By: Ken Weingartner
When the South Brunswick High football team opens its season Friday night by hosting Woodbridge, "new" will be the word of the day.
As in new season, new faces, new offense and new outlook.
The Vikings, coming off a 3-7 season, open their campaign 7 p.m. Friday. Coach John Coppola is looking forward to surprising people this year.
"I’m optimistic," Coppola said. "I think we have the potential to be a pretty good football team. We’re much improved from a year ago, on both sides of the ball. We have some graduation losses from last year, but I’ve told the kids that means some people will have the opportunity to step in and fill those shoes. They’ve stepped in and responded."
Graduation losses included quarterback Victor Iturbides, a two-year starter, and wide receiver/safety Michael Knight-York, who was the team’s most punishing hitter and its main scoring threat.
Sophomore Brad Casalvieri will take over at quarterback in an offense that switches from Wing T to Multiple I.
"We have the personnel to run Multiple I," Coppola said. "I prefer to run that style of offense, anyhow. Everyone’s pretty comfortable with it. And it’s something new for other teams to prepare for."
Casalvieri was expected to play behind senior Bryan Turner this season, but Turner has been lost for an unspecified period because of an illness, which is probably mononucleosis, Coppola said.
Casalvieri completed 50 percent of his passes and had five touchdown tosses for the SB freshman team last year.
"He’s going to be a very good quarterback," Coppola said. "He’s got good mechanics and a good knowledge of the position. He throws the ball very well, accurate with a nice touch on it."
The running backs will be seniors Steve Ferrara and Darryl Harris while Evan Mahoney, a sophomore, and John Nortesano, a junior, will see time at fullback. The receiving corps will be made up of seniors Bob Alessi and Chadd Wood, juniors Ben Brownlee, Kyle Cleffi and Tyrell Thompson and sophomore Brandon Hair.
Senior Joe Heiser and junior Kwame Thomison will play tight end.
"We don’t have that go-to player," Coppola said. "But we’ve got a lot of players who can contribute and make us a better team. We’re going to spread the ball around and mix things up. We’re going to try to make teams defend the whole field."
Junior Justin Barbely will anchor the offensive line at the center spot. Left guard will be sophomore Mike Sapiezynski and left tackle will be junior Luke Steepy. The right guard spot will be shared by juniors Miguel Benitez and Bryan Villanova while the right tackle spot will be occupied by sophomore John Monacchio and junior Scott Anderson.
"The maturity of our offensive line has a lot to do with (our success). We’re still young there, but we’re a lot better young," Coppola said. "We’re more physical and can do more straight-on blocking. It’s a good system for the players. I’ve noticed a major improvement from last year."
On defense, senior Derrick Cromartie, Heiser, Thomison and sophomore Kelly Tsang will play at ends. The tackles will be Steepy, Barbely, Sapiezynski and junior Samer Atallah.
The linebacker spots will be filled by seniors Shariyf Holligan and Aaron Preacher, Mahoney, Nortesano, Alessi, Cleffi, Ferrara and sophomore Sean Papp.
In the defensive backfield will be Wood, Thompson and juniors Corey Griffin and Frank Holder.
"The defense looks pretty good," Coppola said. "We’ve got some guys who have been playing there a couple years. Alessi, Ferrara, Preacher, Cromartie and Holligan, those guys seem to be around the football a lot for us."
The punter will be Ferrara or Wood. The placekicker will be junior Anthony Mauro or Ferrara. The long-snapper is sophomore Phil Hoffman. Harris, Ferrara, Wood and Thompson will handle kick returns.
Ferrara, Alessi, Turner and Preacher are the captains.
"I think we have the makings of being a good football team," Coppola said. "I think we’re pretty prepared. We’ve had three scrimmages, and I was pretty pleased with them. We’ve had less breakdowns than in the past. It’s just a matter of going out and executing on a consistent basis. We have to win the battles of front, that’s the key on both sides of the ball.
"If we can get off to a good start, that will be key. We have the potential to get better week to week."
