PA – Central Athletic League | Archive | September, 2016

NETHER PROVIDENCE >> When Strath Haven’s first drive of Friday night’s Central League game against Harriton stalled at the Rams’ 10-yard line, the Panthers trotted out Emmet Young.

Three steps back, two over. Young eyed up the snap, and when the ball was placed down, he booted it over the crossbar and through the uprights from 27 yards out. He looked the part of a seasoned veteran in the process as he received congratulations from his nine blockers and holder.

You’d have been hard-pressed to imagine that it was his first field goal attempt at the varsity level. An offensive shootout against Interboro only gave him extra-point attempts in the opening week, so the freshman had to wait a little longer before his first field goal.

Not a problem, and by the end of the night, he added six more points via extra points to help the Panthers roll over the Rams, 47-8, in the teams’ Central League opener.

“I was a little bit nervous, but you’re always a bit nervous,” Young said. “I have an amazing line, a good snapper, a good holder, so I felt pretty confident that I could get the kick up. It felt amazing when I saw it go through. The first one is pretty special.”

As most kicking careers do, Young’s got started thanks to…baseball. Panthers assistant coach Steve Grohman coached Young in baseball, and he asked him to consider kicking. Young got his feet wet because he preferred that alternative over middle school soccer, and while he’s returned to the pitch, he’s shown that he can handle the kicking game for Strath Haven.

“Last year I could only get kickoffs to the 20, but I practiced a lot in the offseason,” Young said. “(Assistant) Coach (Erik) Hollingsworth helped me with squats, too, to help my legs get stronger.”

It’s worked. He was placing his kickoff between the 10 and 15-yard lines all night and giving Haven’s coverage team plenty of time to get downfield. From there, the defense took over. The Panthers limited the Rams (0-2, 0-1) to a mere 51 yards of offense, and nearly all of those came against Haven’s backups. Harriton was missing starting running back Colin Prigent, starting left tackle Nate Wilkins and lineman Demarcus Johnson. It would have been tough sledding for the Rams at full strength, but without those players, they struggled.

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UPPER DARBY >> When Nick Juliano enters the Garnet Valley huddle on a night like Friday, you can imagine him looking like he’s about to spin a prize wheel on a game show.

Pick a running back, any running back, to run the Jags’ veer offense. Between the quarterback’s ability to make the reads that deceive defenders and the offensive line unfailingly doing the dirty work in the trenches, it’s like playing “Wheel of Fortune,” sans the risk of going bankrupt.

That’s what Mike Ricci’s team can do when the offense is humming like it was in Friday’s 66-22 dismantling of Upper Darby — which featured 413 yards on the ground and rushing touchdowns by five players.

“I think we’re at that point where if their line switches up, our line knows how to react to that, which means me and the backs can react to that,” Juliano said.

The quarterback finished with the gaudiest total of an egalitarian attack for Garnet Valley (2-0, 1-0 Central), toting seven times for 98 yards. Danny Guy covered 83 yards, Dominic Bertone picked up 74 on just four carries, and Matt Lassik ground out 70. Lassik, Juliano and Bertone scored twice each, and the final total of 7.5 yards per 55 carries seems inadequate in capturing the Jags’ full dominance.

Part of the reason was a pair of short fields furnished in the first five minutes of the game by a bad punt snap on fourth down and a strip-sack by Charlie Coslett and Joshua Ciarrocchi that Chad Hrivnak jumped on.

With just five carries covering 67 yards, the Jags were up 14 points in 5 minutes, 9 seconds, and they never looked back.

“It’s great because when it hits fast, the defense doesn’t know what’s coming,” Juliano said. “When we’re up 14-0 in the first quarter, that means it’s working.”

The key is interchangeability in the backs, to an extreme degree even for Ricci with all the success he’s fostered in the last three decades. Yeah, the 6-foot, 205-pound Bertone plays the role of bruiser and Guy is the speed merchant. But Lassik and his backfield mates can hurt opposing defenses in a variety of ways and through a variety of schemes, each able to break away from pursuing defenders but not timid between the tackles.

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Three Central League teams turn over the reins to new coaches this year, and two come with impressive playing pedigrees. Haverford turns to an alum in David Cassanelli, the 2007 Daily Times Boys Soccer Player of the Year. He continued his career at Duquesne University and has been a varsity assistant/JV coach for three seasons at Haverford.

He’s the third head coach since Cassanelli’s coach, the George Severini, was let go in 2010, and Cassanelli is hoping to restore the consistency lacking with the Fords in recent years.

