Golden Rams,
After a couple of disappointing seasons we have another very important spring for our program. We are making some changes to our scheme and we are trying to get some of our young players to take over important roles on our team in the fall. We are looking for some genuine leadership to help our young guys come together as a team. We selected two of our captains going into spring,
John O’Donnell and Carl Barnes, and will pick two more at the end of spring. We have a great group of seniors and it is now their time to take us back to the playoffs and to the PSAC championship before they leave. After the past two seasons, no one is safe in their jobs, so we have a ton of competition all over the field.
Mike Mattei and Sean McCartney will battle for the starting QB position. They have both played well at times in their careers, but we had too much inconsistency at that position the past couple of years. Rondell White will carry the load at running back and he looks really good so far this spring. Delly played for the basketball team during the winter and he is chomping at the bit to get going with the season. We have a ton of depth at the running back position with Brandon Monk backing up and adding transfers Chris Smallwood, James Rosseau, and Eric Petransky to the mix. The receiving corps is really strong with LaRonn Lee, Tim Keyser, Sean Beahan and Eric Brundidge returning. Adam Dempsey and Jay Jabat are two young guys to look for some playing time in the fall. Brundidge is out with a shoulder injury right now, but he will return for September. We are reshaping the O-Line with the senior group leaving. Brian Margetich, Blair Gower, Trey Farmer, Eric Pratt and Adam Citko are running with the first group. Look for James Colivas, Justin Bathurst and transfer Derek Schatz, and Nick Garcia coming over from defense, to get playing time. Justin Curry is running at tight end with some good young guys fighting out for the backup roles. Jared Bonacquisti is starting at fullback.
Defensively, we are moving to a four-man front this spring. Lew Esposito, Eric Edwers, Josh Coulter and John Kilpatrick will handle the end positions. We moved Anthony McCloskey to nose guard and we have Mike Martin, Demrick Cook, Tylor Unger and James Groce battling at tackle spots. We are playing with two linebackers and Mike Labor and Ronell Williams are starting there. Drew Persa and Mike Culbreath are backing up there. John O’Donnell, Carl Barnes, Shawn Krautzel and Bob Sabol return in the secondary. Dante Devine and Ali-Haj Shabazz are running with the first group on the corner. Mike Lonergan and a group of offensive guys moving to defense - Matt Carroll, Pete Hurley and Brandon Pepper - are competing for playing time.
Shawn Leo and Rich Bruno return at kicker and punter so we feel really strong there.
We are running the National Marrow Donor Program registry again this year to coincide with the spring game. You can check out info on the website.
We had a really good recruiting class this year and we are finding out this spring what our past couple of recruiting classes look like.
THE SPRING GAME WILL BE THURSDAY NIGHT, APRIL 19th at 6PM. We are planning on going to Barnaby’s for pre- and post-game refreshments. Barnaby’s will donate a percentage of the night’s receipts back into the program. Try to go. Hope to see you all there.
Coach Zwaan
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