NBC football playoff push starts Friday night

BY: Sean Moylan Sports Writer
    When Jon Reising took over as the Northern Burlington County Regional High varsity football head coach seven years ago, he and his Greyhounds were greeted by a new, more difficult schedule loaded down with several powerful football squads.
    But over the past couple of seasons NBC has switched to a schedule which, on the surface, appears to be a solid mix of games against strong Group II schools like Pemberton and larger, more powerful schools like Paul VI. The only problem is Northern Burlington, which made the jump from Group II to Group III several years ago, is now having trouble accumulating power points with four Group II teams on its schedule.
    Last year NBC posted a 5-5 record and it was over .500 at the cutoff. Still it fell short of making the post season because of power points.
    “I like our team. They’re really coming around. The way I figure we’ve got to be about 7-2 at the state cutoff to make the playoffs. That becomes the frustrating thing because my kids and me want to make the playoffs as much as any other team,” noted Reising, whose team, could probably get into the state tournament with six wins if it beats the bigger schools on its schedule. Still the margin for error this season, like last, is very slim.
    Years ago NBC had a tremendous rivalry going with Florence High, a legendary local Group I powerhouse. Nowadays the Greyhounds wouldn’t dare play the Flashes because even the best of Group I teams like Florence don’t come with many power points.
    “I told Coach Frappolli (Florence’s legendary head coach) that we’ll play you anytime once they get rid of power points,” noted Reising, who got his start in coaching as a member of Frappolli’s staff.
    Moreover, the Greyhounds lost three or four games last year which came down to one or two unlucky plays or bounces. This year, however, the Greyhounds plan on playing a more physical brand of football to make their own luck. This fall, Reising has his club in shape and believing in that old saying, “fatigue (and pain) makes cowards of us all.” NBC will try to wear its opponents down with a combination of hard hits and superior conditioning.
    This past spring the Greyhounds did graduate some excellent players in Kirk Hamilton, Joe Wolfer, Dan Reinis, Zach Fray, Steve Ferrara, speedy Jarett East-
Brown, Blake Campblell and Josert Fonseca.
    Fonseca, for one, was one of the best kickers in Burlington County.
    “Out of everyone who graduated he’s (Fonseca) probably the one we’ll miss the most,” said Reising. It’s just hard to replace kickers who can blast it through the uprights from 40 plus yards out like Fonseca could.
    NBC does have its starting quarterback Joe Washington back for his senior season. Washington is a solid, smart leader who makes very few mental mistakes on the football field.
    This year seniors Tom Mannucia and Andrew Bothwell will be the running backs while junior Derek Antonnuci is the fullback. Reising believes they’re all solid backs but he’s been particularly impressed by Bothwell’s incredible knack for finding small holes in the defense and running through them.
    As always NBC will feature a lot of receivers, including Thaddeus Richards (junior), Nate Pryce (senior), Chad Dill (senior), Jonathan Blake (sophomore) and Cliff Nanfeldt (senior). Junior Boomer Walton and senior Lorenzo Capeles will be the tight ends. Once again, NBC has managed to assemble a big, punishing offensive line of Zack Way (a 6’ 2” 280 pound junior), Ryan Asay (a 6’ 4” 250 pound junior), Will Morgan ( a 5’ 10” 215 pound senior), Ron Garrett ( a 6’ 1” 215 pound senior) and Dominic Zook (a 6’ 1” 225 pound sophomore).
    “Everyone has been playing solid but I believe in the line area we could be a very good team,” said Reising. “They’ve just been playing really physical football for us.”
    Garrett, Way and Morgan also double as tackles on NBC’s defensive line. Juniors Eric Pearson and Rich Nwankwo are the Greyhounds’ defensive ends. At the linebacker positions, NBC will feature Walton, Bothwell, Jeff Townsend (senior), Marcellus Bethea (senior), John Rafferty (junior) and Josh Filor (junior). Richards, Pryce, Nanfeldt, Dill and Scott Knoll are the club’s defensive backs. Mannucia and Nanfeldt will share the kicking duties.
    Reising, himself, works very well with the running backs and he has developed several fine backs over the years. However everyone on his coaching staff does a great job with their specific assignments, including Joe Washington (defensive line coach), Gene Darling (quarterback and defensive back coach), Dennis Mallon (offensive and defensive line coach), Mike McKeen (offensive and defensive line coach), Dave Hallion (linebacker and wide receiver coach), Renee Richards (wide receiver and defensive back coach) and John Bardadoro (wide receiver and defensive back coach). Rick Doppler and Ron Honeyford are the freshmen football coaches.
    “During the preseason we tried to make sure they’re ready the upcoming season. You keep working hard. That’s the only thing you can do. This year we even went out and got Cherokee on our preseason schedule,” said Reising, who wanted his Greyhounds to know what its like to play a football team with twice as many players as they have. “Our goal is to go out and play competitive football and try to make the playoffs.”
    Because there’s no set number of win which will qualify the Greyhounds for the post season for the first time since 2003. Reising will not predict a playoff appearance. However, he’s always put a very competitive football team on the field and he believes in this current group of players because they work hard and love playing football. NBC will open at Burlington Township, a tough Group II school, on Friday night.