It’s Joseph Torrillo’s turn.
He’s watched his two older brothers, Mike and Kevin, as each played quarterback at Sweet Home High School, and now, as a junior, Joseph is in the midst of his first season at quarterback.
Joseph Torrillo (left) with his older brother, Kevin Torrillo.
Kevin Torrillo graduated in 2015 and was a leader not only on the football field but also on the ice. He was one of the captains of the Panthers’ 2014-15 hockey squad, but now Joseph is just months away from beginning his third season as a member of a young but experienced varsity hockey team.
“It’s really just a sporty family, and they played, and I was around playing with ’em even when I wasn’t in a league yet. I was still out in the backyard throwing with them and playing football,” Joseph Torrillo explained. “It was nice because we’d go to little league and my brothers would be playing before me, and I would just be waiting to play, and then I would play after, or I’d come out to the field when they were on JV or varsity, and it was fun watching them, and it was really just sort of a family thing. We’re all quarterbacks, so it was sort of fun. We could teach each other and go over film and show each other what we did, what we did wrong, and really just help each other out in the best ways we can.”
The sports atmosphere of the Torrillo family goes beyond just Joseph and his brothers. Their father, Mike Torrillo, is an assistant coach with Sweet Home football as well as head coach of the Williamsville East High School hockey team. This year is Joseph’s first year with his father officially as his coach, but of course, his father has been coaching him and teaching him about both sports for years.
“It’s my first year playing for him, but he’s really been my coach all throughout,” Joseph explained. “Even when I was on JV, he’d go over the film, show me what I did and what I did wrong, and it’s really nice having him out on the field and helping me. Sometimes it’s a pain, but I really like it because he always gets on me when I do stuff wrong and tries to make me a better player.”
That’s what Coach Torrillo is all about: making the athletes he coaches the best they can be, especially his own sons.
“My dad was a very good hockey player, and same with football, and he really pushed me to be the best,” Joseph said. “Going around from all the little leagues and just working my way up, it’s really just been great. And this year playing with Sweet Home, it’s been the greatest group of guys. Everyone’s so tight, and I can’t wait for the season to see what we can do.”
The team might be down in numbers this season, but according to Joseph Torrillo, the work ethic is certainly not lacking. And neither is the camaraderie, nor the determination, of this team.
“This year, we’re out here with little numbers, but everyone’s working, everyone’s getting better every day,” Torrillo said. “And we got the guys that we got, and we’re gonna go through the season and get as many wins as possible.”
Hard work paid off for Sweet Home in its first game of the season against Kenmore East on Sept. 3, as the Panthers came away with a 50-21 won. Torrillo’s role is a unique one — as the quarterback, he’s thrust into a leadership role on the field, despite playing just his first season of varsity football.
“It’s a bigger role to take on,” Torrillo said. “Not really the most important, but you gotta do a lot, you gotta have the team gather around you, and you can’t be down because then the whole team’s down. And you really just have to bring the team in and make sure that that Saturday or Friday night is just a good one for the whole team because if they’re not rallied around you, then it could be a bad week.”
Torrillo’s confidence in the Week 1 win showed little of his varsity inexperience, as he threw for 231 yards and two touchdowns in his varsity debut.
He’s been playing football since the age of 8, but hockey began even earlier — around age 4, Joseph Torrillo made his debut on the ice. He’s so far found it difficult to pick one sport over the other; instead, he focuses on each sport in its season — and baseball in the spring.
“You can’t really say one because it’s just being competitive,” Torrillo said. “And both sports, when it’s their season, you put all your effort into that, and that’s the sport that you try to get your team the win. And it really is just what season you’re in and how you can contribute to your team.”
In football, Torrillo loves the contact, competitiveness, and the atmosphere of a weekend high school football game. In hockey, he loves the fast pace that forces a player to stay in the game no matter what.
“It just brings the best out of you, and even if you get hit down, you get right back up and you gotta finish the shift, so it’s really just continuous and just a fun game,” Torrillo said.
Torrillo can also see similarities between hockey and football, especially as a quarterback, and playing both sports helps Torrillo to be a better athlete and better at each sport.
“They’re both a physical game,” he explained. “You’re getting hit in each sport so it’s not really that different. Being a quarterback, you gotta see stuff. In hockey, you gotta see stuff. So you just switch, and playing travel [hockey] while I’m playing football also helps because you stay in the game for hockey … Being a quarterback helps you see the ice in hockey and see the field in football. Being ready to take a hit in both sports — sorta the same thing. It’s a different type of hitting, but you’re getting thrown around in both sports, so it’s really about the same.”
With just over two months until hockey season officially begins, Joseph Torrillo has high hopes for a Sweet Home team that finished 8-7-1 last season before losing to Williamsville South in the small school prequarterfinal playoffs. The team showed promise and only lost a few seniors at the end of the year.
“We got a lot of players back,” Torrillo said. “We only lost three or four, so the whole team is back. We got a good group of guys; everyone’s tight. We’re looking to go pretty far — as far as we can.”
Torrillo hopes to continue his sports career beyond high school, just like his brothers. Mike and Kevin are both playing football in college — Mike is a senior at SUNY Brockport, and Kevin is a sophomore at Buffalo State College.
The youngest Torrillo hasn’t decided on a sport yet, but he certainly has time. For now, the Sweet Home junior will continue to give his all on the field, diamond, and ice.