By Tyler Maheu, Staff Sportswriter
Milo Farrington doesn’t watch football. He only played briefly in elementary school. But the high school senior hits opposing running backs like he’s been doing this his whole life.
Farrington and his family have always called the area home. He attended Prosper Valley in Pomfret in his younger years and has attended Woodstock High School for all four years. But this season is his first time stepping foot on the gridiron. “Throughout high school, a lot of people said I might be good at it and that it was fun,” he explained in an interview this week with the Standard. “I’ve always been mountain biking with my brother, or working towards getting my license, so there was always a reason not to.”
But a conversation with his former Boy Scouts of America scout master made him see an opportunity. “He told me not to leave senior year with any regrets,” said Farrington. “So I figured, no regrets, and I signed up.”
Milo Farrington, who just joined the football team as a senior at Woodstock Union High School, is excelling in his new sport. Tyler Maheu Photo
The transition for the lacrosse player was not easy at first. “I was lost,” he said of his first few practices. “I never watched football, so I didn’t even know the positions.” He said that he started out playing on the line, but was eventually moved to linebacker and fullback.
Through hard work, he started to make an impression. “I started staying an extra 15 to 30 minutes after practice with the coaches,” he said, detailing his efforts to go the extra mile to make himself useful to the team. “They’ve been really good. They always tell me that if I’m gonna make a mistake, to do it hard, or don’t do it at all.” Assistant coach Matt Frederick praised the first-year player. “He’s a good kid; it’s been really great to have him around,” he said during an e-mail correspondence. “The other players really encourage and root for him. He’s been a great fit for our team culture.”
Farrington’s first in-game action came in the season opener on Sept. 5, and he felt prepared. “People asked me if I was nervous, but I wasn’t,” he said. But as gametime loomed closer, the butterflies kicked in. “The closer the game got, the more nervous I was,” he admitted. “The nerves really set in during warm-ups. But they disappeared the second the ball snapped.”
If he was nervous, observers and the opposing U-32 Raiders couldn’t tell. Farrington dominated the defensive side of the ball from his position at linebacker, accounting for 21 tackles, four of which were solo in Woodstock’s week one loss. “It felt like only I was out there,” said Farrington of the moments before his first tackle. “I just knew I couldn’t let him through.”
In week two, Farrington continued to shine, this time contributing eight tackles (two for a loss), helping his Wasps get to 1-1 on the season with the 35-0 victory versus Poultney. He knows he has much to learn as the season progresses, but he will take all the bumps in the road in stride. “I just can’t be too hard on myself,” he said.
The linebacker will look to help the Wasps earn more victories this season, but he already has his mind set on his future. After high school, he set his eyes on the sky. “My dream is to do aerial firefighting,” he said. “I’d like to be flying helicopters out west and to fight wildfires.”
