CHESHIRE — The tumultuous child sex abuse scandal that erupted this past fall involving former Penn State assistant Jerry Sandusky eventually led to the firing of longtime Penn State coach Joe Paterno.
In its wake, several top recruits backed out of their commitments to Happy Valley. Newington’s Malik Golden wavered but in the end still felt it was the place for him.
Golden was one of four Cheshire Academy football players to sign letters of intent on Wednesday. Mike Villapiano signed a letter of intent to attend Brown, A.J. Zuttah signed to go to Dartmouth and Connor Caponegro signed a letter of intent to attend the University of Rhode Island. Coach Dan O’Dea led the Cats to an undefeated season and the New England Prep School Class B championship.
“You can’t pick a school solely because of the coach,” Golden said. “On any given day he can leave any ways. We lost some four and five-star recruits but we’ve still got a lot of talent coming in.
“When I went to Penn State, I saw the guys hanging out together. You could tell it was a family there. That’s what I want. I also wanted to be closer to home. That’s why I came to Cheshire Academy. My mother developed cancer and I wanted to be close to her.”
Golden never imagined being caught up in the Penn State drama.
“It actually was weird,” Golden said. “(Penn State assistant coach Kermit Buggs) came to see me play on Senior Night. He left the game early and no one knew why. But the scandal broke out on that day and he had just heard about it. At halftime the guys asked me if I had heard what happened.
“I said, ‘What are you talking about?’”
Golden starred on both sides of the ball at Cheshire Academy. He will play wide receiver at Penn State but said there is still a chance he’ll see action at defensive back.
Golden grew fond of Paterno in his short relationship with the legendary coach who died on Jan. 22.
“I have a lot of respect for Coach Paterno,” Golden said. “What he did at Penn State. He’s a genuine guy and I just think that he went out the wrong way. He still has my respect.”
Zuttah’s brother Jeremy currently plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Even though he also has NFL aspirations he yearned for the academics of Ivy League.
"I think I'll be able to make an impact right away," Zuttah said. "I've been working hard the past couple of years. This year I've been with a personal trainer.
I think I'll make a smooth transition even to an Ivy League after being at Cheshire Academy the past two years. It's prepared me for what college life is going to be like."
Villapiano is the son of former Oakland Raider all-pro linebacker Phil Villapiano and will play quarterback at Brown.
"Their quarterback graduated so it will be an open competition and that's all you can ask for. This was a great year. I put on a lot of weight and I've gotten better. Cheshire Academy gave me a lot of benefits that I couldn't have succeeded without."
Villapiano was a big part of the Cats' offense that blew out most of the teams on its schedule this year.
"It was a killer season," he said. "We were clicking. We had so many good players it worked out and it was so much fun."
Villapiano said he got a late start on the recruiting process last year and that led to his decision to play at Cheshire.
"My dad always told me to just play and everything will work out. By the time people were recruiting me most of the scholarships were already taken. Coach O'Dea contacted and offered me a chance to play here and it opened more doors."
Caponegro expects to play H-back at Rhode Island. He is hitting machine according to O'Dea.
"I like my size," Caponegro said. "I feel like I'm where I want to be. Before I came to Cheshire Academy I only had offers as a walk-on. Now I've got a full ride and I'm excited.
"I've played fullback and linebacker and I don't care where I play. I got to run the ball a few times here. Before this I didn't get to touch it a lot and then I'm catching the ball and everything.
"It was great. I loved the coaching staff and campus at Rhode Island."

I'm back after a week's vacation.
Check out this space for updates on the area's collegiate sports scene daily.

On Sunday Yale's men's basketball won its sixth straight game, a wild affiar against URI.
The details come from the Yale Website.

Bulldogs Extend Winning Streak To Six With Dramatic Victory

KINGSTON, R.I. – Yale extended its winning streak to six straight games, but it sure didn't come easy. The Bulldogs needed a five-point play with 18 seconds left to help knock off Rhode Island 68-65 before a stunned crowd of 3,355 at the Thomas Ryan Center.

With Yale down by two, 63-61, Austin Morgan hit a three-pointer from just right of the top of the key with 18 seconds left. URI's Rayvon Harris was hit with a foul trying to fight through a screen on the play. Morgan's basket counted, and Jeremiah Kreisberg added a pair of free throws to make it 66-63.

"Our first option was to go to Greg [Mangano]down low to try and tie it. Austin was on the same side, and he was the second option," said James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Men's Basketball. "Austin did a great job knocking down the shot, and Jeremiah set a great screen."

Still, the Runnin' Rams had a chance to tie in the final seconds. Mike Powell's driving layup pulled URI within one, 66-65, with nine seconds left. After a timeout, Yale inbounded the ball to Michael Grace, who was quickly fouled. He made both free throws with seven seconds remaining.

Rhode Island's Jonathan Holton missed a contested three-pointer from the wing as time expired.

Morgan finished with 19 points to pace the Bulldogs. All five of his field goals were three-pointers, and he was 4-of-4 from the foul line. Kreisberg and Mangano each added 15 points, and Grace scored seven.

At 8-2 overall, Yale is off to its best start since the 1991-92 team won 10 of its first 12 games. The six-game winning streak is the longest for the Bulldogs since 2001-02.

Three times during the winning streak, Yale has trailed at the half, and that was the case again against the Rams.

Perhaps showing the effects of a 10-day layoff for exams, the Bulldogs started slowly. URI (1-10) led by 13, 32-19, with three minutes left in the first half. The Bulldogs, though, closed the half with an 11-4 run to pull within 36-30 at the intermission.

The momentum carried over into the second half. Just seven minutes in, Yale had the lead and it grew to 10, 61-51, on a Mangano layup with 6:13 left.

The Bulldogs, though, didn't score again until Morgan's dramatic three-pointer.

"It feels good to get this win," Jones said. "We squandered a lead, but were able to come back. I think we showed a lot of resiliency."

Yale made nine three-pointers in the game and was 7-of-13 from beyond the arc in the second half.

"They switched to a zone, and we knocked down some shots," Jones said. "We did a poor job handling their pressure in the first half."

Isaiah Salafia hit two big three-pointers in the second half to account for his six points.

Nikola Malesevic led Rhode Island with 25 points.

NOTES: Yale was 19-of-22 from the foul line in the game… During the six-game winning streak, the Bulldogs have outscored their opponents 127-75 at the free throw line… Mangano had two blocked shots, giving him 171 for his career, one behind Chris Dudley's school record… Reggie Willhite had four assists in the game, including one on Morgan's dramatic three-pointer… The players will now head home for the holiday before getting back together in North Carolina on Dec. 27. The Bulldogs play at Wake Forest on Dec. 29 before heading to Gainesville, Fla., for a New Year's Eve matchup with Florida.