Cassanelli inherits a high proportion of club players trying to build off a 6-9-3 season. Senior Josh Cunningham will anchor the defense with Connor Brown. The midfield will consist of Ibrahim Anmar, Chris Rioboli, Matt Billbrough and Will Gardner, while Marc Mays and Indie Zimmerman offer an attacking punch.

Senior Nick DeFeo will take over in goal. Sean Cannon and Sean Morse are attacking options, while Keilan Barber and Wilson Dodds should feature in defense.

Upper Darby struggled through a 6-12 campaign, but they turn to alum Adam Edgar, who’s been an assistant in the program for four years. He’ll lean on a quartet of seniors, including midfielders Daniel Willie and Oscar Ceron, to power the team. Mohamed Camara will do much of the finishing up top with junior Chris Anderson, and senior Scott Devlin will again anchor the defense. Junior midfielder Sahr Pessima should also contribute.

Marple Newtown has a new coach in former Temple standout Jared Harris. After Charlie Dodds, who moved back to West Chester East, navigated the Tigers to the postseason, Harris must replace almost the entirety of a last fall’s senior-laden bunch, a handful of whom are playing in college.

Garnet Valley surprised some by making a run to the postseason last year, and they return several key pieces from that campaign. Seniors Matt Moore, Danny Sweeney and Jacob Schwien will impart a veteran air, while Andrew Weir and Michael Buchy will try to reprise their prominent attacking roles.

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The big name for Strath Haven in coach Gino Miraglia’s 10th year at the helm is Lizzie King, the reigning Daily Times Girls Soccer Player of the Year who scored 14 goals last season in helping the Panthers win 13 games.

She’ll have plenty of support on the forward line with Maddie and Grace Forbes on the wings, while Morgan Crain and Claire Van Duyne will anchor the midfield, the latter stepping up from her successful stint as a central defender last year. The defense is in good hands with veterans Liz DeCarlo and Kacy Hafertepe.

The big question centers on replacing two-time All-Delco Katie Fisher in goal, and Miraglia will audition several newcomers for that opening.

Garnet Valley takes a hit with knee injuries ruling two-time All-Delco Britney Dragoni and U.S. youth national teamer Julia Burnell out for the year. Paul Costa’s program, though, is often able to recover from such challenges with the depth it cultivates through the classes.

They replace one Dragoni with another, sophomore Gia, who acclimated quickly last year. The midfield is an area of strength, thanks to Jenna Buttermore, Kayla Morey, Ava Wenger and Sydney Peterson. And they have the reliable Ashley Bufano, who orchestrated the penalty-kick shootout upset of Boyertown in the first round of districts last year, returning in goal.

The defense is anchored by Alex Zecca (a Virginia Wesleyan commit) and Beth Hoffman, with senior Ashley Sweier stepping up. Alyssa Saito will also contribute to the midfield as a sophomore.

Haverford will rely on sister power thanks to the Janzers and Durfees. Clare Janzer will star in defense along with Brianna Blair and Maddie Santoro, while Nora Janzer will add to the midfield’s speed. Amelia Durfee will work the forward line, while sophomore Alison Durfee will assume the starting goalkeeper job full-time.

Sadie Gold and Annalena O’Reilly are underclassmen who enjoyed plenty of minutes a season ago.

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SPRINGFIELD >> The recipe for Springfield’s run to the PIAA semifinals last fall wasn’t difficult to decipher.

Fourteen seniors, 10 of them starters, represented a special generation, one that developed as the season progressed and exceeded even the loftiest of expectations coach Jason Piombino could’ve ascribed to them before the season.

For Piombino and assistant coach Rich Duffey, who has longstanding ties with the high school and youth programs in the town, the emphasis on development over the long haul means last year’s crop wasn’t an aberration. But while the next generation germinates, the comeuppance this season will be a team that must be replaced in total.

Only one starter returns from last year’s team: defender Ron Miller, a junior who steps into the sweeper role vacated by All-Delco Ryan Straube. Justin Eckard, a forward who split time up top last season, will slide into a deeper role in midfield to exert more control on the ball. And a pair of juniors, Jake Proctor and Thomas McCaffrey, saw limited minutes on varsity last season but nonetheless took the journey with varsity to within an extra-time goal of the state final.

The message of adapting youngsters to the rigors of varsity soccer is the most pertinent for Miller and Eckard to try and disseminate.

“We have a good selection of guys this year, and I think it’s all about teaching them the varsity intensity,” Eckard said. “It’s more about the game pace and how it’s going to get a lot faster now, and everyone has to get used to it as a team.”

The bright side is that Piombino sees many of the same characteristics in the current crop of freshmen and eighth graders as he saw in the class of 2016. He’ll start at least two freshmen, with Billy Smith and Steven East slotting into defense.

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