Blue Devil Football Kicks-off Practice
It might still be summer, but the Huntington High School football team is back on the practice field. Rookie head coach Ron Wilson was greeted by 64 aspiring players who turned out on Monday at 8 a.m. for a combined varsity and junior varsity practice.
Wilson said that all things considered, he was “pleased” with the turnout. “Even though that’s a low number for two teams, we haven't had that number at an early morning practice in years,” he said.
Wilson was promoted from his junior varsity coaching position when Steve Muller asked to take the year off for family related reasons. “The coaching staff is pretty excited about the upcoming season,” Wilson said. “We recognize that we are a bit undersized. Our linemen are not the biggest, however, they possess some great speed and savvy that should make up the difference.”
Returning varsity starters expected to lead the 2008 team include seniors Brian Ruggiero, Sean Whitney, Joe Brown, Nick Sammartano, and Jake Gayle. The coaching staff is hoping to surprise a number of opponents this year.
“We only had a roster size of 20 on the varsity squad last year,” Wilson said. “We're going to look at our underclassmen to see if they can handle being on a varsity team.”
Several players that competed on the Huntington JV team last fall could play integral roles on the varsity this year. The group includes juniors Thomas Grossman, Lonnie James, Louie Lopez, Nick Thompson and sophomores Calvin Bollar, CJ Herrington, Alex Gennaro, Peter Kingston, and William Coffey.
Wilson and his coaching staff of Joe Poller, Todd Jamison, Tim Madden and Kevin Zaharios would like to see the roster grow over the next two weeks as words spreads about the team and more athletes get their physicals and qualify for participation.
“Hopefully, more kids will start showing up,” Wilson said on Monday. “The athletes that were here this morning were talking about how they are going to go do some recruiting. That’s showing early leadership by our seniors. They want to leave (graduate) with a bang and don't want numbers to be a problem with getting the job done this season.”
On Monday, Madden and Jamison spoke to players about accountability and self-respect on the field, in the community and in the building. “We're going to do the best we can to prepare our players to play a full 48 minute game,” Wilson said, adding that when the team does play that hard “it’s going to leave memories that are going to last a lifetime.”
While it’s still far too early to determine positions, Poller explained to the players that every position is open. “Work hard, dedicate yourself and show us coaches that you want a job,” Wilson said was the message conveyed to Blue Devil players.
All graphics, photographs, and text appearing on the Huntington Public Schools home page and subsequent official web pages are protected by copyright. Redistribution or commercial use is prohibited without express written permission. Comments or Questions? email the Public Information Office