For Kevin Kehoe, the difference between this year and last is like night and day.
By: Bob Nuse
For Kevin Kehoe, the difference between this year and last is like night and day.
Leading a first-year football program a year ago, Kehoe’s had to do a lot of things at West Windsor-Plainsboro High North that other programs might have taken for granted.
"All of us had coached at established programs, so I think it caught us a little off-guard when we had to worry about things like having mouth guards and footballs and socks," said Kehoe, whose team was 1-9 a year ago without any seniors in the program. "We had to get all that kind of stuff together.
"This year we’re ready to go forward and a lot of that stuff has been taken care of. We don’t have to worry about those little details as much now that we’ve got a year under our belts."
The Knights, who open the regular season Saturday at Lawrence, also have more experience on the field this year. Their group of seniors is small, but it’s a group that Kehoe is counting on to lead the team. In addition, the lower grades are also starting to establish themselves.
"We have 55 players on the list right now," said Kehoe, who played his high school football at WW-P under Tom Stuart. "Last year at one point we had 62. But we’ve got a good group of freshmen out and I think we’re starting to build.
"I think the attitude when we go out on the field this year is a lot better. Last year we had a lot of kids that had never been in a competitive football game. So a lot of it came as a surprise to them. This year, the kids know what is expected of them coming into the pre-season."
Kehoe gives a lot of the credit for the team’s improved mental outlook to his senior captains Evan Bradley, Adam Gleim and Josh Andrews. Bradley and Gleim were captains a year ago, while Andrews assumes the role this year.
"They’ve done a great job not only in the pre-season, but during the off-season as well," Kehoe said. "We let our kids vote on the captains and I’m real happy with the choices they made. These guys have done a great job of setting an example for what we need to get done."
While the second year of the program should show improvement for the Knights, they still lack experience compared to most of the programs they’ll face.
"Size and speed are still a problem for us," said Kehoe, whose team beat McCorristin for its lone win a year ago. "In the game of football you need that and we’re still lacking there a little bit. But I think this year as coaches we’re developing a plan that goes along more with the type of players that we have.
"I think what we’re going to do this year will work. Not only do the players have more experience, but we have the experience of having gone through a season with a lot of these guys already."
As was the case last year, Kehoe hopes his team can stay away from the injury bug.
"We have five to seven guys who are out right now that are varsity players," Kehoe said. "It’s given some of the young guys in there a lot more time to play. But we don’t have the depth to be able to suffer too many injuries. We just don’t have the number.
"But this is a hard-working group of kids. I think they’ll do what we need to do to get the program established."
Already knowing they have enough mouthguards, footballs and socks should be a step in the right direction.

