Bears hope to mature quickly on the football field
Young East Brunswick squad opens against Sayreville today
FARRAH MAFFAI East Brunswick players like Greg Beliles have their sights set on a winning season this year, despite the squad’s overall lack of varsity experience.
Coming off a rough 2-8 campaign, 18th-year coach Marcus Borden has a good number of returning players to man his East Brunswick High School football team. But there’s a caveat.
"We have a lot of kids back, but it’s a young team," said Borden, whose gridders open the 2001 season Sept. 18 at Sayreville. "There are only a few seniors and mostly juniors and sophomores."
On offense, the Bears feature quarterback Mark Mariski (5-8, 166), a junior who started the last six games as a sophomore last fall.
Bobby Manetta, a 5-9, 152-pound junior, is a running back, while senior Ryan Schmidt (6-2, 204) is back at left tackle. His cohort on the right side is senior captain Bryan Acciani, a burly 6-0, 262 pounds.
FARRAH MAFFAI East Brunswick head coach Marcus Borden is looking for his young Bears team to improve as the season progresses and pick up some wins along the way.
Co-captain Ken Weinraub, a senior (5-7, 151) is a wideout and returning starter.
On defense, EBHS starts sophomore James Correa, who stands 6-0 and weighs in at a considerable 256 pounds, and another 10th-grader, 5-9, 184-pound Ernie Fusco at linebacker.
"Manetta and Weinraub are in the secondary," said Borden, "with junior Mike McCarthy (5-10, 221) a returning nose guard; Brian Ackerman (5-6, 151), another junior, at free safety; and Dimitry Tsvaygoft (5-9, 187), another senior co-captain, playing at both defensive end and free safety."
Borden has a long list of assistants. Harry Morris III is joined by jayvee coaches Keith Lane (the varsity defensive back and receiver coach) and Andy Steinfeld (who monitors the tight ends and defensive line), as well as Tony Toto, who serves as offensive coordinator and coach of the running backs.
At the freshman level, East Brunswick is led by Bill MacDougall and Scott Kiminkiewicz, while Glenn Pazinko and Mike Vinella handle the eighth-grade program.
Given a fairly untested club with not a whole lot of size, Borden is taking a relatively patient approach to the coming campaign.
"One of our biggest goals," he said, " is improving every time we step on the field."
But posting some wins may be more difficult, with a fairly tough schedule lying ahead for the Bears.
Following the Sayreville game on Friday, East Brunswick will face off against Edison’s J.P Stevens, South Brunswick and Edison’s Bishop Ahr, before playing three perennially strong teams, Woodbridge, Edison and Piscataway.
It could be another tough season for the Bears, unless some of their younger players mature quickly and take to the varsity game. And Borden has been around long enough to know how to get the most of his players.
They have to play a lot of good teams this season, but the East Brunswick football team has the talent to be competitive. It just might take a little time to get there.