Preview
Change comes to Woodstock Academy football
It’s not Connor Elliott’s first time at the helm of the Woodstock Academy football program.
He took over as head coach briefly, a couple of games, for Sean Saucier when the Sauciers had a family emergency.
This time, however, it’s for real. It was announced last spring that Elliott was taking over the reins of the program and now, they are his.
“I view Sean as my football dad. He brought me in when I was 23-years-old and basically gave me the keys to the car. I remember we were meeting with some coaches and were supposed to come back to campus to talk about the offense and he said, ‘Why don’t you just call the plays?’ He trusted me and I view him as a mentor and someone I look up to. I’m seeing things now as he saw them. I may have had some grand ideas as an offensive coordinator or for the program and some worked out and some didn’t. Now, I’m seeing why they didn’t work out,” Elliott said.
Otherwise, Elliott thinks he and Saucier were on the same page as far as the process and what mattered to both, be it respect, commitment or how the team responds to each other.
“It’s nice. We miss Sauce (Saucier) but it’s cool to have coach Elliott around being our head coach. It feels good,” said senior receiver and defensive back Alec Nunes.
“He plans things out easy for us, talking with us and communicating things very well,” added fellow senior Aiden Soukaloun.
Remember what happened the last time Elliott took over a Woodstock program? He assumed the helm of the baseball team and went on to win a state championship in 2024.
 “Our defensive coordinator (Cahan Quinn) joked the other day, ‘Coach, I think you might have that first-year magic again.’ That’s because we’ve had such a tremendous start, not only with X’s and O’s, but the energy, the focus, the desire to get better that is being brought from seniors down to the freshmen. The vibes are phenomenal,” Elliott said.
The Centaurs need that. It was a rough conclusion to the season in 2024. The Centaurs finished 2-8 and lost their last seven games.
They finished with two seniors at quarterback, Kyle Grist and Cam Nason, who had never played quarterback before.
If all goes according to plan, Elijah Poh, a transfer from Killingly, will now start at quarterback with the heir apparent last year, sophomore Caydem Herlihy, in more of a “slash “ role as well as playing quarterback.
“Caydem is a Swiss Army Knife and we would have been very comfortable rolling into the season with him as our quarterback. He can do so much with the ball in his hands whether he is at quarterback, running back or receiver. The transition to Eli or Caydem has been phenomenal,” Elliott said.
Herlihy completed 38 of 61 passes for a team-high 455 yards and three touchdowns before suffering a season-ending injury as a freshman last year when he had to replace senior Sam Clark who suffered a season-ending injury early in the season.
Poh comes over looking for the opportunity to play after being stuck in the depth chart in a deep Killingly program.
Poh also has the benefit of having played with some of his new teammates in youth football.
The Centaurs also got some help in the trenches when junior Owen Lyons decided to come from Woodstock from St. Thomas More.
He adds size and skill to the line.
Those returners include Cayden Menor and Wyatt Voter on the line with sophomore Will Charette likely anchoring the line at center.
In the backfield, Elliott can use as needed with a host of different talents available.
Cooper Harris (16 carries, 59 yards) is a “thicker” back but that hasn’t slowed him down. Rosano Rodriguez is a bigger back as is Dylan Phillips. Soukaloun and Keegan Brown add some speed and shiftiness.
The Centaurs also will be a bit larger on the defensive line although a bit under-sized against most opponents this season.
The rallying cry for the Centaurs defense early this season has been to “create havoc.”
The season gets underway on Friday with a Connecticut football alliance game against an ECC team, East Lyme, at 4 p.m. at the Bentley Athletic Complex.
It’s an odd time for a football game.
Elliott’s first official game as head coach will come against his alma mater. 
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

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caption:

New head football coach Connor Elliott, second from right, watches as his team runs through plays. Photo by Marc Allard. 

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