EASTHAMPTON — The Easthampton football team broke its postgame victory huddle at White Brook Middle School with a three-word chant.
“Eagles. Family. Mitch.”
They lost a member of that family Friday morning when Mitch Ouimette, 19, was found dead of an apparent overdose at his home in Easthampton, according to a close family friend. The Eagles had a moment of silence before the game, which they dedicated to the 2016 graduate of Hampshire Regional who played football for Easthampton.
Mark Folta is an assistant principal at Hampshire Regional, but he said Ouimette would often call him a second father. He said Ouimette’s dad, Jim, contacted him Friday morning about his son’s death.
“He said to me, ‘No need to sugarcoat it with the students; they need to know the consequences. Maybe one life would be saved,’” Folta recalled of their conversation about Ouimette’s apparent overdose.
“Mitch struggled with drug use, and his thing was pain killers,” Folta said, adding that Ouimette spent 45 days in rehab this summer.
Ouimette and Folta worked a shift together on Sunday at the Stop & Shop, where Folta has a part-time job and had helped Ouimette find employment. The two had a lengthy, heart-to-heart conversation.
“I knew that he was using again; I could just tell,” Folta said. “But he just couldn’t get there, he couldn’t admit that he was still struggling.”
Beyond the pains of addiction, those close with Ouimette shared memories of a goofy, affable young man.
Folta’s son, Cam, said he had known Ouimette since the two were in middle school together, and that they had been like brothers ever since.
“I don’t even know how to explain it, but this kid was just unimaginably funny,” he said, describing Ouimette’s infectious smile and laugh. “I can’t remember a bad time I’ve had with that kid.”
Former Easthampton football coach Joe Kocot said in a phone interview Friday night that Ouimette, a standout athlete who played four years on the varsity team, was a “good guy, always had a smile on his face. Very laid back, got along great with his teammates. Everybody liked him, and it seems that’s how it always is with these tragedies.”
When asked if he could remember any stories about Ouimette, Kocot had no hesitation in responding.
In 2012, during Ouimette’s freshman year, Kocot remembers calling all of the team’s freshmen into a huddle during practice. He explained to them that at some point during the season, he was going to need to rely on them.
“And I don’t know why I did it, because I hadn’t done that with any other class,” he said.
Not long after, in a game against Ware, the reason became clear. With the score tied 22-22 with time running out, Kocot called Ouimette’s number to kick the potential game-winner.
“He kicked it, no time left and we win the game,” Kocot said.
Emerson Folta, Mark’s son and Cam’s younger brother, played in the game Friday, a win against Franklin County Technical School. He wore No. 5 to honor Ouimette.
“I’m nothing like Mitch, he was one of the best defensive players if not the best defensive players I’ve ever seen play for the Eagles,” Emerson Folta said.
He plans to keep the number for the rest of the season in Ouimette’s memory.
“When he got out of rehab, we let him in like family,” Emerson Folta said. “He was the goofiest kid ever. That’s what I remember him for most, his goofiness, him being so happy.”