By John Raffel
The most intriguing questions for the 2014 football season are obvious: Can Ithaca do it again? Can the Yellowjackets go 14-0 and take a fifth straight state title? Can they make it 70-0 after five seasons?
Those questions will be answered in the 14 weeks beginning Labor Day weekend. The schedule includes a new opening day opponent. The Yellowjackets play at Clare on Aug. 29 against the program that produced a 2009 Division 5 state runner-up the year before Ithaca claimed the first of its four titles. The Pioneers have Ithaca’s 100 percent focus right now.
“To be honest, I couldn’t tell you who we play week two,” Hessbrook said. “We have to win week one. We have to play Kelly Luplow’s team. Those guys are great coaches. Kelly is a Hall-of- Famer. They’re good friends of mine. All of our [coaches] are good friends with theirs.”
Despite winning 56 straight games, Hessbrook acknowledges that a key behind Ithaca’s success is having respect for all opponents and realizing that the streak could end any time if the Yellowjackets have a poor game. “Every single team you play will present you with a certain challenge,” he said. “Every team has certain challenges they’ll give us. Some are greater than others. I like having a tough opening game. We have to go up there and will play on Friday not Thursday. I have a feeling there will be a big crowd, because it’s the only game in the area. We’re excited to play them. They have a beautiful facility up there. I think that could be a tremendous rivalry over the years.”
Hessbrook acknowledged that the 56-game win streak has done more for the Ithaca football program than just put four prestigious trophies in the high school. “I can’t tell you what it means to this community,” he said. “Everywhere I go, people want to talk to you about Ithaca football. Our community members, they support us. They support all of our athletes. They come out in droves to games. If you’ve been to a playoff game, it’s just an amazing experience.
“I can’t thank our community enough for the tremendous support they’ve given us. It means so much for these players when they come out here and our stands are full two hours before kickoff. That’s a great experience for a high school.”
Coaches who win state titles usually downplay talk of repeats for obvious reasons during the preseason. Hessbrook and his assistants realize there are no guarantees and want their players to realize the same thing. But when any of his players says he wants to win another state crown, Hessbrook understands the attitude.
“That’s the goal,” he said. “Whether we can do that or not remains to be seen. There’s teams all over that have the same exact goal. But it’s certainly the goal. I don’t hesitate to allow them to talk about that. It doesn’t bother me as long as they keep their focus. That’s something I’m so proud of our players the last several years. They respect every single opponent. They take each opponent seriously. That will be important for this group of players to do as well.”
After the opener with Clare, the Yellowjackets delve into the Tri-Valley schedule for seven weeks. They will close the regular season Oct. 24 at home against Shepherd.