The South River High School football team has a 7-2 record, but as the Rams prepare to face Metuchen in the Central Jersey Group I tournament, head coach Rich Marchesi called that yesterday’s news.
“It’s a new season,” he said of the playoffs. “The kids have had a couple of great days of practice. Metuchen is a tough team — all eight in Group I are tough — so we really are taking one game at a time.”
The Rams welcome back third-year quarterback J.J. Adelino, who has been out for a couple of weeks with an injury. He’ll be protected by a strong offensive line, including tackles Rob Scanlon and Emil Imbriano, center Justin Orteola, and guards Jason Marton and Jason Kuzmack.
“Our fullback, Zyhair Dotson has been our heart and soul out there, but so has tailback Eric McDaniel,” said Marchesi. “He’s been a great surprise, gaining 1,000 yards, and tailback isn’t his natural position — he moved there from flanker.”
Spread end Tom Lefever has also been a major contributor. On defense, many of the same names show up, with Dotson at end, joining Mike Dean, and Scanlon, Imbriano and Martin on the line. Lefever is at linebacker, along with Ron Litz and Marty McGough, while the defensive backs included McDaniel at safety, Joe Lasala, Marquis Maing and Kevin Feaster, who also did an admirable job subbing for Adelino at quarterback.
“We haven’t been healthy all year,” said Marchesi. “But hopefully we’ll be in good shape at the right time to do the job in the playoffs.”
— Richard Jerome