Algonquin graduate heads to Division 2 football team
By Ken Powers Contributing Writer
Northborough/Southborough - Only time will tell if recent Algonquin Regional graduate Andy Reddington will be able to play college football at the Division 2 level, but he's already proven he's got the pain part of the game figured out - at any level.

Reddington will enroll at Southern Connecticut State University next month and play football for the Owls. The 6-foot-1, 185-pounder hopes to crack the starting lineup as a freshman, possibly on defense at cornerback. He played cornerback for the Tomahawks, too, as well as on off ense, as quarterback and running back.

It was his play on the offensive side of the ball last year that revealed his level of toughness as well as his high threshold for pain.

Reddington, Algonquin's starting quarterback, suffered a torn labrum in his right shoulder in the third game of the year. Despite the injury, which limited his throwing ability and shot pain down his arm every time he lifted the ball above his head, the 18-yearold played five more games as the Tomahawks' signal caller.

"Most kids would have called it a season at that point, but not Andy," Algonquin coach Mike Vulcano said. "He came to practice, told me he couldn't play QB anymore and then talked me into putting him at running back."

Reddington's debut as a ball carrier was an impressive one as he rushed for 80 yards in his first game at the position.

"All the best adjectives apply to a guy like Andy, they really do," Vulcano said. "He's a competitor, a team-first guy, reliable, hard working. He was a captain's kind of captain, helping the young kids, staying on top of the older guys. As a coach you simply couldn't ask more from a player - on or off the field - than Andy gave me, gave us, every day."

Reddington said he considered attending Division 1-AA Northeastern and Division 2 schools Merrimack and Assumption, too, but chose Southern Connecticut after visiting there.

"I like the campus, the coaching staff and the players," Reddington said, "but I really liked the fact that I'll have a legitimate chance to play a lot and possibly start, this year, as a freshman."

Vulcano believes Reddington - who he has coached since the player's Pop Warner days - will turn some heads before he's done at the New Haven school.

"Andy's a very athletic kid - more athletic than people realize, I think," Vulcano said. "He's got great feet and vision and he's very coachable. I think he can go in and play cornerback or strong safety right away. I think his best football years are still ahead of him."

Reddington is working this summer at Hardy Physical Therapy and working out with his older brother Joey, who plays football at Bentley.

Southern Connecticut and Bentley play each other in September.

"I can't wait; neither can he," Andy Reddington said. "It'll be fun to play against each other."

With both players playing defense, a chance to actually square off against one another could come on special teams.