It seems like yesterday when Danny Holt was fighting his way through the Danbury offensive line for big gains. Now the former Hatters fullback is fighting for his life, according to The News-Times.

The 23-year-old Holt, who never smoked a cigarette in his life, woke up one morning and had difficulty breathing. In March, he was diagnosed with a genetic mutation of lung cancer. Holt’s cancer is in Stage III, meaning it’s advanced to his lymph nodes and is both above and below his diaphragm. Read the full story

Here’s the last of footage I put together from Week One games: Danbury at McMahon. All is from the first half of action, and it’s capped by McMahon sophomore quarterback Damien Vega’s first career varsity touchdown:

Ian Ratchford threw touchdown passes on 9, 16 and 30 yards and then raced 95 yards for a touchdown in the Danbury Hatters’ 33-8 win tonight over the Brien McMahon Senators.

Ratchford did a great job getting Dan Donovan his first win as the head coach of the Hatters, running the newly installed spread offense to near perfection at the end of the first half.

Ratchford led scoring drives of 74 and 31 yards at the end of the second quarter to give Danbury a 20-8 halftime lead.

The 95-yard run broke McMahon, which had come within inches of making it a one-score game one play earlier. Instead, Ratchford’s run gave Danbury a 26-8 lead.

Sad but true: Maybe about half the readers of the FCIAC Football Blog were born after former Danbury defensive back George Radachowski’s NFL career ended. And none of the area head coaches were at the helm of local teams while Radachowski was still starring for the Hatters.

Radachowski, who is being honored by the Danbury Old Timers, gave a lot of area kids hope that hard work would help them achieve a dream of playing at the next level.

I was a volunteer track coach at Danbury in 1989, in charge of the throwers. The football players on that team idolized Radachowski, who became a regular starter for the New York Jets that season.

One of those throwers, Paul Duckworth, wound up starring as a football player at UConn, and was drafted by the Green Bay Packers. Though he didn’t make the team, he did get to play for a few seasons in the Arena Football League.

Yes, I know, Steve Young was in the NFL then. But it appeared then he would be a career back-up to Joe Montana after his career began with decent numbers in the USFL and a few struggling years in Tampa Bay.

The first thing coaches ask me when they find me at a preseason scrimmage or practice is something like this: “Who’ve you seen? Who’s looking good?” If any ask if I’ve seen Danbury yet, I’m going to have to say “kind of.” And I don’t mean that as a form of disrespect to the Hatters or its coaching staff.

The Hatters scrimmaged with Bethel and Brewster, NY yesterday, but there were some missing pieces. Danbury High School has an annual leadership conference at the beginning of the school year that seems to always cut into the first scrimmage of the year.

So with that in mind, it’s always tough to evaluate Danbury at this point. You can see what they have when they’re running the drills, but don’t get a full sense in the 7-on-7s or the full-team scrimmages.

And with the Hatters running a new offense this season, it’s still tough to tell. Starting quarterback Ian Ratchford was at the leadership conference, and Nick Hamed showed some signs that he could run Danbury’s version of the spread offense in Ratchford’s place.

In its first drive of the full scrimmage, Bethel didn’t seem to have any problems running its triple-option offense against the Danbury defense. Then again, how often will the Hatters see the triple-option in the FCIAC. And Danbury was able to lay some hard hits on ball carriers once they got through the line.

Rick Davis has retired as Danbury’s head coach, but he hasn’t gone far. Dan Donovan was named head coach in February, and is also the interim athletic director with the departure of Chip Salvestrini.

But while Donovan is coaching football, Davis is the acting athletic director, as part of an agreement worked out with the board of education.

Here’s what Donovan had to say yesterday about changes he’s made with the program:

The Dan Donovan era at Danbury may not last very long. It has nothing to do with his coaching ability, but with his new job as interim athletic director at the school. Should he succeed and have the interim tag removed, he would most-likely have to give up his coaching position, The News-Times reports.

Donovan was hired this winter as the football coach to replace Rick Davis, who retired. Now he’s replacing the man who hired him, Chip Salvestrini.

So how will he handle it this fall? He told The News-Times it may be tough, but the school system is bringing in someone to help this fall (and Donovan is taking a pay cut to help support that position). And Donovan is no stranger to administration: He has been an assistant principal within the Danbury school system, as well as a member of the CIAC’s football committee.

Yep, the beginning of football season is less than a week away for a handful of schools. Ridgefield and a few others elected not to do spring football, and can start its conditioning week Wednesday, August 19. For everyone else, conditioning week begins Monday, August 24.

With that in mind, the first scrimmages of the year will take place Saturday, August 29. Here are some involving local teams that will help tide you over until the regular season kicks off Sept. 16 (based on what’s on the CIAC master schedule):

Saturday, August 29, New Fairfield at Ridgefield: Is there life for the Tigers after Matt White, and how will it include transfer DeVaghn Millington? One look at his junior year highlight reel and you can tell he’s going to be a game-breaker.

Tuesday, Sept. 1, Bethel at Danbury: The Dan Donovan era begins for the Hatters.

Wednesday, Sept. 2, Seymour at Bridgeport Central: Will senior leader Christon Gill live up to his Division I hype? And for that matter, will he see some reps as a receiver?

Wednesday, Sept. 2, Bunnell at Staples: Was 2008 just a lost year for both programs?

Wednesday, Sept. 2, Fairfield Prep at Fairfield Warde: New head coaches in William Pinto and Duncan Dellavolpe, new spread offenses, new outlooks expected.

Saturday, Sept. 5, Stamford at Holy Cross: Could be the first chance to see Khairi Fortt this season.

Friday, Sept. 11, Masuk at Darien: Let’s see how quick this becomes “New London West” vs. Darien. Final tune-up for both teams.

The Connecticut Post today writes that there’s no surprise that former Hatters Glen Mourning is listed as the second team free safety on UConn’s depth chart. But there is kind of a surprise that former high school teammate and redshirt freshman walk-on Emmanuel Omokaro has risen to number two at strong safety.

That’s what Neill Ostrout says. But I’m more surprised at Mourning finally making the second team.

Mourning is a great kid, and a brilliant mind, but it took him a few years to understand the difference between pain and injury. That showed in high school. As a senior he spent a lot of time on the sidelines when it appeared he had a sore ankle and not a major injury. It carried on into college, and he’s paid the price for not sucking it up.

On the other hand, Mourning is on scholarship, getting a free education, and wants to go into academic administration. Heck, I’d sit it out if it meant I wouldn’t have to worry about future pain. But Mourning, a fourth-year junior, is sucking it up and moving his way up the depth chart again.

Now Omokaro surprised the staff when he walked on last fall, and almost got to travel with the team to West Virginia. Now he’ll get to travel everywhere. Not bad for Omokaro, who was upset his senior year at Danbury that he didn’t get a chance to carry the ball.

Looks like Hatters head coach Rick Davis knew something that the rest of us didn’t.