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Local high schools ready for heat

MERIDEN — One place you don’t necessarily want to be on a day with temperatures in the 90s is in full football equipment. That’s exactly what ...

MERIDEN -- One place you don't necessarily want to be on a day with temperatures in the 90s is in full football equipment.

That's exactly what players from youth on up through the college ranks were dealing with locally Monday.

The Platt High School football team was on the field for a couple of hours Monday afternoon. Because it was a Monday, they were only wearing helmets. Still, they were prepared to hydrate.

"We actually have a huge machine called the Water Boy from a company down in Florida and you know it works great for us," said Jason Bruenn, Platt's head football coach. of the equipment that holds 65 gallons of water.

Of course, coaches also schedule more frequent water breaks.

"Sometimes, we have to actually tell the kids to get water because they'll come off (the field) and just stand around," said Bruenn. "They want to talk in between sessions and we're like 'nope everybody's got to go get water.'"

Many coaches also apprise the players of the forecast.

"They do a good job letting us know to drink water before games, like the week before, not the day before," said AJ Marinelli, a senior and Platt captain 21:21

There's no question what sort of weather most players prefer.

"I prefer the heat more than the cold," said Marinelli, the team's quarterback. "Feel my hands still. The ball's a little slippery, but that's with the towel's for."

Another senior captain, Pierce Matias, a linebacker, also said he likes "The heat for sure because we practice throughout the whole summer with it and we were used to it as opposed to it being cold. We're not used to it yet."

Enjoying a lunch at Ted's Restaurant, in Meriden, under the cover of a cool umbrella was a Waterbury couple, who weighed in on this early fall rise in temperature.

"I don't like it. I want it to be cold. I'm tired. Like I want to fall weather. I'm tired of the heat," said Celia Henry.

David Sepulveda said the heat is "why I spend so much money on gas. My AC is on 100 Percent of the time. I don't like the heat at all. Fall, like she said, is hoodie season. October weather - that's mine."

Another diner, enjoying the air conditioning inside Ted's, was a Wallingford native, who now lives in California.

"It's a little hotter than I remember, especially this time, so late in the year," said Roland Ewert, of Orange, CA. "It's kind of nice. I actually kind of enjoy it. It's actually cooler, or hotter, here than it is in California right now."

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