High school football preview: A tough act to follow
Section VI made history last season as four schools brought home state titles. Can anyone do the same this year?
About a year later, the facts and figures are still staggering. Four state titles. Four perfect 13-0 seasons. Four championship plaques sent home with Section VI, thanks to Orchard Park, Sweet Home, Southwestern and Maple Grove.
And, entering Week One of 2009, four defending state champions.
"It is still fantastic," said 26th-year Section VI Chairman Chuck Funke. "All still champions — they're not defending champions until opening day."
As opening kickoff approaches, the four Western New York teams that recorded the finest postseason for one region in state history are all getting asked one question. It's the same one that any champion deals with, right up to the pros:
Can you do it again?
Having one section win four state titles seems inconceivable; having them all do it for two straight years approaches ridiculousness. The challenge for just one team to repeat is difficult enough.
"I'm sure the odds are against anybody [repeating], but Jamestown [1994-95] and Lackawanna [1997-98] repeated so it can be done," said Sweet Home coach John Faller, before adding a common refrain from among the four championship coaches: "We'll go in with the idea of trying to win our sectional title, then we'd go into the state playoffs and it's a four-game series and we see where we go from there.
"I think everyone comes out with the same goals regardless of the team you have. It takes some hard work, a little bit of luck and everything has to come together."
Funke still marvels at the quarterbacks who led the four Section VI teams to titles (as well as earned championship-game MVP honors): now-graduated Kyle Hoppy of Orchard Park (Class AA) and Casey Kacz of Sweet Home (A) were joined by then-juniors Zack Sopak of Southwestern (C) and Chris Secky of Maple Grove (D).
"They were all great leaders, and two of them are back," Funke said. "To me that was the key. They all played great defense, but to have four good quarterbacks like that from one area — watching their leadership and just following them for those five weeks was amazing to watch."
The quarterback factor is one reason it seems the lower the classification, the more likely the chances for a repeat title. Sopak is one of 14 returning starters for the Trojans. Secky is the reigning Class D state Player of the Year and one of 10 returning starters for the Red Dragons.
All those returning players are probably also a reason both Southern Tier coaches have almost demonized the word "success."
"Our biggest thing with this team is not letting past success strangle us this year, because it could," said Curt Fischer of Maple Grove, echoing similar sentiments of Southwestern's Jay Sirianni. "This team has to build its own identity and build its own thing. We can't let our own sense of pride cause us to stumble."
Prior to last year, no section had ever won three titles in the same year — much less four — in the state football tournament, which began in 1993. The most a section had won was two, a feat achieved 17 times. On only one of those occasions did Section VI win a pair of championships, when Lackawanna (B) and Maple Grove (D) won in 1998.
Here's a look at Section VI's four reigning teams, one defending champ at a time.
AA: Orchard Park
The Quakers graduated one of the best backfields to ever play in Western New York in Hoppy and running back Jeff Tundo.
"Jeff and Kyle were outstanding players — they were probably two of the best players who have come through this area in a long time," OP coach Gene Tundo said. "We just will do it with a variety of guys. We have some great players coming up, and it's their turn.
"I think we definitely can do it again. It might be a different route, but it will be the same destination."
Tundo has spoken this preseason about how this year's team is "working harder than any team we've had before."
The coach and his players have also emphasized the cohesion of this year's unit.
"This year it seems like it's more of a team," said senior tight end/defensive end Robert Kugler. "Everyone just works together as a team. We might have to do it the hard way, without relying on everyone's talent, but I think we can do it."
Why they can repeat: They're still big, they're still fast, they're still talented. In other words, they're still OP. While the two biggest names may have graduated, all five offensive linemen are back, including Joe Boyd and Brendan McLaughlin, which should provide some running room for senior Kevin Collins and sophomore Okoya Anderson. Dan Nesci caught plenty of balls from Hoppy, and Tundo has lauded the throws of new quarterback Dave Janca, a senior.
Why they can't repeat: Locally North Tonawanda and Lancaster are itching to get their shot at the Quakers. Across the state, Section I (Westchester County) champion Monroe-Woodbury, the team that OP came from behind to beat in the state championship game, has been installed as USA Today's sixth-best team in its East Region.
While the Quakers are a solid choice to win another Section VI title (five straight titles, eight straight finals), the state road could prove tough. Last year's unit was seasoned for its title run by a breakthrough regional win over Canandaigua in 2007 (which snapped an 0-for-7 streak by OP).
The fine line: The obvious example of how close OP was to not winning a state championship was in the final, when the Quakers scored all of their points after halftime for a 21-17 victory. But when asked about a potential breaking point, OP coach Tundo pointed to the 37-21 state semifinal win over Section IV champion Binghamton, which slugged it out with the Quakers. "Binghamton was a great team," he said.
Section VI team most likely to get in OP's way: North Tonawanda has 13 starters back and gave OP a tough test (28-13) in the Section VI final at Ralph Wilson Stadium.
