Needham Football Reloading for Another Big Run

August 30, 2024
• We spoke with the Rockets at their annual Media Day at Memorial Field.

One year ago, there was a buzz in the air about the Needham Rockets Football team and now, Needham is back to being a football town following an historic 2023. Their journey last year ended three points shy of a trip to Gillette, which has turned into the motivating factor for this year’s squad. A team with returners on both sides of the ball, they’re looking forward to being a team that no longer sneaks up on their competition.

“We really learned a lot about who we have character-wise,” said Head Coach Doug Kopcso. “I think we learned a lot about what it means to be a Needham Rocket. We always talk about those things, but I think last year was an opportunity for us to put into action things we’ve been working on for two, three years. One of the things we learned is how to practice consistently, how to play consistently, how to coach consistently.”

“Towards the end of the year, we really found ourselves offensively with a lot of juniors who are now seniors,” said Aidan Williams, a Running Back who also doubles as a Quarterback in Wildcat formation plays. That means he will get direct snaps mainly to run, but he can also pass as well. “It’ll be good for us to just hit the ground running, pick up right where we left off, especially offensively. Defensively, we played solid all year, so continuing that, keep being the team we are on defense, flying around.” 

Needham’s defense was smothering last year, giving up just 158 points over their 12 games, an average of just over 13 points a game. In their first five games, including a one point loss at Milton, the Rockets didn’t even surrender 20 points to any one opponent. In 2023, the Rockets finished 10-2, including a berth in the state final four, capping off their best campaign in well over a decade. Despite losing some key pieces, such as Running Back Tate Hoffmeister, who was a huge part of Needham’s offensive game plan last year. Still, there is a large core coming back, who are confident in a return to playoff form.

“We have a lot of returners, but everyone getting their feet wet who didn’t play before is going to be a huge help,” said another Senior member of the Leadership Council, Offensive Lineman Charlie Simeone. “We’ll know how to make a deep playoff run.”

“No one’s going to replace a Tate Hoffmeister, Jake Reiser,” said Kopcso. “We have so many great guys that left (to graduation) and we’re not going to try to do that, we are who we are this year. We have so many great returning starters, this Class of 2025 had I think one loss when they were together as Freshmen. We’ve known about their talent for several years now. But more importantly, they have phenomenal character.”

“We’re not worried, just next guy up here,” added Senior LC member Joe Kajunski, a receiver and safety. “A lot of experience coming back, a lot of seniors, three year and two year starters.”

“We had nine kids from the Class of 2025, my grade, starting as sophomores,” Williams said. “So we have a lot of experienced guys coming back, both sides of the ball. Obviously we have our Quarterback coming back, we have a lot of offensive linemen and most of our defense coming back.”

Other returning players include Receiver and Defensive Back Brandt Bickford, Tight End and Defensive End Will McDonald, Linebacker Ben Schreiber, and Cornerback Stephen Rocamboli, among others.

“We have a lot of talent,” said Simeone. “Younger guys coming up, replacing some important roles from last year. Other than that, the guys who played last year are even better than they were. So we’re very excited.”

Griffin Carr is also a Senior and member of the Leadership Council and will be the team’s starting Quarterback when not spelled by possible Wildcat plays by Williams. Carr became the starter after an injury to Josh Morant in the team’s fourth game against Walpole last year and excelled in the role. “Griffin had a great offseason,” says Kajunski, “we’re just ready. We’re excited and ready to go.”

Having a familiar face in that role is something the team is excited for. “Griffin looks great,” says Kajunski. “He’s very accurate. His arm strength is better than it was last year. He got thrown in the middle of a game. It’s a tough spot to be put into, but he did great for us. We don’t have a Quarterback who’s come back two years in a row (for awhile) and that’s something new we have and we’re really excited for it.”

“Everyone trusts him, we’re all confident in what he’s got,” added Williams. “He proved it last year, even when he stepped in. The Milton game was the first game he officially started. Just stepping in right then, playing good. I feel having that confidence and that trust in our Quarterback coming back is big for our team.”

