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Comets return group of big, talented linemen
Kody Pasqualichio returns at fullback for Abington Heights.
The return of a large and talented group of linemen makes Abington Heights the favorite to repeat as Lackawanna Football Conference Division 1 champion.
“We return four of our five offensive linemen,” Comets coach Joe Repshis said. “Always, at any level, people like to have returning guys up front.
“They’ve played together a couple of years. They’re a very cohesive, tight group.”
Evan Craig, a two-way tackle, and John Price, a guard/defensive end, return on both sides of the ball.
Sal Conaboy is back at guard, Adrian Brunori at center and Morgan Craig at defensive end.
Conaboy is a major Division I prospect while Evan Craig is a Division I prospect in both football and wrestling, where he has a state high school championship and USA Wrestling national championships to his credit. Evan Craig was a second-team Associated Press Class AAA all-state selection last season.
Paul Gallagher returns to start at linebacker and moves up to the first tailback spot after rushing for nearly 900 yards last season.
“Paul got a decent amount of carries last year backing up Eric Ofcharsky,” Repshis said. “James Fruehan, another junior, will give us another tough, physical runner.
“Kody Pasqualichio is a good blocker at fullback who can catch the ball out of the backfield and run. John Snyder will also take some time at fullback. We’re excited about our depth there as well.”
Snyder and Fruehan already have starting experience on defense as linebacker and free safety.
Pasqualichio returns to start at fullback and Tyler Cuneo is back at wide receiver.
The Comets also have a strong kicking game back with Charlie Armetta at kicker and Mike Beamish as punter.
Delaware Valley and Wallenpaupack, a pair of teams that won seven games and advanced to the playoffs, represent the top challenges to the Comets.
Delaware Valley, which won nine games each in 2006 and 2007, fell short of the division title with a 24-21 loss on an Armetta field goal in the closing seconds.
The Warriors figure to again have a strong running game with Division I recruits Brad Wagner and Brandon Clemons returning at the two tackle positions.
Joe DeFebo led the way, piling up incredible rushing numbers while getting Wallenpaupack off to 4-0 and 7-2 starts. The Buckhorns finished 3-3 in the division.
DeFebo, who returns at tailback, went beyond the 1,000-yard mark in the fourth week and had his fifth straight 200-yard effort to start the season. He finished with seven games of 200 or more yards rushing and six games with at least four rushing touchdowns. When he was done, DeFebo had carried at least 22 times in every game while running 320 times for 2,321 yards and 29 touchdowns.
The first-team Associated Press Class AAA all-state selection will again run behind 255-pound tackle Bryan Cosgrove, who has committed to play Division I football at Richmond.
West Scranton, Scranton and North Pocono are capable of putting together some wins but may have a hard time contending for the division title.
Honesdale is trying to improve after going winless in the division a year ago.
Joe Gerek plans to bring a new look to West Scranton in his first season as head coach of his alma mater.
Gerek, who played at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, spent seven years as head coach at Pocono Mountain and has also been an assistant coach at IUP, North Pocono and West Scranton. The West Scranton physical education teacher and reading specialist said he will open up the offense for the Invaders.
“Tom Hughes is our offensive coordinator,” Gerek said. “We’re going to run a wide-open, single-back offense and throw the ball about 70 percent of the time.
“Now, when the fans are yelling, they’ll be yelling ‘run the ball.’ Our philosophy is that we have very good athletes and we want to get the ball to them in open spaces and let them make plays.”
Tyler Hughes, who started at quarterback as a sophomore, returns to run the offense.
Senior Ethan Dunn is back as a wide receiver, who can also play running back at times.
Senior tight end/defensive end Tim Langan suffered an ankle injury in the first scrimmage which could hurt the Invaders early in the season.
Some of the other players Gerek is counting on are: junior wide receiver/defensive back Dan Bernadini, sophomore wide receiver/safety Malcolm Sweeting, senior guards Nick Boyle and Jimmy Williams, senior defensive tackle Nick Ferra, sophomore linebacker Tyler Rakauskas and junior cornerback/wide receiver Ray Dominguez.
Scranton must rebuild its offense, including the entire line in Mike Marichak’s second season after replacing older brother John Marichak as coach.
“This is the first time since John and I were around that we lost every lineman up front,” Mike Marichak said. “Defensively, we have a lot returning, but we’re light up front there, too.”
Fullback/linebacker Desmond Keiser and wide receiver/cornerback Aashon Blackwell are the only returning starters in a spread offense that will be run by talented sophomore quarterback Joe McCarthy.
Keiser and Blackwell are joined defensively by returning starters Godford Anyang at end, Jesse Kellogg at tackle, Calvin Lloyd at inside linebacker and Brett Sweeting at strong safety.
“We run to the ball well and have a lot of speed, but I’m concerned about the teams that run right at us,” Marichak said.
North Pocono returns seven starters on each side of the ball as it attempts to move up in the standings in Jason Sepkowski’s third season as coach.
“We have a lot of seniors that have played two years; some for three,” Sepkowski said. “They’re very hungry to go out and turn the program around.
“They’ve taken their lumps. They’re ready to take another step forward.”
The Trojans were 1-5 in the division while going 2-8 overall for the second straight season.
Two-way tackle Peter Calderone, guard/defensive tackle Josh Przywara, fullback/defensive end Frank Butash, quarterback/cornerback Matt Smith and tailback/linebacker Nick Batzel are two-way returning starters. Smith started at wide receiver last year.
Guard Joey Schirra is back on offense and Nick Bell will be at wide receiver early in the season when he returns from a knee injury.
Greg Sporko and Mark Badyna are back at linebacker.
Quarterback/cornerback Andrew Branning, wide receiver/cornerback Pat Maher and two-way lineman Chris Henderson are the top returnees for John Marichak at Honesdale. The Hornets also bring back offensive linemen Dick Clark and Jim Barton, tailback Donnie Wasylyk and safeties Derek Shannon and Manny Rivero.