A: Sweet Home
Added to Sweet Home's significant graduation losses, which include quarterback, its entire offensive line and speedy defensive back/wide receiver threats, was the offseason injury to Deshanaro Morris. Morris' promising football career was ended in a January 2009 car accident in which he was paralyzed.
"What I'm trying to do is be a better leader for my team this year, with my cousin DayDay [Morris' nickname] down," said senior wide receiver/defensive back D.J. Nettles. "I've got to step up and we have to find someone to fill his shoes. We're just trying to come together as a family right now and rebuild what we had last year."
"We graduated 23 seniors and all five starting lineman were a part of that," Faller said. "There's a lot of things we have to replace and patch up, but we do that every year, so it's not a big deal."
Why they can repeat: Nettles is a big-time talent who made a tremendous impact on both sides of the ball when he joined the team after three games last season following his transfer from Cardinal O'Hara. The Division I recruit can single-handedly change games. Mikal Coleman is another superb two-way player.
Why they can't repeat: Last year's team was loaded, this year's became unloaded. The Panthers had talent all over the field last year, so much so that some onlookers thought they were better than Orchard Park. Class A is always tough to survive in Section VI, while Aquinas should be waiting again when the regionals kick off in downtown Rochester this year.
The fine line: When defending state champion Aquinas scored a touchdown 1:01 into last year's Far West Regionals, it appeared it might be the beginning of the end of Sweet Home's season. Instead, the Panthers went on to a 23-6 victory and rolled most of the rest of the way to its title.
Section VI team most likely to get in Sweet Home's way: The newly combined Class A includes many usual suspects, with Sweet Home facing three of them in a row in Weeks Four (Grand Island), Five (West Seneca East) and Six (Iroquois).
C: Southwestern
The Trojans have reminders all over their weight room. There are several signs with the same message: "Past Accomplishment is the ENEMY of Future Success."
"One thing that could hurt you with [last year's title] is that some guys might think, "OK, we're just going to walk on the field and win.' And that's not the case," said Southwestern's coach, Sirianni. "It's our job as coaches to keep them focused and keep them working hard and to focus on our league schedule."
All those signs, and all those reminders are because, on paper, Southwestern is the most likely team to repeat. The Trojans have an almost unheard-of 14 starters back from a championship team, including nearly all of the key positions.
"It's nice, because we're a really close-knit team and we know what each other is going to bring to the table every day," said quarterback Zack Sopak, a threat to run or pass.
Why they can repeat: All of those starters back: savvy, gutsy quarterback Sopak, athletically imposing do-it-all Levi Bursch and huge lineman Jasen Carlson. One would expect the Trojans to be focused and tested for the postseason after not only a tough league schedule but also nonleague dates at St. Mary's and home for defending Class B champion Lackawanna.
Why they can't repeat: Some class shifts near and far suggest that this year's playoff road will be tougher. Fredonia moves down to Class C after making last year's B final — just ask Southwestern, which moved down from Class B last season, how much of a difference that can make. In Section IV (Binghamton area), perennial powers Walton (up from D) and Chenango Forks (down from B) are two potential state title candidates.
The fine line: With six minutes left in the Far West Regionals against LeRoy, Southwestern had a 38-20 lead. In the final minutes, LeRoy was within 38-35 and driving for a go-ahead score when senior Eric Mazgaj caused a game-sealing fumble to help the Trojans survive. On the bus ride from Rochester to Jamestown, assistant coach Aaron Rounds said to his fellow coaches, "we've got a shot at winning this whole thing."
Section VI team most likely to get in Southwestern's way: Fredonia, which visits Southwestern on Friday, Oct. 9. Could it be the first of two meetings?
D: Maple Grove
Along with the graduation of 11 seniors, the Red Dragons also saw defensive coordinator Dan Greco leave to take over as the coach of Chautauqua Lake.
"It was tough at first because I didn't know who we were going to get," Fischer said. "But the first call I made, I struck gold."
That's when Dave Emley, who coached for 20 years at none other than rival Randolph, agreed to come on board at Maple Grove along with his son, Nick, who was a standout at Division III Waynesburg.
"When we got coach Emley, it felt like the world was lifted off my shoulders," Fischer said. "It's been a really great move for us. He's really enthusiastic and very positive guy."
Why they can repeat: Outstanding athlete Chris Secky is still throwing passes, and he says he's got several targets to throw to in Maple Grove's same spread offense. Andrew Wascher is back on the line while Matt Fox is back at linebacker. The trio were all MVPs in last year's state title game.
Why they can't repeat: Not having speedster Joe Caporale out wide and Josh Micek coming out of the backfield might ultimately show how special 2008 was.
The fine line: Maybe the line wasn't so fine with Maple Grove, whose closest game all season was its 40-14 Section VI semifinal win over Randolph. Fischer pointed to last year's 38-8 Week Three win over Portville as the one that let him know his team was committed to the kind of season it ended up having.
Section VI team most likely to get in Maple Grove's way: Randolph. The test comes early — the Dragons host the Cardinals on Friday night.
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