Jenkins.
This string of undefeated seasons is one that has not been accomplished in Gouverneur for decades.
“It has been a great three-year run,” Village of Gouverneur Mayor Ronald McDougall said. “There’s not a question about that. We’re very happy about that, and very happy to honor the football team. I’ll just say one thing… certainly to a number of us who attended the games for the past three years, but particularly this year, it was something to see. There’s no question about that. Not a state championship, but the best three-year run in quite some time in Northern New York, whether it be the old Northern League, back to eight-man football, or whatever.
“In particular interest from a personal view was the pre-WWII team my father-in-law (Bill Scozzafava) who passed away in December talked about. He said, “They might be a bit faster than we were, you know.” In particular, when it comes to half-back, and yeah they are faster. When I said, “They are bigger and better,” he didn’t agree with that… but maybe a little bit faster.”
Mayor Ronald McDougall and Deputy Mayor Charles Newvine also mentioned that they represented the Village of Gouverneur at the 2018 GCS Wildcats Varsity Football Awards Banquet, held recently at the Gouverneur Community Center. Mayor McDougall also mentioned that Town of Gouverneur Supervisor David Spilman, Jr. “It was a great night,” Mayor McDougall.
An recognition plaque, by Harland Brown of Brown’s Jewelry Store in Gouverneur, was presented by the Village of Gouverneur Board of Trustees by Mayor Ronald McDougall to Head Coach Sean Devlin and assistant coaching staff in attendance (including GCS Athletic Director Frank Bush), and team members present.
“On behalf of the Village of Gouverneur Board of Trustees, congratulations,” Mayor McDougall said. “It has been a great run.”
Mayor McDougall then opened the floor for the coaching staff and football team members to speak. Head Coach Sean Devlin then said the following: “We just want to thank the community, of course, the school for their continued support, and the village board for recognizing what we do, our success. Coach (Frank Bush) and I will be around for a few years, some of these guys won’t be back, and it really means a lot to us for them to have the opportunity to be recognized at this level. This is the third or fourth year being invited here, and it never gets old. And we hope it is a trend that continues the next three or four years also. So we appreciate it.”
There were no more comments made to the village board, or by the Village of Gouverneur Board of Trustees except for congratulations to the 2018 GCS Wildcat Varsity Football Team for their outstanding season.
The next meeting of the Village of Gouverneur Board of Trustees is to be held on Tuesday, March 19 at 7 p.m. in the municipal courtroom.