Florence Pop Warner teams prepare for season

By: Sean Moylan
   "I have the best coaches in Pop Warner," said Rich Sensi, the new head coach of Florence’s Mighty Mites’ 85-pound squad.
   After years of leading the Flashes’ great 145-pounders, Robert Hutchinson, Steve Muchowski and Joe Fitzpatrick have moved down to help Sensi with the younger kids.
   Sensi, for one, is impressed with their overwhelming knowledge of the game and their ability to teach.
   "These guys are incredible," added the first-year head coach of Florence 7- to 9-year–old squad of his great staff. However, Florence’s players look just as good.
   "We’ve got some really good hitters and we’ve got some really tough kids. We’d like to have a few more kids to make our roster bigger," Sensi remarked.
   Joey Connelly, Jonathan Dimon, Aaron Salaga, Jonathan Sensi, Matt Sovak, Curtis Thompson, Justin Thompson and Brett Butler are returnees from last year’s roster.
   Kenyari Moore, Michael Muchowski, Rich Myers, James McCown, Zack Roberts, Kyle Thompson, Andrew Britton, Nick Turkel and Joel Rodriguez are either moving up from the 65-pounders or are new to the program.
   With so much talent, the Flashes are still sorting out the positions for each player.
   However, Hutchinson, Muchowski, Fitzpatrick and Sensi are all good judges of talent and they’ll know where each kid should play.
   Florence practices four or five nights a week, two hours a night. In the fall it will cut its practices down to three two-hour sessions a week. If the Flashes can add a player or two to their current roster, they can go places. At the very least, they should be one of the best-prepared squads in Pop Warner.
   145’S
   
   Last year Florence’s 110-pound and its 145-pound Pop Warner Football teams both lost in championship games.
   Scott Jiras was the head coach of that 110-pound team and this year he has moved up to coach the 145’s. It’s needless to say, Jiras’ 2004 club wants to win in the worst way. Still, Jiras kept things in perspective when he said," I hope I don’t feel any pressure coaching youth football."
   Of course, Jiras also has a great trio of coaches (Joe Difilippo, Bruno Anzuini and Billy Martinson) to aid him with his decisions.
   Moreover, he has Kevin Jiras, Shaquan Gainer, Anthony Krause, James Martinson, Shane Mazar, Kydeem McLeod, Michael Stanton, Charles Taylor and Steven Wallace all returning from last year’s fine 145-pound squad.
   "They comprise the heart and soul of the team," said Jiras of his returnees. "Our strength will be at our skill positions (quarterback, running backs and receivers)."
   Dylan Brigg, Ricardo Cajigas, Zach Carugano, Ernest Curry, Chris Comtagnucci, Anthony Glover, Sean Harris, Quan Johnson, Levaugh Nelson, Joe Price, Jerome Roache, Robert Russo, Joshua Stillwell, Dameron Williams, Kevin Wood, Paul Wright, Daquan Chapman, Jon Bethea and Devon Stevens are players either called up from 110’s or newcomers to the program. They all look very good in practices.
   "We have a lot of experience," said Jiras, who likes the way both lines are shaping up. "I think our defense is going to be outstanding."
   Last year, Florence’s high school football team proved, first hand, that defense wins championships.
   As usual, the Florence Pop Warner team will run plays handed down by Joe Frappolli and his staff. However, they are not directly involved with the team. "It’s a great bunch of kids," said Jiras, who loves his team’s talent. Florence should have a big season.
   
CHEERLEADING



   Lynn Anzuini is the commissioner of one of the state’s most successful cheerleading programs—the Florence Flashes Pop Warner football program.
   "Basically I’m the liaison between my league and Pop Warner South Jersey League," said Anzuini, who keeps all of her coaches informed about new safety regulations each year.
   "It’s a total safety issue—we want them to be, more than anything, safe."
   This year "stunting" is only permitted on mats. However, stunting is just a small part of what the Florence cheerleaders do. They already have a reputation of developing some of the finest cheers in South Jersey.
   This season Florence’s 65-Cheer squad will be coached by Theresa Bell, its 85-Cheer squad will be coached by Gwen Parker, its 110-Cheer squad will be coached by Amy Muchowski and its 145-Cheer squad will be instructed by Celeste Onori.
   Each of the squads will have two junior coaches working with them.
   "Our squad capacity is 35 per squad and we’re pretty close to capacity on all of our squads," said Anzuini, who has worked with the cheerleaders for 7 years, 5 as a commissioner.
   While the Florence girls love cheering on their Flashes’ football teams, one of the great highlights of every season is the cheerleading competition held at Burlington County College. This year’s competition will be held on October 23. The 85-cheer squad will do an exhibition performance while the 110 and 145-cheer squads will compete against other South Jersey cheerleading teams.
   Already, the girls are very hard at work.
   "We’re allowed to practice 10 hours a week, which we take full advantage of," said Anzuini.
   "Once school starts, teams are only allowed to practice six hours a week.
   Florence football teams are so successful that girls want to cheer for these clubs.
   "It (winning) gives them more incentive to belong," said Anzuini.
   Moreover, maybe one day these same girls will be cheering Florence to another high school state championship.