Jean DePlacido
Jared Coppola was able to watch his St. John's Prep football teammates beat Malden Catholic, 42-12, on his computer last Saturday afternoon. He was able to do so thanks to Peabody Access Telecommunications which arranged to send a live feed to him in Atlanta.
Jared's (triplet) brother, Tyler, scored a touchdown and had several excellent punt and kickoff returns in the Prep's 42-12 thumping of the Lancers.
Coppola is making remarkable progress in his long term recovery from an injury in a preseason scrimmage game that left him with a spinal fracture.
Jared's mother Dawn has been in Atlanta with her son since Jared went to the Shepherd Rehabilitation Center in Atlanta. His father Skip and brother Brandon, the other member of the Coppola triplets, flew down recently for a weekend visit.
In one of their many telephone conversations, Jared told Prep teammate Mike Uva that he wished the family could watch the Eagles live instead of hearing details of the game later on. Uva, who is from Peabody, set the wheels in motion by contacting Camille Bartlett, executive director of Peabody cablevision (PAT). She went out of her way to make sure it happened.
Beginning last Tuesday evening, the work went on to hook up a live feed to Coppola's room until an hour before game time, as obstacles were overcome and plans were implemented to make sure this experimental operation would succeed.
The press box at Cronin Field (the Prep's home field) does not have internet access, so after consulting with football coach and athletic director Jim O'Leary, a connection was hard-wired to Griffin Hall, which is adjacent to the nearby parking lot behind the field.
The team from PAT arrived bright and early on game day at 8 a.m. to go to work designing a system strong enough to overcome the long distance between the three camera positions, wireless air card on the referee, and the computer that was set up to facilitate the operation.
It wasn't until an hour before game time that they knew it was going to work out; that's when a phone call from Dawn Coppola confirmed they were able to see MC warming up on the field.
Bartlett, Don Murphy, Luke Richards and Ron Vargas, along with other members of the nine-person crew, had worked tirelessly on their own time to design and hard-wire the system. It wasn't easy, but these unsung heroes went above and beyond the call of duty to pull it off without a hitch.
Because the results were so successful, it may be repeated for today's big battle at home with B.C. High (1:30).
When the Eagles gathered under the goal post prior to taking the field, Uva — a senior cornerback — told everybody their teammate was watching, and they all looked up at the camera.
Then, before the fourth quarter started, Prep golf coach Larry O'Neil, who does a first class job announcing the games, directed fans attention to the camera located in the stands to recognize Jared and his family, which drew an enthusiastic round of applause. PAT play-by-play announcer Lou Cersosimo also sent well wishes to the family.
Family friend Sue O'Leary (Jim O'Leary's sister-in-law) recently visited Jared and Dawn. She said he looks forward to receiving mail — letters, notes, packages, and also text messages. The address is Jared Coppola, c/o Shepherd Center, 2020 Peachtree Road, NW, Atlanta, GA 30309.
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The St. Johns' Prep JV soccer team had a fantastic season with a perfect 17-0 record. The Eagles allowed only two goals all year, both coming in the final game.
This special group has been together for two years now and recorded 34 wins and no losses. As freshmen they allowed only four goals all season.
"We have an exceptional group of players, who have been together last year and this year. That's unusual in high school sports as most programs take their best players to varsity, often times too soon," said coach Ryan Snee. "It's been a fantastic group to coach, and the on-field leadership has remained consistent."
The team elected the same two captains both years, Deklin Robinson and Dan DeChristoforo, who are both sophomores.
Varsity coach Dave Crowell has an excellent feeder system to find replacements for the 13 players that are graduating from this year's squad that lost to Lexington in the Division 1 North first round.
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Eagle game captains last weekend were seniors Pat Smerczynski and Brian Garey. Smerczynski, who rolled his ankle in the opener against Peabody, is finally healthy. His father Mike was an Eagles captain in 1977. Garey's uncle Mike Brown (1976) was also a Prep captain, who went on to captain the Harvard team.
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Jean DePlacido is a part-time writer and columnist for The Salem News. Contact her at jmdeplacido@aol.com.