Said Kopcso, “We’ve had a tough time where it’s been so competitive at the Quarterback position where the senior leaves and we’ve got to get a junior ready or a sophomore. To have the consistency coming back, the experience coming back, playing in big games, that’s monumentally important. We see that in Aidan who’s more the runner and in Griff who’s more of the slinger. Between the two of them, I think we’re well positioned for this year.”

Simeone is one of the guys that will be protecting Carr and he said, “Last year, going into the game against Walpole, which is a tough opponent, mid-game, that’s got to be tough no matter what. Then the next week play Milton at their field, I give a lot of respect to him for being able to control that and being able to do that.”

Needham Football has been sliding under the radar the past few years, but after exploding last season, it’s safe to say they won’t be considered an underdog in 2024. “This year we’re not sneaking up on anybody,” Williams said. “So that’s a big difference from last year, it was kind of like a secret, because coming off a 5-6 year (in 2022), you don’t know what you really got. I think we really like that target on our back, we like that we’re going to get everyone’s best every week. I think that’s going to help us during practice, help prepare our hardest for all these teams, who, we beat most of them last year, except for Milton. So them just gunning for us, I think we like that kind of pressure.”

“Teams will definitely be prepared for us, but we want that,” added Kajunski. “We want to play teams at their best, so we can bring our best. We’re excited for it. We’re a great team, too, and it’s going to be really good competition this year.”

“As a 5’7’’ slow guy, I always was an underdog,” said Kopcso. “I always had that mentality. It’s really nice for me at least to be a part of this group where we are the front runners in our minds, right? We are the team that we want people circling on the calendar. We want people to know that this is where the show is and at the same time, can we handle those expectations? That’s what we talk about every day.”

Adds Simeone, “This has been the goal all along. We want to be known as the top team, we want the target on our back, we don’t want to surprise people anymore. We’re just ready to go after everyone.”

The schedule won’t be easy, with just three of their eight scheduled regular season games (not including this year’s Thanksgiving game vs. Wellesley) to be played at home. Two of those three are in the first month, with the Rockets not playing at Memorial Field for a month between late September and late October. (They have a bye week this year due to Thanksgiving being late.)

Up first is that Milton team, who beat Needham just 10-9 on their field in 2023. Kickoff on Friday, September 6th is scheduled for 6:30pm. With road games at Natick and returning non-league opponent Lincoln-Sudbury on September 13th and 20th, Needham then hosts Newton North on September 27th. The October schedule sees the Rockets go to Walpole on October 4th, then Braintree on the 18th (with the week of the 11th the bye), before hosting Weymouth on October 25th. 

The regular season closes at Framingham on November 1st, with the Thanksgiving showdown with Wellesley on November 28th. Needham will be looking to win back to back games against their longtime rivals for the first time since 2015.

As a reminder, The Needham Channel is your home for Needham Rockets Varsity Football and you can watch every game, home and away on The Needham Channel’s HD, Community and Education Channels, as well as streaming on needhamchannel.org and our Roku app. The three regular season home games will also be carried live on-air and online, with the road games to be recorded and debuting Monday nights. We will also have game stories from every game here on Needham Local, as well as highlights posted to our Needham Channel YouTube page on Mondays. You can also follow live game action via our X page at: x.com/tnc_sports.

TNC is looking for volunteers who want to help out as crew and announcers for all of our game broadcasts this fall. If you love sports or know someone on a team, send an email to TNC Programming Manager Mike Levin at: mlevin@needhamchannel.org.

Be sure to check out the TNC Instagram page, for all of our content from the 2024 Needham Football and Cheer Media day at: instagram.com/theneedhamchannel.

The Needham Channel also put together an extensive video preview with the Needham Rockets Football team. Part 1 of our video version of the Needham Football Season Preview, courtesy of TNC Sports Producer Kristen Connors, aired as part of the Needham Channel News on Thursday, August 29th.

The profile concluded on September 5th, just ahead of their first game of the season. Click below for Part 2:

The above videos ran as part of the Needham Channel News, a weekly newscast airing on The Needham Channel every Thursday at 7:30pm. The Needham Channel News can be found on the Community Channel: Comcast 9, Astound 15 and Verizon 29. Most Thursdays it also can be viewed on our HD Channel on Verizon 2129, Astound 613 and streaming on this site.