Carlito Colon spent a lot of time on the football sidelines last year.
He spent almost none this year.
The versatile senior was rarely taken off the field while juggling playing tight end on offense, middle linebacker on defense and long snapper on special teams for Ewing High School.
“At first it was a little tiring, but I started seeing that my coaches actually believed in me a lot and they supported me,” Colon said. “They knew when I was tired, and they just tried to give me rest when they could get me off. But actually it was fun. I just wanted to make sure I could do whatever I can to help my team win and help me for the future.”
Colon’s improvement and tireless example will stay with the Blue Devils coming back from a season that began in frustrating fashion but ended on a high note with wins in three of their final four games. Ewing opened the year with five straight losses, losing three of them by a combined five points and another by a single score.
“It was tough, but the kids persevered,” said Ewing head coach Ross Maddalon. “Knowing we were so close in many games, the team stayed together through the first half of the season and found ways to win games down the stretch.”
A 33-14 win over KIPP Cooper Norcross Academy changed the tide. After a loss to Allentown, the Blue Devils defeated West Windsor-Plainsboro High South 14-7 and closed the season with a 21-6 win over Hamilton.
“We have fighters,” Maddalon said. “The team wants to be winners and they showed it by winning three out of our final four games. Many teams would have folded after beginning with five losses, but that’s not the mentality of our kids.”
The Blue Devils tried to keep their message consistent even through the tough start to the season. As the players settled into roles, Ewing closed with an uplifting stretch.
“We prepared like we did all season,” Maddalon said. “As a staff, we told the team that we will continue to prepare to win every game and take it week-by-week. Our expectations never changed. We practiced like we were going to win and it paid off down the stretch.”
Colon epitomizes the Ewing fight. He could have easily been resigned to a lesser role for his final scholastic season of football after being limited to mostly JV action as a junior.
“I told myself I gotta work harder this season,” Colon said. “I had a jaw surgery so I missed part of weight room, but I went to went to the spring weight room to get myself better for this season.”
Getting stronger was just a start. It still didn’t mean that Colon would be taking on such an increased workload. He was slotted to play just defense and long snap when Ewing began mini-camps, but he added to his role.
“I asked my coach to switch to tight end for offense because I was a fullback,” he said. “He needed somebody who could block and who could catch and our other tight ends weren’t doing it enough. I told him I’ll switch for him because I don’t even care about getting the ball. And he was fine with me just being a blocker. So I was fine making the switch plus playing defense. I already knew it was going to be tough because of my stamina, but he conditions us enough that I was able to do it all season plus playing special teams, long snapping, short snapping and the rest of the special teams.”
The opening stretch of losses wasn’t an ideal way to kick off his senior year, but he saw that the team wouldn’t quit. Ewing remained optimistic through some heartbreaking losses.
“It was very frustrating because it’s bad going 0-5 but we all worked hard and we just kept telling each other, we’re going keep working harder, we’re going to work together,” Colon said. “And then when we work together, it’s going to all work out.”
The tide turned over the second half of the season. The Blue Devils ended up 3-6 overall, but the three wins came down the stretch as the team found a way to win games that they lost earlier in the year.
“We started picking up our mistakes because we would lose by maybe two or a couple of points or mistakes like turnovers and stuff, allowing big plays and penalties and stuff,” Colon said. “We picked it up having less and less every game and just trying to make the big plays happen more.”
Colon tried to do his part in his variety of roles. He had a reception on offense, but primarily he blocked for an offense that spread out its rushing attack. Five players had 123 yards rushing or more on the season, led by junior Josh Missick’s 572 yards to go with five touchdowns. Cordell Sloan, a senior, had 351 yards and four scores. Ryan Greig (423) and Jairus Williams (287) amassed 710 yards passing and six touchdowns. RaShaun Williams led Ewing receivers with 215 yards of catches and two scores balanced with another 199 yards rushing and a touchdown.
“We had several players ‘step up’ at key moments,” said Maddalon. “Also, we became more consistent on offense throughout the season while being able to play our best defense in the final four games. Our kids are resilient.”
Colon led the Blue Devils defense with 38 solo tackles to go with 30 assisted tackles, one behind junior Davon Law’s 69 total for the overall tackle lead. Sloan had 32 total tackles and sophomore Tyson Brown had 30.
“I’ve always been a defensive player,” Colon said. “I love defense. I’ve been a defensive player for a while, but on JV, I would play both. I would start offense and defense, but my bigger role was on defense.”
That also felt like the case this year for Colon at the varsity level. And as a senior, he also added a leadership role. It brought its own challenges.
“In the beginning it was kind of hard because it was my first varsity year, so I’m the new guy,” Colon said. “A lot of people that were around me have played varsity before me. So at first it was hard, but once one of my coaches said they needed a Superman, so I wanted to be that Superman and when I would make big plays that would help my team get the momentum up and start trying to win more and it just helped that we all came as a group and them listening to me and everybody hearing my voice, it was just helping.”
This season, he took a major step in being a better football player and leader. Making such a big leap in one year enabled him to help more than he ever anticipated.
“I was surprised,” he said. “I thought I was going to do good, but I did better than I expected myself to do. And I’m actually proud of myself that I was able to do more than I expected myself to do.”
The Ewing coaches were impressed as well. Colon stepped into a vocal role on defense, and became what Maddalon called their “most dependable player.” Colon’s development is an example that the Blue Devils hope inspires their younger players.
“Carlito was the embodiment of our L.S.G. (loyalty, sacrifice, guts) philosophy,” Maddalon said. “This young man has come a long way since he entered the program. Last year, he was mainly a JV player who saw sporadic time with the varsity. He worked his ‘tail’ off in the offseason, committing himself to our year-round weight room program and entirely transformed himself into a player we couldn’t keep off the field. As a staff, we are incredibly proud of this young man.”
Colon’s emergence has shaped his future goals. He plans to play football and study criminal justice in college with a goal of becoming a police officer. He may return to the Ewing track and field team that he did three years ago, but his focus for now is on lifting to get stronger to prepare for the next level. The offseason work was a key aspect of his development this year and something that he hopes other teammates will emulate.
“I just showed them how it doesn’t matter how many years you play varsity, it doesn’t matter like what you do or anything,” Colon said. “You could be a on a freshman team this year and varsity next year. If you work for it, if you really want it, you work hard for it and you can get it. If you want to be better, then you gotta work better.”
While Carlito Colon won’t be there next year, he has left a perfect example for those coming back of how much they can improve over a year. And after a season in which Ewing’s entire team came on strong, there is plenty of optimism for the future.
“We ended the season on a high note by winning three out of our final four games, so we have momentum heading into the offseason,” Maddalon said. “There will be a large senior class with 24 seniors returning, many of whom have varsity experience. Also, we had several sophomore and freshmen contribute to the varsity as well. The sublevels finished with admirable records.”
Ewing High School football player Carlito Colon.,
