BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW
Jason Cecchini loves the calm before the
storm.
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Before every game he played, the Lockerby
Vikings football linebacker would listen to Â"happyÂ" music to
keep him focused and calm.
This didn't mean Cecchini would be happy
out on the field during battle. In fact, Cecchini would be
anything but pleasant as he plowed his 210-pound body like a
unforgiving storm into fearful opponents all season, making
them pay a heavy price for trying to score on the Vikings'
defence.
Cecchini's efforts this past season were
recognized recently at the high school football awards banquet.
Cecchini won the Gary Ricker Award as the league's Top
Defensive Player.
Â"It feels nice to be recognized, but we had
an awesome team,Â" said Cecchini. Â"Our defence has a lot of
pride in not allowing the other team to put points up on the
board. We just clicked and the defence was like a big family.
If we get scored on, I feel terrible. It's a big challenge
because there's a lot of big guys in the league, but we do
it. Every game, I just did what had to be done.Â"
And all Cecchini did was help anchor one of
the league's best defences. He was a big reason the Vikings
captured their first city championship since 1979.
Â"Our line backing corps was a big reason we
won the championship, and Jason is the leader of that group,Â"
said Vikings head coach Geoff Richer. Â"He's not a big
talker like Baltimore Ravens' Ray Lewis. He's a quite
leader. When things are down for us, Jason came up with the big
hits to fire up the team all season. He's one of the
hardest hitters in the league.Â"
Hitting is what makes Cecchini tick. He loves
nothing more than to drive full force into the opponents.
Â"I love hitting people,Â" said Cecchini.
Â"When you make a big hit, your whole body feels great. It
seems to get everyone going. Hitting all the time isn't
that bad because I find as long as you're the one doing the
hitting, it doesn't really hurt you, just the other
guy.Â"
Cecchini is an inspiration to his teammates
and coaches.
Â"He gave it his all every game, never taking
a game off,Â" said Richer. Â"He would come up with the big
plays that his teammates would feed off.Â"
Cecchini drew a lot of inspiration from the
Vikings' offence.
Â"The offence put points up, and we kept them
off,Â" said Cecchini. Â"Neil Petrin, our running back, rushed
for the most yards this season. He's a small guy who goes
hard. It's easy to feed off.Â"
Cecchini will be back for one more season
next year, which is bad news for the rest of the league's
offensive players.
Â"In my three years as a coach, he's the
best defensive player I have ever seen,Â" said Richer. Â"He has
the grades to go to university, and if he does go, he also has
the skills to play with any university team.Â"
Cecchini will play for the Sudbury
Northerners next summer.
