Stamford, CT — Stamford football coach Donny Panapada has a three-tiered plan when it comes to rebuilding a high school football program. In his first season as head coach last fall, the Black Knights started out just trying to tread water, but by the end of the year they actually began swimming. This season, the team is off to a 2-1 start with the lone loss being a closely contested 28-14 defeat to Greenwich, the No. 1 ranked team in the GameTimeCT Football Top 10 Poll. Panapada said he was happy to see the team in the game, but is waiting for Stamford to not only hang with the FCIAC’s best teams, but start beating them. “There is a certain way you build the program. Last year we were trying to survive. But while we were trying to survive, we are promoting competition so we can compete every week,” Panapada said. “The next step after survival is competing. We showed that in week two against Greenwich. It was only one week but we showed that we can compete. The next step in the program is to win. When that happens, I am not going to put a time frame on it but I’m not a patient person. We are still in the compete-mode, but I think we are getting close to the win-mode. That could all change very quickly in football, but that’s where we are at right now.” Stamford will get another chance to reach win-mode when St. Joseph comes to Boyle Stadium Saturday at noon. Last November, Stamford went toe-to-toe with the Cadets before losing 17-13 to a team which would eventually be the top seed in the CIAC Class L Tournament. That game switched Stamford from survival to compete mode. At the heart of the Stamford resurgence is a strong junior class of 25 players, including quarterback Ejai Presley, running back Cameron Coard and offensive lineman Will Bing. But Panapada said none of what is happening would be possible without the current senior class of 15 players. Among those seniors is running back/wide receiver Camrin Jean Pierre, who has been leading the offensive attack for the Black Knights early in the season. “Jean Pierre is a very good athlete, strong, good kid, fast and competitive,” Panapada said. “He’s a game changer. We are blessed to have a handful of kids who can change a game and he’s one of them. He’s just explosive, he breaks tackles and keeps his feet moving and next thing you know the guy standing next to him is three yards behind him.” Jean Pierre was a part of a Stamford team which went 1-9 in 2021 and has grown up during the resurgence. Stamford went 4-6 last season, but began competing with better teams. “We have become tight as a team as we get more confident. The past two years, we have more experience and that makes us better in the future,” Jean Pierre said. “From sophomore year to now, we are way more competitive and we feel that every week we have a chance to win. We are more disciplined now as a team. We have more confidence in ourselves but also our teammates. We all trust each other.” The 5-foot-10, 175 pound Jean Pierre said the camaraderie between the junior and senior classes is strong and is helping build a better culture at Stamford. “The seniors and juniors on this team all hang out. We bond on and off the field and there is no divide between the juniors and seniors,” Jean Pierre said. “It’s really fun coming to practices and games when we are all friends. It builds trust. I trust them to do their job and they trust me to do mine.” Among those players, 14 starters are back from last season, giving Stamford the most experience they have had in years. While the four wins and hanging in games against St. Joseph last year and Greenwich this year was a major step forward, the schedule ahead of the Black Knights is not easy. Along with the Greenwich and St. Joseph games, Stamford has two LL playoff teams in Staples and Trumbull, plus a perennial playoff contender in Ridgefield in games during a three-week stretch in the second half of the season. The Black Knights are 9-46 against those top-tier FCIAC opponents since 2004. Against their other three FCIAC opponents (Bridgeport Central, Danbury and Westhill) they are 21-17. “This league we are in and the teams we play, you can get humbled really quick. We will play whoever they put out on the schedule and we will be ready to play,” Panapada said. “They are still kids, but they understand what we are trying to do. Our kids were visibly upset after the Greenwich game. There was no smiling because we played with Greenwich for three quarters, they were upset because they wanted to win the game. As a coach, you want that.” https://www.ctinsider.com/gametimect/football/article/stamford-football-rebuild-continues-panapada-s-18389464.php?fbclid=IwAR1FFsQ3hr3ch0497-UkNx-60jzDbq3sSs9tDSL3FtgO8_HM7cyJsrB-E7Q#photo-23204671