By Christopher McLaughlin
While the first home game of the year for CCSU football wasn’t homecoming, it might as well have been for freshmen defensive back Chris Linares.
“Since I’m from New Britain, I was really excited when I took the field.” says Linares. “I had a lot of friends and family there so it was really special for me to play in front of them for the first time.”
Linares gave his friends and family a lot to cheer about. In addition to the two solo tackles that Linares delivered, he also got a huge interception. The interception was not only the first of his collegiate career, it was at a pivotal point in the game.
The interception came when the game against Bentley was still closely contested in the second quarter. Shortly after CCSU took a 21-14 lead, Linares stepped up and made an amazing interception to give CCSU the ball back. The ensuing offensive drive resulted in a field goal pushing the lead to 10. The Blue Devils would not look back.
Linares’ interception was one of the sparks that provided CCSU with the momentum to roll through Bentley 45-14.
“It was a great feeling,” said Linares “I had a feeling they were going to throw it my way because I’m a freshmen and they wanted to test me. I stayed with my man the whole way and when the ball got close enough I jumped in front of him.”
While it was a special moment for Linares and his family, they would have another reason to celebrate two days later. On Sept. 13 Linares was named the Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week.
“It was a total shock I didn’t expect it,” says Linares. “It’s a great honor to receive the rookie of the week award, I’m still kind of surprised by it.”
Linares was the third player to win the award this year, after two players split it in the first week. He is the first CCSU player to receive the honor since Aubrey Norris won it in November of 2005.
Linares’ play didn’t go unnoticed by Head Coach Jeff McInerney either.
“It was a big pick, about as pretty as you’ll see. To get that right after we got the lead was huge,” says McInerney. Both the play and Linares himself have impressed coach already during this young season.
“We knew he was going to be a good football player. He was a tremendous three-sport athlete in high school and he is very competitive. It takes people a long time to develop that much competitiveness, but he just picks it up naturally. We are expecting a lot more out of Linares and we look forward to him having a great career at CCSU.”
While attending New Britain High School Linares was named All-Conference, All-State and All-New Britain Herald in football, track and baseball.
Linares had a truly special first home game of the season against Bentley, and he showed that the interception wasn’t merely beginners luck. In the second home game of the season against Bryant, Linares made waves once again by intercepting the ball in the second quarter. It resulted in a CCSU field goal drive.
Being from New Britain stepping out onto Arute field will always be a special moment for Linares during his time as a Blue Devil, and with four years of eligibility, Linares will get many opportunities to play in front of friends and family, all of them hoping for each time to be as memorable as the first.
