Fresh start for football teams

A new season is about optimism and there was plenty of it Monday at Bellows Falls as well as about 10 miles up the road in Springfield. Rich Saypack has 36 players out, a healthy number for Springfield in recent years.


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Fresh start for football teams Rutland Herald | August 15, 2017 By TOM HALEY STAFF WRITER A new season is about optimism and there was plenty of it Monday at Bellows Falls as well as about 10 miles up the road in Springfield. Rich Saypack has 36 players out, a healthy number for Springfield in recent years. Victories have been few and far between for the Cosmos, but Saypack senses a new attitude. “ Instead of complaining about who isn’t here, we are going to coach up the guys who are here,” Saypack said. Sayack said the Cosmos are “getting back to 2008 football.” It is a reference to the last year they won a state title. The Cosmos won a single game in 2016, a victory over first-year program Missisquoi. “We are miles ahead of where we were last year at this point,” Saypack said as he wrapped up Monday morning’s practice. The Cosmos will scrimmage New Hampshire neighbor Fall Mountain on Aug. 22 at 6 p.m. and will head to Hartford for another on Aug. 26. More robust numbers will allow the freshmen to grow and not have to play at the varsity level before they are ready, Saypack said. “For the first time in four years our freshmen will get to be freshmen,” he said. Numbers are always a topic on this first day.