On August 1st, Madonna’s Head Coach Ted Arneult Jr. resigned to accept a job as principal at Weir High.

That opened a door for first-year offensive coordinator Troy Fetty.

The newcomer wasn’t expecting the job this summer, but he sure was prepared for it.

“I always have a 100-day plan it’s in my coaching packet that I give to prospective employers, I just had to shink that down into 5 days.”

Troy Fetty

That 5-day stretch included meeting parents, organizing practice, setting up fundraisers, and little sleep.

Aside from the coaching carousel, Fetty and the Dons had another pressing matter at hand. Coming into the season with 14 guys, a major recruiting push would be necessary.

“Every boy I had on snapchat in school I was texting him, long paragraphs seeing if he would play, some of them came out, some of them said it wasn’t their thing, and some of them left me on open.”

Chase Littleton- Senior

“He literally texted or called or went to every boy in the school, and he’s like can you help us? Almost all the seniors did that too, they went to their friends, you need to help us”

Troy Fetty

And just like it’s designed to be on offense, Madonna’s “Air Raid” recruitment strategy paid dividends, as they added 6 players to a total of 20 on the roster.

The increased man-power takes some of the burden off but still leaves them short-handed to practice and play.

While Fetty acknowledges the struggle, he’s confident that this group can overcome any conditions thrown at them.

“You know it’s ladders it’s hot there’s only 15-20 of them at a time, it’s a little ragged but click on the friday night lights and we played like people possessed, we out-hit we were the most physical team.”

Troy Fetty

Coach would be referring to their opening game against Wellsville, which as you may know resulted in a 32-0 beatdown.

This season, it won’t come down to the size of the Don in the fight, but the size of the fight in the Don