RHS, AHS football kick off season on Saturday

BY: Sean Moylan Sports Writer
    ”We’re sort of a Jekyll and Hyde football team this preseason. Sometimes we look better than others,” said Robbinsville High football coach Jason Gray, whose Ravens, luckily, looked great in their most recent scrimmage versus Jonathan Dayton.
    Some inconsistency, however, is going to be inevitable with a football squad with as much youth and inexperience as Robbinsville. The team did graduate a special group of seniors last spring from a second-year varsity unit which shocked the CVC by going 6-4, making the state tournament and nearly winning its Patriot Division.
    Nonetheless, when Gray gave his preseason summer training camp report two weeks ago he rattled off a long list of names off the top of his head of potential starters or impact players. And now that it has come time to finalize his varsity starting roster that list of names has barely changed one iota, which is a good thing.
    Through summer long sessions, Gray and his excellent staff have had the time to evaluate their talent and they know who their best players are as of now. But in football everyone has to stay ready to play at all times because more often than not the reserves will get their chance to shine.
    Gray has assembled a very creative coaching staff, which runs a multiple I offense and a multiple 40 defense.
    “I have a great coaching staff and they’re very flexible. Our philosophy is to take what the other team gives us,” said Gray, who is very impressed with the adjustments and multiple looks defensive coordinator Carmen Magnotta, who specializes in coaching the defensive line, and offensive coordinator Rich Gildner are able to come up with on the fly.
    Brandon Taylor (receivers and defensive backs), Andrew Patterson (offensive line) and Dan Mesday (linebackers) are helping out with the varsity. Sean Flynn, Ralph Sheffield and D.L. Daniel will coach the freshmen. Gray will coach the running backs.
    “I don’t have to micro-manage any of my guys,” said Gray, whose coaches all know their responsibilities on and off the football field. “Hopefully they’ll all stay with the program forever.”
    Yet as good as Robbinsville’s coaching staff is, football is ultimately about the players. And Gray would like to see his players set their goals even higher than the coaching staff itself.
    Starting with junior quarterback, Ryan DeAngelis Robbinsville’s players are working very hard. DeAngelis’ strength is picking apart defenses with great reads. We’ll see how he fares against a new and improved Allentown Redbirds squad on Saturday.
    Senior Brian Alston gives Robbinsville a nice combination of speed and power at the running back position. Senior Cody Birdsall got his introduction to the fullback position by a stroke of luck. But now he looks like a natural fullback who has played there all of his life.
    “Last year he was struggling a little on defense so he jumped over to offense and played fullback for the scout team and he was good,” said Gray of Birdsall, who is a linebacker too. “He’s a very athletic kid. He has a baseball background.”
    Brandon DiDonato, a junior guard, is expected to be Robbinsville’s best all-around offensive lineman this year but he currently a little banged up. Senior Alex Redler (offensive tackle), sophomore Jeremy Sander (center), senior Andrew Matayas (guard), senior Zach Barby (tight end) and senior Desmond Kendall ( offensive tackle) are also fine offensive linemen.
    Colleges have already expressed interest in Kendall, a two-way lineman. And why not? The kid is incredibly strong.
    “Desmond Kendall (6’ 1”, 260 pounds) is healthy now and getting looks from D-1 schools. He bench presses 300 pounds. And he can squat 225 pounds and do 50 reps. He’s strong!,” said Gray, whose O-
line will be one of the Ravens’ primary strengths this season.
    At the wide receiver position the Ravens will feature junior Robbie Zingaro, senior Jeff Gerdes, sophomore Eric Strano (who is the back-up quarterback), sophomore Ryan Casey and Jordon Hankins, who will also be used as a running back.
    On the defensive line, Kendall and junior Christian Nemeth, who is so good he has started since his freshman year, will be the defensive ends. DiDonato, Redler and junior Nick Foti (a two-way lineman) are the defensive tackles.
    Senior Jelani Fenton, who has started varsity since his sophomore year, will lead a stellar group of linebackers which includes super senior Andrew Harvilla (who can play fullback too), Barby, Strano and Hankins. Although he is currently out with an injury, junior star E.J. Schmid is expected to return to the lineup soon and see action as a linebacker. In the secondary Robbinsville will feature junior Vince Nocera (running back), sophomore Casey and sophomore Drew Reca (receiver).
    Alston, who’ll also see action as a linebacker, is the team’s kicker. E. Strano will do most of the punting for the team. Eric’s older brother Ryan Strano, a senior, could also see action as a kicker and punter.
    The other seniors on the Ravens are Joey Bruno (OL/DL) and Phil Harrison (OL/DL). Junior Michael Stechmann is a solid two-way lineman. Nikolas Skopas (WR/DB), Sean Donoghue (TE/DE), Nick Villa (WR/DB), Marlon Gonzalez (OL/DL), Tommy Halsey (OL/
DL), Brian Pedone (FB/LB), Billy Tharp (OL/DL) and A.J. Fascenda (OL/DL) are some of the other 10th graders who could get some varsity playing time this year. Junior Jimmy Challender will do the video for the Ravens.
    The Ravens are very proud of what they accomplished last season and they plan on building on last year’s success. In just a few years time, Gray has already built one of the stronger foundations of the CVC football programs. He’s an excellent head football coach and hopefully Robbinsville will be an excellent football team this season.
    AHS
    The Allentown High football team will be looking to stop a 29-game losing streak when it plays at Robbinsville on Saturday.
    The seniors on Allentown’s team are Vincent Rini (WR/QB), Drew Ferraro (QB/DB), John Millet (RB/OLB), Kris Bachmann (RB/DB), Jason DeLeon (WR/DB), David Loichle (OL/DL), Andrew Kwietniak (OL/DL), Sean Beams (OL/DL), Eric Veltre (WR/OLB), Brian MacNiven (RB/OLB), Matt Patterson (C/OLB), Michael Waldron (OL/DL), Sam Embinder (OL/DL), Anthony Morolda (RB/
DE) and Dan Cifeli (OL/DL).
    The juniors are Sean Eccles (QB/LB), Vincent Estelle (WR/
DB), Joseph Fowler (WR/DB), Michael Ballo (TE/DE), Matt Mueller (WR/OLB), Raza Kazmi (TE/DL), Ryan Tobias (OL/DL), (OL/DL), Christian Bauzyk (WR/DB), Chris Fatigato (RB/LB), Tom Walker (OL/DL) and Chris Tyminski (OL/
DL).
    The sophomores are Blake Nebbia (TE/DE), Ian Maltz (WR/
DB), Sam Shonk (QB/DB), Connor Kennedy (WR/DB), Ross Schuerman (RB/DB), James Cocorles (RB/LB), Nick Lucarella (WR/
DB), Austin Cheeseman (WR/DB), Tyler Federicks (RB/DB), Bobby Doherty (RB/LB), Tyler Tice (WR/OLB), Cody Marks (OL/LB), Brooks Townsend (OL/DL), Ryan Marks (OL/DL), Alex Smith (OL/
DL), Anthony Ferro (OL/DL), Andrew Harris (OL/DL) and Antonio Sgroi (OL/DL).