POMPERAUG FOOTBALL
NEWS

Danbury News-Times Football Capsule

POMPERAUG

COACH: Chuck Drury (22nd season)

2002 RECORD: 11-2 (SWC and Colonial Division champions)

KEY LOSSES: QB/CB Steve Hansen; HB/LB Tom Tidgwell; OT Tim Napoli; OT Cliff Hawthorne; OG Phillip Platt; OG Joe DeRienzo; 
C Matt Sharkey; DT Grant Suter; DE Francis Maguire; LB Brian Shalvoy; LB Gordon Fluckinger

KEY RETURNEES: QB/DB/K Tim Keegan, Sr.; FB/CB Ken Fraser, Sr.; HB Patrick Kantor, Sr.; WR Max Kramer, Sr.; 
TE James Mastriani, Sr.; DE William Richert, Sr.; DT Anthony Salvador, Sr.; LB Michael Kielt, Jr.; S Joe Melillo, Jr.

OUTLOOK: Despite graduating seven starters on offense and six on defense, the Panthers appear capable of defending their division 
and conference titles. The versatile Keegan, a productive wide receiver the past two years, takes over at quarterback, which he last played 
as a freshman. Drury describes him a "rusty, but athletic.” The hard-nosed Tidgwell will be missed after rushing for 1,061 yards and leading the 
area with 20 touchdowns. But Fraser figures to take his place among the SWC’s best ball carriers; the fast, bruising fullback scored twice to help 
beat Immaculate 17-13 in last year’s SWC championship game. Kielt, coming an outstanding year as a blitzing linebacker, will also be running the ball 
this season. A major concern has been rebuilding an all-new offensive line. "That’s been our biggest worry, but they’re getting much better,” Drury said.

CATCH HIM IF YOU CAN
Pomperaug’s Fraser mixes size, speed at fullback for defending SWC champions
By Ed Flink
THE NEWS-TIMES
9/12/2003

SOUTHBURY — On many high school football teams, Pomperaug High senior Ken Fraser would probably be one of those 
anonymous guys in the trenches with a uniform number in the 70s.

Big kids are in short supply, so out of necessity he’d likely be toiling at tackle if he played for a lesser program.

But the defending South-West Conference champions possess a deep pool of talent, and thus have the luxury of using Fraser at 
fullback and cornerback. He’s the rare athlete blessed with size and speed. Standing 6-foot-2 and weighing almost 215 pounds, 
he runs over defenders, and away from them.

Seventh-year Immaculate coach Steve Kaplanis can’t recall a ball carrier like Fraser during his tenure in the league.

"You’ve had big kids and fast kids but not that big and that fast,” Kaplanis said. "He’s a monster.”

A NASCAR buff, Fraser is built like a monster truck and possesses the acceleration of a dragster when he gets the handoff. 
He’s run the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds, and he won the 100-meter dash at the SWC track championships last spring with a time of 11.55 seconds.

"He likes fast cars,” Pomperaug coach Chuck Drury said, "and he runs fast. He’s explosive. He’s a back 
that starts fast. When he takes off he’s going full speed.”

The lengths of his 10 touchdowns last fall bear that out: eight covered at least 20 yards, with half of those going for more than 35 yards.
Against Stratford, a team known for having speedy athletes, the Red Devils couldn’t catch him as he sprinted 91 yards for a TD.

Fraser’s favorite NASCAR driver was the late Dale Earnhardt.

"He drove to intimidate people and that’s what I like to do (on the field),” Fraser said.

For much of last season, he flew under the radar while teammate Tom Tidgwell was rushing for more than 1,000 yards. Fraser also missed several 
games with an ankle injury. But he rose to the occasion in the playoffs. He was the most valuable player of SWC championship game after producing 
125 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries as the Panthers rallied to beat Immaculate 17-13. And in the state Class MM semifinals, while Tidgwell 
was hobbled by a leg problem, he gained 158 yards on 19 carries, including a 65-yard scoring run, in a 21-17 loss to Seymour.

"Our whole offensive line just looked at me and said that it was all on my shoulders, so I had to step it a little bit,” Fraser said. "I just felt at 
home in those games. I didn’t feel scared at all. It was just the competitive nature of them. I loved it.”

As the youngest of three boys, he knows all about competition. Oldest sibling Rob was a Pomperaug quarterback; brother Kevin played halfback. 
Both offer advice and encouragement.

"You always have to surpass the previous accomplishments of the other two. All my life I’ve been trying to impress my parents 
and my brothers,” he said of being the "little” brother.

How did he become such a fast runner?

"My brother (Rob) used to take me out back and we used to race for money,” he said with a grin. "And my dad always tried to get me to 
go faster because he was a Pop Warner coach and he knew if I had speed I’d be a pretty good running back.”

Robert Fraser was prophetic, but he also passed along his genes. He used to run track at Newtown High and on occasion would 
beat a teammate named Bruce Jenner, who went on to capture a 1976 Olympic gold medal in the decathlon.

Ken appreciates the grunt work of his offensive linemen and understands their importance because in those 
Pop Warner days he played guard.

"It’s basically the line. The running back just gets the glory,” he said.

The credit for moving him to fullback belongs to freshman coach Tom Tata.

"He discovered that I had a little bit of speed, so they moved me to fullback,” Fraser said.

Smart move.

The position is vital in the Panthers’ offensive scheme.

"If you run the Wing T, you need a productive fullback,” Drury said. "He has to be tough. He’s either carrying the ball 
or he’s blocking. Very seldom does he just fake.”

Drury prefers a balanced attack and doesn’t anticipate making Fraser the featured back, as tempting as that may be. It’s the old 
"take what they give us” philosophy, and you can expect Fraser will be attracting plenty of defensive attention.

"He’s just going to pound up in there and when they give us a seam he’s gone,” Drury said.

Fraser is torn right now between playing football and running track in college.

"I don’t know which route I want to go yet. I like football because it’s a team sport but then I also like to just depend on myself. 
If I do something wrong in track all I have to do is blame myself,” he said.

This much is certain: Fraser isn’t resting on his postseason laurels or coming into this season with an inflated ego.

"It proved to me I still have a lot to work on because even though I had good games I probably could’ve done better. 
It made me think that if I’m this good now I can be that much better the next year.”

Next year starts tonight, and that’s bad news for opposing defenses because bringing down No. 44 doesn’t 
figure to be easy, assuming you can catch him.