The Old Bridge High School football team will be looking to bounce back from a 5-5 campaign this fall under new head coach Anthony Lanzafama.
Above: An Old Bridge High School running back picks up yards against Freehold Borough during a preseason scrimmage in Old Bridge. The Knights open the 2010 season on the road at Woodbridge. Kickoff is Saturday at 1 p.m. Left: Old Bridge High School defenders wrap up a Freehold Borough running back during a preseason scrimmage in Old Bridge. Lanzafama, a former Old Bridge quarterback who had been serving as an assistant, was named coach in December, following the retirement of Knights legend Bob DeMarco.
The new coach welcomes a handful of seniors back to an Old Bridge lineup that will also include several juniors and sophomores when the Knights take the field on the road Saturday against Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) Red Division rival Woodbridge High School (1 p.m. kickoff).
PHOTOS BY JEFF GRANIT staff The good news is that Old Bridge’s next three games — against conference foes Monroe, J.P. Stevens and Piscataway — are all at home. Like his predecessor, Lanzafama has set the bar high.
“Our goal is always to win the Red Division,” he said. “It’s a tough division, but we expect to contend. We also want to qualify for the state playoffs. To do those things, we have to work on getting better each week.”
The Knights return some big players on both sides of the line, and that coupled with their experience makes it a “strength,” Lanzafama said.
Left guard Trent Lominy (6-0, 250) and right guard Ramy Kased (6-6, 325), a junior, provide the veteran presence to go with tackles Vlad Mikhol (6-0, 185) and junior Nick Christo (5-11, 215) and sophomore center James O’Connell (5-9, 225).
On defense, Lominy and Kased will split time at one tackle, with Joe DeCaro (6-1, 225) at the other tackle in the Knights’ 4-3 set. Junior David Gittens (6- 0, 225) returns at one end with impressive newcomer Jemel Daniels (6-0, 205), also a junior, at the other end.
That experience will come in handy, especially on offense, where it can only help sophomore Vin Gargano, who impressed Lanzafama enough to earn the starting nod at quarterback. His main targets are split ends Abdul Mansaray and David Hobson. Chris Pena, Nick Guigno and sophomore Aaron Ford are the running backs, along with fullback David Finlay, a returning starter who will miss at least the first two games with a knee injury.
B
ack on defense, Zach Zimmerlink (5-
11, 195) provides a veteran presence at linebacker, where he teams up with Guigno to patrol the outside, with sophomore Chris Middleton (6-0, 200) in the middle. Ford, Hobson, Mansaray, Chris Soltis and juniors Brian Cahill and Will Dowdell will split time in the secondary.
The Knights had three scrimmages, and Lanzafama said he was generally pleased with the way his team played.
“We have a good mix of seniors and underclassmen, and it’s very important that they develop chemistry and gel as a team,” he said. “I’m glad the preseason is over. It’s game week, and we want to get started.”
Woodbridge is coming off a 6-5 season during which the Barrons edged the Knights, 20-9.
Old Bridge returns to action on Thursday when Monroe comes to visit. Monroe moves to the Red Division after winning the GMC White Division a year ago en route to an 11-1 mark. Kickoff in Old Bridge is 7 p.m.