By: Sean Moylan
Larry Larned, the new head coach of the Bordentown Regional High School varsity football team, has been an assistant coach with the Scotties long enough to know that there are no quick fixes. Still he sees his football team moving in a positive direction this season.
"When I started here a few years ago we had to show them (the players) how to put their pads on," said Larned. But now, thanks to the Bordentown Bulldogs football program, which was started a couple of years ago with the help of former Scotties’ head coach Jack Yost, new Scotties players are coming in with a solid general knowledge of the game of football. But that doesn’t mean this team doesn’t still have a lot to learn.
"We’re very organized so far in camp and we’ve been very demanding," said Larned, whose coaches are teaching the players fundamentals. "Realistically, I just want to improve upon last year’s performance (1-9) and attitude. We’re trying to improve on not having as many missed assignments."
Larned would like to see the team control the ball better on offense and he wants his defense to pressure opposing teams more.
This season, Bordentown had more players come out for the team than it has in recent years and the coaching staff seems to be a bit deeper than usual. But on the coaching staff, there are some familiar faces back, including Mark Drew, who will once again be the offensive coordinator. Joe Sprague is back as an offensive and defensive line coach. And former Bordentown head coach Larry Carthan, who is easily one of the most beloved figures in the school’s history, will coach the running backs and linebackers. Meanwhile Kevin Galbraith, who went to the College of New Jersey, will assist Sprague with the linemen while Dan Rella will work with the wide receivers, the secondary and special teams. Larned, the defensive coordinator and head coach, is working with the defensive backs and the wide outs.
"We have a great staff this year," said Larned, who, along with the other coaches, walked the halls looking for prospective players at the end of last year. And although the Scotties’ staff has picked most of the varsity team, every starting spot is still up for grabs.
As of today, junior Tim Gola is the starting quarterback, but freshman Brett Pederson may also gets some snaps this season. In the backfield, the Scotties have a solid returning runner in senior Darnell Ganges. Junior Josh Slezak and sophomore Lance Flynn will also see some time as running backs. Meanwhile Senior Nick Dekovitch and sophomore Thomas Lee, a transfer student from Cumberland, will be used as fullbacks.
The Scotties have an experienced offensive line which includes Kevin Ashe (a senior center), Anthony Gadecki (a senior guard), Demetrice Sims (a senior guard), Moises Martinez (a sophomore guard), Eric Papp (a senior tackle), Myron Pickett (a senior tackle) and Claude Francis (a senior tackle). At the tight end position Bordentown will feature senior Donnell "Hercules" Hayden and junior Kyle Moya. Senior John Weaver, junior Scott Stillwell, sophomore Peter Pulhac and Flynn will all be used as wide receivers.
On the defensive side of the ball, Pickett and Francis are defensive ends while Sims, Eric Papp, Desmond Richardson (a senior) and Joe Polkowitz (a junior) will be used as defensive tackles. Hayden, Lee, Dekovitch, Martinez and sophomore Leon Jackson will be used as inside linebackers while Moya, John Hull (a junior), Slezak, Sean Talley (a senior) and Ganges will be the outside linebackers.
In the secondary Weaver and Pulhac will take turns as the free safety while Flynn, a highly-skilled technical cover guy, Stillwell, Dan Romano (a junior) and Anthony Davis (a sophomore) will be the corner backs. Bordentown plays a 4-4 defense.
Although the Scotties are still deciding on a kicker and a kick and punt returner, Pulhac is shaping up to be a pretty decent punter.
Whenever possible Larned will try to avoid over-extending players by playing them two-ways on every down. Last year, the Scotties had a lot of injuries because players were simply on the field too much. But that wasn’t the fault of the coaching staff, there simply were not enough experienced players to fill every spot.
Larned is excited about the job because he can see the kids are excited and ready to improve. Bordentown is going to win some games this year. One of the Scotties’ biggest tests, though, will come in their opener as they are scheduled to host Holy Cross on September 9th.
