views program as
a work in progress
Legendary coach
views program as
a work in progress
By doug mckenzie
Staff Writer
CHRIS KELLY St. John Vianney junior Chris Haughney is one of two quarterbacks that head coach John Amabile plans on using this season.
This year’s St. John Vianney Lancers are like the Dallas Cowboys of the Shore Conference.
With Bill Parcells returning to coaching in Dallas, the Cowboys faithful are in a frenzy, certain that the legendary coach will return their team to prominence.
There’s a similar feeling of anticipation surrounding the St. John Vianney High School football team this fall.
And for good reason.
The Lancers are under the direction of one of the state’s most celebrated coaches, John Amabile, a legendary character who amassed a record of 118-44-3 at Neptune High, where he coached from the mid-1980s to the year 2000. At Neptune, Amabile had 16 winning season and produced three state championships (1995, 1997 and 1998).
Prior to his stint in Neptune, Amabile coached at Wall Township High School, where he led the Knights to their only state titles (1982, 1983) prior to last season’s title. He also coached at Middletown for eight seasons and at Belleville and Jersey City before coming to the Shore Conference, where he has been coaching for more than 40 years. His 233 victories make him the second-winningest active Shore Conference coach, behind only Brick’s Warren Wolf, the state’s all-time leader at 327-96-11.
Amabile’s new position at SJV comes after he spent the 2001 season as an assistant on the Brick Memorial coaching staff. And his presence at the Holmdel school has brought a newfound respect to the Vianney program, though Amabile is quick to point out that his team is a work in progress.
"In a nutshell, we’re inexperienced," he said. "Not young, but inexperienced. We have 16 seniors, but not a lot of depth."
Amabile will be looking to his returning players to set the tone for the squad, both on and off the field.
"We have a couple of kids that stand out," he said, starting with Adam Hansen, the Lancers’ talented senior running back.
"Adam’s not big, but he’s a great athlete," Amabile said. "He’ll be the featured back and will also play free safety."
Amabile also pointed to senior wide-receiver Mike Lanagan, who was a tight end last year but will move to the outside and also play at defensive end this year.
Jon Lazarchick is another senior Amabile is counting on, as he will play on both the offensive and defensive lines, along with seniors Pat Lombardi (center/defensive end), Jimmy Reed (guard/middle linebacker), Joe Lugara (inside linebacker) and Chris Swenson (guard/defensive end).
Amabile is also pleased with the play of juniors Mike Weiner (linebacker/running back) and Nick Pokriots (nose guard/back-up fullback), and senior Beau Howard (wideout/defensive back).
The Lancers will feature a pair of quarterbacks, as juniors Steve Bouchard and Chris Haughney both return after seeing time at the position last year.
Amabile says that this year’s SJV team will not resemble last year’s squad.
"We won’t be at all like last year’s team," he said. "Our offense will include multiple sets, while the defense will basically be a 4-4 set."
However, the coach admits that he’s not entirely sure what to expect from his team coming out of the preseason.
"We had three scrimmages, and none of them were against strong opponents, so that’s a concern," he said. "And Wall [against whom the Lancers open on Friday at home] played teams like Middletown North, Toms River South and Ocean Township, who have a lot of one-way kids, so it should be a tough test for us on Friday."
Following the game with defending state champion Wall, the Lancers will take on Monsignor Donovan on Sept. 19, before facing a powerful Matawan team on Sept. 25.
Vianney has a number of tough games scattered throughout its schedule, but Amabile is confident he and his coaching staff will have the program heading in the right direction by season’s end.
"We’ve got a decent number of kids [46], but we need to get two or three years back-to-back with good numbers to get this program where we want it to be," he said. "We’ve only got seven juniors, for whatever reason, but there are a lot of sophomores and freshman."