How this New york high school football team found the perfect formula to win

ur football team of Half Hollow Hills West in Dix Hills, New York, has had our share of success since 2000. Prior to 2009 we’d been to the playoffs six times and made two trips to the County Championship game. Good, yes, but we wanted to be great – we wanted to be remembered. We always started strong but came up short at the end of the season. We’ve had some outstanding athletes O(former Colt Stephen Bowen currently plays for the Dallas Cowboys), but as a team we seemed to get overpowered in the big games.

It was clear that Hills West needed to do something to take our program to the next level. After the 2008 season, our coaching staff, led by defensive coordinator and strength and conditioning coach Justin Snyder, turned to BFS. Coach Snyder worked tirelessly to sell the BFS program to the players and convinced Head Coach Kyle Madden (left) and Assistant Coach Justin Snyder (right) holding their championship trophy them to believe in the system. This was a challenge, because BFS was different from any type of weightlifting that the kids had ever done.

But our kids agreed to give it a shot, so we taught them the system and implemented the Beat the Computer program to help our players set daily goals. It worked, and soon players were consistently breaking over ten records per week!

In Brightest Day, in Blackest Night There was so much pride in the BFS program that the team held a “Black Friday” workout session. Usually the team lifts after school, but on Black Friday about 50 players and coaches got out of bed and held a morning workout before school – at 5:30! It was the most intense workout of the year and brought the team closer. The team also participated in two weightlifting competitions during the off-season, winning both competitions, even though one of the schools had a much higher enrollment. The BFS program really took off, and the players were even more intense during the summer. When the 2009 season started, the team was already in great shape.

We NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010 jumped out to a great start, winning the first three games, 41-14, 35-7 and 42-6. It was obvious that the BFS program was working – the Colts were overpowering their opponents and dominating the competition. With a combination of speed and strength, the spread offense was unstoppable, and the starting defense had yet to give up a point. The next three games were battles for Hills West. We won three close games, including a come-from-behind victory, an overtime win and a wild 42-39 victory. The BFS program gave us the strength and conditioning that we needed to win in the fourth quarter – in two of those games, it was obvious that Hills West wore down the competition.

We cruised through the final two regular season games and headed to the playoffs with an 8-0 record. In the playoffs the Colts faced two teams we had played during the regular season; the regular-season games had been extremely close, and it had come down to the wire. In the playoffs the games weren’t even close, a fact that we attribute to our strong in-season strength program, implemented by Coach Snyder. In fact, during the first three playoff games our team averaged 43 points per game and the starting defense allowed zero points. We finished the year with a 42-32 win in the Long Island Championship (Class 3), giving us a perfect 12-0 record.

We had found something that put us over the top and took our program to the next level. For postseason honors, Hills West was awarded the prestigious Rutgers Trophy, which is given to the best team in Suffolk Country. Jevahn Cruz, who plays quarterback and free safety, won the Hansen Award, which goes to the best player in Suffolk County. Cruz, along with Damarr Aultman (WR/DB) and Andrew Hodge (LB), received allstate honors. Numerous Colt players received all-county and all-conference honors.

We’re very happy with our successful season, and now Hills West is exploring the possibility of implementing a unified BFS strength program throughout the entire school so all our students can experience the benefits of BFS. The BFS program made the Colts players bigger, faster and stronger – and it was exactly the boost we needed to help the team win big games. With BFS, we won the championship and enjoyed a perfect season. (Kyle Madden is the head football coach for the Hills West Colts, a post he’s held since 2000.)

Hills West Power! NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010 BFS is proud to bring out the Crossfire Conquest 8 amazing stations in one phenomenal product. Starting with an Olympic style Half Rack the Conquest includes stations for Medicine Ball, Kettle Bell, Variable Push Pull Dip, Adjustable Plyo Step Up, Ring Tower, Inner Conquest Mat for floor and ab work and a Heavy Bag Station on the standard version.

Optional version replaces the Heavy Bag with a 400lb Cable Column Station with 18ft throw.

DEDICATED TO HELPING ATHLETES SUCCEED SINCE 1976

From BFS Magazine — November/December 2010. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).