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Healthy Cabrera will give talented squad a big boost
Brandon Calorusso, at left, will take over at quarterback for the Hawkeyes following the graduation of his brother Rich.
At 6-foot-3 and 260 pounds, Hanover Area running back Mike Redick doesn’t need much of hole to pick up yards. Last season, Redick averaged almost five yards a carry on 49 attempts.
Hanover Area receiver Tomas Cabrera, above, caught 39 passes last season despite playing for much of the year with a fractured foot.
Don Carey PHOTOS/THE TIMES LEADER
During the third game of last season, Tomas Cabrera fractured his foot.
He was back on the field the next week.
“I love football so much, I couldn’t stand on the sideline and watch everyone else play,” Cabrera said.
Now you know why Hanover Area’s been to the District 2 Class 2A Playoffs the last four years.
Cabrera not only played hurt in Hanover Area’s final nine games of 2008, he played at a premium level. The 6-foot-2 Hawkeyes wide receiver finished his junior season with 39 catches – the second-most in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2A – for 742 yards and seven touchdowns.
“When I first broke it, I just figured I bruised a bone in my foot,” Cabrera said.
Armed with a doctor’s note that allowed him to play if he could shoulder the pain, Cabrera returned immediately to put Hanover Area’s passing game on his shoulders with game-breaking big plays. His teammates say that served as an inspiration for the Hawkeyes’ 7-5 season, which included a 26-18 upset of higher-seeded Lake-Lehman in a district playoff opener that was sealed on a touchdown bomb to – who else? – Cabrera.
“You wouldn’t have noticed if you didn’t know about it,” Hanover Area coach Ron Hummer said of Cabrera’s injury. “He (Cabrera) was Mr. Everything for us.”
A healthy Mr. Everything is back for one final season at Hanover Area, which promises more pain for WVC defenses.
ON OFFENSE
The quarterback job will stay in the family, as 6-foot senior Brandon Colorusso takes over the spot following the graduation of his brother Rich. That prospect doesn’t have the Hawkeyes petrified, since Brandon saw limited time under center last season – including some trick plays where his brother lined up at wide receiver.
“He’s just like his brother. He knows everything about the game,” Hanover Area running back Mike Redick said of the team’s new offensive leader.
Protecting Brandon Colorusso may prove a problem, as the Hawkeyes try to rebuild an offensive line depleted by graduation. But they have high hopes for 6-6, 260-pound tackle Martin Steve, the brightest spot in a promising sophomore class of blockers.
They won’t have to create much space to free up Redick, a bullish 6-3, 200-pound senior halfback who averaged nearly five yards on 49 carries last year.
Cabrera leads a quick-strike passing game that may get an added boost from his speedy brother Josh Cabrera, a junior.
“You look at our offenses the last couple years, we put up the yards and we put up the points,” Hummer said.
ON DEFENSE
The Hawkeyes also give up the points, although they’ve been improving.
Redick and Kyle Goyne lead a hard-hitting linebacking corps, while Tomas Cabrera and Brandon Colorusso patrol a steady secondary.
The Hawkeyes allowed an average of over 20 points per game through the 2008 regular season, down about four points per game from their 2007 average.
Stopping the run is still Hanover Area’s main concern, and that starts with finding some stalwarts up front.
“Defense is going to be one of our strengths this year,” Hummer predicted. “On the defensive line, we’re young there.”
OUTLOOK
The Hawkeyes are focused on another run to the postseason, which has become tradition at Hanover Area.
“At least the second round of the playoffs,” Redick said. “Everybody underestimated us last year. We proved them wrong. I think we can definitely do that again this year.”
Achieving that goal will be tougher this time around, since the field for the District 2 Class 2A Playoffs has been whittled from six teams to four this year.
In the WVC Division 2A, the Hawkeyes may be hard-pressed to overtake defending division champ GAR and will get tested out of the gates by a Lake-Lehman team looking to avenge last season’s district opener.
Still, Tomas Cabrera and the Hawkeyes were never guys who backed down from a challenge and should be around come playoff time.
“I expect a lot out of us,” he said. “This year, we have as much, if not more, talent than we did last year.”