CT football program held 'Orange Out' for teammate battling cancer. He had a surprise for them.

Former Nonnewaug Chiefs player Jonathan Cheung, who was diagnosed with leukemia three days after playing on Thanksgiving Eve last season, as a senior, taps elbows with Noe Quijade. Friday's football game between Naugatuck and Nonnewaug high schools was also a fundraiser night for Cheung. They have called for an Orange Out, everyone wears orange, for all fans. Friday, October 30, 2026, Nonnewaug High School, Woodbury, Conn. (H John Voorhees III/Hearst Connecticut Media) WOODBURY - Jonathan Cheung has his Halloween costume all ready to go."I'm going to be Cinderella," he reports. "I've got a wig and everything."Is that Cinderella going to the ball Cinderella, or Cinderella sweeping back at home?"Going to ball!" Cheung replies. "I've got a carriage costume for the wheelchair."You better believe Jonathan Cheung is going trick-or-treating Saturday night. He's home for the weekend, out of the hospital for the first time since graduating Nonnewaug High School in June. Cheerleader Natalia Cyr-Moyers had an orange bow in her hair and her face painted in orange for Friday's football game between Naugatuck and Nonnewaug high schools. The game was also a fundraiser night for former Nonnewaug Chiefs player Jonathan Cheung, who was diagnosed with leukemia three days after playing on Thanksgiving Eve last season as a senior. They have called for an Orange Out, everyone wears orange, for all fans. Friday, October 30, 2026, Nonnewaug High School, Woodbury, Conn. (H John Voorhees III/Hearst Connecticut Media) And you better believe he was at Friday night's Nonnewaug-Naugatuck high school football game. The host Chiefs were holding a benefit in his honor, raising funds to aid Cheung and his family in his ongoing battle with leukemia. Cheung stole the show, showing up unannounced, working a last-minute furlough from Connecticut Children's Hospital to surprise his old team.Inspire them, too. Big underdogs against undefeated Class L Naugatuck, the Class S Chiefs were down by just a touchdown at halftime before the Greyhounds scored three straight touchdowns behind Qwentarvous Lee and Brandon Andoh en route to a 35-14 victory.Naugatuck improved to 7-0 and Nonnewaug slipped to 3-4. It was plainly evident who was No. 1. Donning his old No. 55 jersey before the National Anthem, Cheung stayed for the entire game and his old mates responded."It lifted us up so much as a team, and it means everything," said junior quarterback T.J. Rubsamen. "He's such a hard worker. He defines the Chief.""Our football team lives and breathes through Jonathan Cheung," Nonnewaug athletic director Sean McGee had said a few days before the game. "In the school, it's really brought us closer together, making us more unified. There's not a day where you do not see Jonathan Cheung's name or see 55 somewhere."Cheung, who lost his appendages to sepsis, started his eighth round of chemotherapy earlier this week. He wasn't feeling all that well Thursday, but he rallied Friday and got clearance from his doctors to go home for the weekend. He was feeding off being back at his old school and around his former teammates as much as they were him. "I'm super-excited to be here tonight," Cheung said. "The football team and the school and the community, they've done so much for me and it's just amazing to finally be back in town,"Teammates are of one accord: Cheung was the funniest guy on the team. On Friday night, his trademark humor was unflagging."Bro, can you get me in tonight?" Cheung asked head coach Scott Lynch upon arrival.When teammates informed him at halftime, "This game is for you, Jon," he promptly replied, "You better win, bro."Cheung has a habit of calling people "bro." This is of a piece. Playing football made him part of a brotherhood, he said, part of a collective. He almost didn't play his senior year. He's so glad he did."I was so close to playing soccer, and it really came down to the (football) coaches," Cheung said. "I felt wanted. I felt a part of the program. I felt like my teammates were real teammates. Everyone was there for each other like a family." Friday's football game between Naugatuck and Nonnewaug high schools was also a fundraiser night for former Nonnewaug Chiefs player Jonathan Cheung, who was diagnosed with leukemia three days after playing on Thanksgiving Eve last season as a senior. They have called for an Orange Out, everyone wears orange, for all fans. Friday, October 30, 2026, Nonnewaug High School, Woodbury, Conn. (H John Voorhees III/Hearst Connecticut Media) On a loaded 2025 Nonnewaug team, Cheung was the surprise starter at right tackle, and he helped deliver a 10-0 regular season before being diagnosed shortly after Thanksgiving."A lot of the kids that were here with him last year have all the respect in the world for him because he was that guy who became the glue of that program," said Lynch. "Nobody believed that it was going to be him out there, and he had such a sense of humor about everything and just had an ability to make everybody laugh no matter what."It helped us bring that team together last year and we're still rallying around it this year."The Chiefs certainly did Friday night. Down quickly 14-0 after Naugatuck scored on each of its first two possessions, Nonnewaug forced fumbles on the next two, scoring off the latter when Rubsamen turned a short field into a 2-yard score in the second quarter.Nonnewaug had chances to pull even, both late in the first half and again after Alex Young returned the opening kickoff of the second half to the Naugatuck 20. The Greyhounds held, forced a 34-yard field goal attempt that fell short, then wrested back momentum when Andoh broke off a 77-yard touchdown run.On this night, a Cinderella story did not come to pass. There will be another one afoot in Woodbury on Saturday night. Try to find someone who is not pulling for the ultimate Cinderella finish for Jonathan Cheung."I pray every day that he gets better and better," said Rubsamen."We went over (after the game) and we just said keep fighting like you have been," said Naugatuck coach Chris Anderson. "He said thank you, and it was a nice moment." Friday's football game between Naugatuck and Nonnewaug high schools was also a fundraiser night for former Nonnewaug Chiefs player Jonathan Cheung, who was diagnosed with leukemia three days after playing on Thanksgiving Eve last season as a senior. They have called for an Orange Out, everyone wears orange, for all fans. Friday, October 30, 2026, Nonnewaug High School, Woodbury, Conn. (H John Voorhees III/Hearst Connecticut Media) Player of the GameJonathan Cheung: No. 55. Quotable"JC's a fighter. That kid continues to fight everyday, and it brought tears to my eyes today seeing him." - Nonnewaug coach Scott LynchNaugatuck 35, Nonnewaug 14NAUGATUCK 14 0 14 7 - 35NONNEWAUG 0 7 0 7 - 14NA-Qwentarvous Lee 41 run (Julian Colon pass from Gabriel Bello)NA-Lee 5 run (kick failed)NO-T.J. Rubsamen 2 run (Ervin Llenga kick)NA-Brandon Andoh 77 run (Bello kick)NA-Lee 4 run (Bello kick)NA-Andoh 2 run (Bello kick)NO-Rubsamen 25 run (Llenga kick)Records: Naugatuck: 7-0; Nonnewaug: 3-4.Sign up for the Connecticut Briefing from CT Insider. Get the biggest headlines of the day from our network of journalists around the state.This article originally published at CT football program held 'Orange Out' for teammate battling cancer. He had a surprise for them..