By Bob Nuse, The Packet Group
Andrew Patterson can get a good sense of the kind of players he has on his Robbinsville High football team just by looking at the leaders that were selected as captains.
”When your captains are not selfish people it changes the culture of what is going on in your program,” said Patterson, the Ravens’ first year head coach. “Our captains were chosen in part on ability but also the kind of people that they are.”
Those players all fall into the category of putting the team before the individual, which is the way the Ravens plan to approach the season.
”Kyle O’Kane was a tight end last year and this year we needed a little extra size on the line and he made the move to tackle without any qualms,” said Patterson, whose team will open the season on Friday at home against Cinnaminson. “Now he is an offensive tackle and defensive end and has been a great leader and shown how the team has to come together to win. He has made the transition seamlessly and knows he is doing what needs to be done to help the team.
”Brandon Smith is a defensive back and wide receiver who also does anything you ask him to do and knows what everybody has to do on the field. Jose Betancourt is a starter on both lines and he will direct traffic from his right guard spot and will help Kyle with the adjustment to the line. And our one junior captain, Anthony Lettera, played a lot as a sophomore brings it every play on offense as a running back and on defense as an inside linebacker.”
The captains are part of a Robbinsville group looking to lay the foundation for a strong program. The Ravens are looking to bounce back after a 2-8 season a year ago.
”After last year we had to replace Chad Scott on both sides of the ball and we have had a lot of kids step up,” Patterson said. “They know everyone is going to touch the ball. On our two scoring drives in our scrimmage against Dayton every skill player touched the ball. So they know everyone is going to be involved.
”Leading up to the season it has been going pretty well. I have no complaints. I have a lot of commendations for our kids, especially coming off last year. A lot of kids could have bagged it and said it was a lost cause. The energy has been good, the senior leadership has been positive. These kids are learning their third offense and third defense in the last three years and they have picked it up pretty well.”
Junior Andrew Aromando is back at quarterback for the Ravens, who hope to use all of their weapons to be successful.
”Andrew has been taking all the reps as the starting quarterback and has matured a lot since last year,” Patterson said. “He is emerging as a leader. He’s a junior in a brand new offense and has been a vocal leader on the offensive side of the ball.
”I thought we did well against Dayton, which was a quick team. We played a solid 2½ to 3 quarters of football. Defensively we did some nice things and we had some nice drives offensively.”
The Ravens are back in the Liberty Division of the West Jersey Football League along with Bordentown, Cinnaminson, Delran, Holy Cross and Pemberton. The schedule does include some new teams from last year, as Robbinsville will face Princeton, Hightstown and Clayton this year.
The opener is against a very good Cinnaminson team that handled the Ravens, 46-18, last year.
”We know they are a good team,” Patterson said. “Hopefully we cab do a couple of things to maximize our strength, which is having kids who play smart football and swarming to the ball. We are not going to give away anything. With our energy we’ll keep coming at you.”
Prior to the start of the season the Ravens spent a practice working with athlete of the Special Olympics complex in Lawrence. It was a treat for all involved from both sides.
”It was a nice day,” Patterson said. “You get a chance to see every one in a different light. You run around with the athletes with the Special Olympics and everyone got a chance to see that what they do is pretty special. Our kids were eating it up. They were loving it. We did some drills and games and the kids were having a blast.
It was something we did when I was with Eric Hamilton at TCNJ. We did that every year I was there. I enjoyed it and I thought it was something we could do here. Part of our operation is to show athletes there is more to football than just playing the game. As a team you have more power than as an individual. We came together as team and helped and it was a great day.”
