Amid little fanfare, the Chalker football team opened its season last week with a convincing victory.

There were no camera crews capturing the highlights. The game garnered no headlines. There were no Friday night lights.

Instead, the game was played on Saturday morning.

Chalker senior wide receiver / defensive back Lucas Whelchel wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I just want to play football, I’m playing because I love the game and I love being with the players, my friends,” Whelchel said. “For me, that’s what this is all about.”

Chalker’s opening week win came against the Jackson-Milton junior varsity squad. The Wildcats’ 2023 schedule features three JV opponents (JM, Pymatuning Valley, Warren JFK) two varsity opponents (Lincoln West, Ashtabula St. John) along with a pair of 8-man football games against Sebring.

Like it was in 2022, football at Chalker is considered a “club” sport. The games are not recognized by the Ohio High School Athletic Association.

After having its 2021 season shut down due to a lack of players, Chalker returned to the field in last season and played a five-game JV schedule.

With an 18-man roster, the Wildcats hope to be able to complete their seven-game schedule this year while building for the future.

Chalker’s football future is one of the main reasons Whelchel chose to play. He noted that he participated in youth football and then didn’t play organized football again until last year when he was a junior.

“I mainly wanted to help in terms of the program having enough numbers to be able to field a team,” Whelchel said. “I came into this knowing that I wouldn’t get the chance to play a full varsity schedule. But the only way to build the program in the future was by starting things up last year and moving forward.

“It’s a lot of fun and the coaches are great. We do have some really good players who are freshmen and sophomores so I think there is a great chance that the numbers will continue to go up and this team will be strong next year and beyond.”

Whelchel, along with Hunter Pequignot, are the only two seniors on the roster which consists mostly of freshmen and sophomores.

Pequignot is also one of five players on the roster who attend a neighboring high school that doesn’t offer football.

“I saw this as a way of helping the (Southington) district have the chance to restore the program while giving myself an opportunity to play football, which I couldn’t do up until last year,” Pequignot said. “I had a lot of fun with it last year. Football is a tough sport. It’s not easy but it’s a great way to stay fit and it’s a fun sport and these coaches are great.

“It went pretty good last year and I knew that the team was getting some really good freshmen this year so I stuck with it. If I’m not playing football I’m probably doing something stupid, wasting my time. So I’m happy to have this chance to play.”

When Chalker coach Justin Kren took over the program in January of 2021, he did so under the assumption that he would be fielding a varsity team in the fall of ’21. The combination of a lack of players and injuries forced the Wildcats to cancel their first five games even before the season began.

Eventually, the entire season had to be scrapped.

Kren knew that ’22 and ’23 would be, at best, a rebuilding process while participating as a club team. The easy route would have been to look elsewhere for another coaching opportunity.

Kren’s commitment to Southington never wavered.

“I’m from here, I graduated here and I have family here,” Kren said. “I coached the majority of these freshmen since they were very young kids. I watched or coached nearly everyone on this team while they were growing up.

“My main objective has always been to give these kids the opportunity to play the game. The numbers always seem to be strong at the youth level but for some reason, our numbers drop off when the kids get to junior high. We want to change that. We want to create excitement in the program.”

Kren believes things are heading in the right direction. He pointed to the roster, which is predominantly underclassmen. He says that it is “extremely encouraging” that the current freshmen and sophomores bought into the program as they entered high school.

Perhaps the most hopeful sign of things to come is Chalker’s decision to follow the lead of Sebring in joining the Northern 8 Conference and begin playing a full slate of 8-man football beginning in 2024.

Such a move will provide Chalker the opportunity to fill a complete schedule against similar-sized teams while knowing it can compete for a league and state title.

Kren says that he has already contacted Northern 8 member schools and expects the Southington school board to support the move to 8-man football.

“In terms of numbers, this makes a lot of sense because we’ll be competing against teams on our level,” Kren said. “Knowing that we are going to head into the season with a lot of obtainable goals to shoot for will be a huge incentive for our kids.”

Kren believes that participating in 8-man football would also provide the program – and schedule – with stability and a bright future.

“I think that once the kids in the lower levels see what this is all about, the interest will grow and with it so will the numbers,” Kren said.

Chalker will get a taste of 8-man football tonight when it travels to Sebring.

“This will be a learning process for all of us, me included,” Kren said. “But it’s a great way to introduce our program to what lies ahead. I think it’s going to be an exciting brand of football. I think our kids are going to buy into the concept. It will be a huge step in the right direction for this program.”

Kren says his ultimate goal is to change the image of the school and football program he loves.

“There’s always been this stigma in Southington that we don’t win at anything,” Kren said. “I want that to change. I want to be part of that change.”