By Kim J. Harmon

N

o one calls Matt McCarthy by his given name anymore. Now he answers to General, coach Ken Roberts’ way, perhaps, of paying a little respect to the United States’ most famous general, Douglas MacArthur.

Still, if coach Roberts hadn’t thought of General then, by now he probably could have thought of a couple of others – like Havoc or Mayhem or something out of the World Wrestling Federation like Master of Disaster.

Heck, it’s what Matt McCarthy does out there on the football field – create havoc and mayhem and attempt to impose his will on the opposition offense in an effort to lead the Newtown High School Nighthawks to victory.

Just like – well – a General would.

So, it seems General fits him perfectly.

“Coach Roberts really gave me a lot of freedom to wreak havoc,” said Matt, 18. “My job is to contain, but if the play moves across the field then I’ll pursue. I like it because I really get to set the tone of the game. As much as I’d like being on offense, I like setting the tone.”

Setting the tone.

Hmmmmmn.

4Was he setting the tone when he whacked the New Milford quarterback so hard it drew a penalty flag (which seemed, despite the legal brutality of the hit, to be purely a reflex action on the part of the referee)?

4Was he setting the tone when he burst through the line and pulled the ball – yoink – right out of the New Milford quarterback’s hands, turning the ersatz fumble recovery into a 16-yard touchdown?

4Was he setting the tone when he drilled Immaculate quarterback Tom Wilson (who had inexplicably stopped right near the sideline without going out) so hard it sent a shock wave chorus of ooohs throughout the crowd?

4Was he setting the tone when he burst through the line – again – to block an Immaculate punt that led to a safety?

4Was he setting the tone when he crushed a Brookfield special teams player on a Newtown punt return – crushed him so hard the kid probably still has bells ringing in his ears?

The answer to all the above is an unequivocal, unmistakable, indisputable YES.

Coach Roberts will be quick to remind you that Matt McCarthy is also a fine tight end – a tight end who has caught 10 passes for 145 yards and three touchdowns and a tight end who can block like few others in the South-West Conference.

But nowhere is the General’s presence more felt – there are quarterbacks and running backs who will, quite painfully, attest to this – than on defense.

It is, at times, awe-inspiring.

Matt first got his moniker back in his freshman year, when the Nighthawks were practicing for their CIAC Class L semi-final football game with Hand of Madison (which Hand ended up winning, 31-6). Coach Roberts, an assistant under head coach Bob Zito, might have confused Matt’s name a little and slapped the General moniker on the lanky end.

At least he didn’t call Matt the Senator, after the master of paranoia, Senator Joe McCarthy.

Matt certainly didn’t mind the nickname, which was reinforced by coach John Larkins during the baseball season (Matt is a catcher, the field general, as it were). It fit too well and helped Matt – as he stepped out more and more on the football field – to begin creating his persona.

Matt started out, as they all do, on the freshman football team but, as a sophomore, played a few downs with the varsity.

“I’ve always been big for my age,” he said, “and I also kind of shot up. Weightlifting really helped.”

As a junior, he found himself at home on the offensive and defensive lines. As a tight end, he caught three passes for 78 yards and three touchdowns in 10 games and, as a defensive end, began to exert his will.

Coming into 2000, teams got ready for him.

“This year I’ve noticed that teams don’t like to run towards me,” said Matt, “and try to block me more.”

Double-teaming and such doesn’t often work so well, though. Matt has made it his business to be around the football and has turned pursuit almost into an art form. Very rarely does a quarterback or running back go down without the General – if not actually making the tackle – somewhere in the vicinity.

That kind of doggedness on defense – not just on his part, but also on the part of the rest of the team – is one of the chief reasons the Nighthawks headed into their annual Thanksgiving Day battle with Masuk at 8-1 . . . a five-game turnaround from last year.

“You really don’t expect it to go like this,” Matt said. “I knew, though, we had lots of people coming back and I felt we could turn it around. It’s a belief in coach Roberts. Last year, it was his first year and with a new system we were kind of unsure of ourselves. It’s taken time.”

The Nighthawks are not the same team that opened with a 26-13 win over Notre Dame and not the same team that fell 27-8 to Bunnell in the second week of the season. Things have changed over the course of the last seven weeks – but, not so oddly, it was that loss to Bunnell that kept Newtown out of the SWC Championship game.

Still, 8-1 is real respectable turnaround from 3-7.

But the ‘Hawks can’t help but be disappointed.

“Personally, it is disappointing, because I’ve always wanted to play in the championship game,” said Matt, who didn’t believe a loss to Masuk would mean the season was an unsuccessful one. “No, definitely not. Who would have thought we would have gotten this far? But we won’t be content if we lose. I don’t see us losing.”

That is conviction, for you.

It is also the kind of conviction that will be put to the test, quite possibly, next spring. On top of being one of the best defensive ends in the SWC, Matt is also a punishing hitter in baseball and one of the best catchers in the SWC.

Yes, he will have options when it comes to playing football in college (right now he is looking at the University of Connecticut, among others) and he may also have options when it comes to playing baseball professionally.

During the summer Matt went to a tryout camp at Fussenich Park in Torrington for the Colorado Rockies and was impressive enough that the Rockies not only asked him if he might be interested in playing minor league ball out of high school (should the scouts like him enough for that), but sent him all the forms already.

It is a bright future which Matt is looking forward to and maybe a spring of making some tough decisions.

But, after all, he is the General. And aren’t generals used to making tough decisions?