Former Manville star loves the college atmosphere
By: John E. Powers
Drew Corsilli had some shining moments during his football career at Manville High.
As a sophomore, he kicked a late game-winning field goal to beat Bound Brook. Two years later, on a rainy Thanksgiving Day morning, Corsilli broke up a pass in the end zone to save another Manville win against the Crusaders. He had scored two touchdowns and kicked a big field goal earlier in that game.
But, outside of those wins, Corsilli had little to celebrate in terms of team success during his high school years on the football field. He was also a standout wrestler and track and field athlete on some good Manville teams, but the football program struggled every year. That’s why his experience with the Lycoming College Warriors has been something of a revelation for him, something to savor.
"It’s a whole different atmosphere," Corsilli said. "It’s like the whole town is involved with the football program. It’s really a class act."
This year, as a redshirt sophomore, Corsilli is expecting to contribute to a team that is ranked as high as 14th in national Division 3 polls. Last year, Corsilli played in parts of five games in the backfield as Lycoming went 8-1.
Now that Lycoming’s all-time leading rusher Tim Deasey has graduated, Corsilli may be part of the rotation in longtime coach Frank Girardi’s backfield. The team opens its season at Delaware Valley on Sept. 7.
"It’s really been a lot of adjusting to," said Corsilli, a 2000 Manville High graduate, who begins camp Aug. 16. "Everything moves a lot more quickly in the college game. Every athlete who is out there was either the best or second-best or one of the best athletes in the school. There’s a lot of competition. I had to prove myself."
Corsilli missed his freshman year with a cracked bone in his spine. He said he suffered the injury sometime during his senior year at MHS, which forced him to give up the sprints and jumping events to compete in the javelin. Corsilli said a small fracture was discovered in his lower back in the fall of 2000 by a magnetic resonance imaging. Corsilli struggled through training camp, but the MRI put the uncertainty to an end. He had to rest.
"I really couldn’t sprint for a year," Corsilli said. "It was bad because I felt like I was just sitting there on the sidelines, getting out of shape. But I feel great now."
Corsilli picked up 23 yards on seven carries last season, but the former Mustang believes the brief experience was crucial.
"I got my feet wet," Corsilli said. "And after the Delaware Valley game coach Girardi told me I had a chance to be somebody here. That meant a lot to me. Coach Girardi has been there forever."
Girardi is just one of four active Division 3 coaches with 200 career wins and is now 226-69-5 in 30 years at the helm. The team has won 12 Middle Atlantic Conference championships and has reached the national playoffs 10 times, including trips to the Alonzo Stagg Bowl – the national championship game – in 1990 and 1997. The team is a favorite to win the MAC title this year and perhaps Corsilli will have a major hand in it.
"I’m really happy to be there," Corsilli said. "Once I got the chance to compete with the team, I said to myself, ‘I’m in there, I can definitely compete with these guys.’"