Printer Friendly Version - North Haven Football Overflowing with Options

Senior captain Mike Montano will play quarterback, safety, and do the punting this fall for the North Haven football team, which has a boatload of options on offense and plenty of experience on both lines.

The North Haven football team owns an abundance of options in its arsenal in 2015 as the Indians get ready to storm the gridiron and, hopefully, continue climbing the state’s ranks.

Anthony Sagnella’s squad is coming off the latest in its long line of exceptional campaigns, one that saw North Haven win SCC Division II East for the sixth-straight year and make the State Playoffs for the fifth time in eight seasons en route to a record of 9-3. The Indians graduated several quality seniors from that squad, but still bring back their fair share of key components on both sides of the ball who contributed to last year’s success.

North Haven returns a ton of experience to its front seven on defense, as well as the offensive line. The Indians’ offense also includes a solid crop of skill-position players with varsity action under their belts and Sagnella plans to use their wide variety of abilities to feature a more diversified attack.

“The tool box is full and we have personnel that can do things we haven’t had in year’s past,” said Sagnella, whose team starts the season by hosting Law at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 11. “When you look at some of the bigger games we’ve played—whether it’s our crossover games with Division schools or in the Class L bracket—we run into formidable teams and our offense can bog down because it chews clock and moves slowly. Last year, Windsor didn’t shut us down, but they slowed us down and kept us to one score [in the playoffs]. We need to have a chance to change the rhythm of a game and make it faster if we need and dash defensive players to make them run more. We can be more diverse and being more diverse will make us tougher to defend.”

Leading the charge for the Indians’ offense will be Mike Montano, who takes over at quarterback for the graduated Cole Pecora. Montano, who also plays safety and will punt, is one of two senior captains this season alongside blocking back/linebacker David Mikos. Montano (5-foot-11, 185 pounds) rushed for nine touchdowns and threw three last year, while Mikos (5-10, 190) earned All-SCC Division II honors on defense with his 113 tackles, two sacks, and three recovered fumbles. Coach Sagnella said both captains displayed their leadership skills by asking him when the next practice/weight room session would be on the bus ride home following the playoff loss last fall.

“They’re both excellent leaders who are fiercely competitive, hard-working, and have a good demeanor with everybody. They’re good on the field, off the field, in the community, and in the classroom. They’re the whole package,” said Sagnella, whose team graduated Pecora and fellow senior captains Tommy Gallagher and Joe Corniello. “Mike is very balanced. He’s worked hard to teach himself how to throw and has become an effective passer. He’s an excellent runner, a physical blocker, and a capable receiver. He gives us quite a few options and we’ll try to utilize all of them.”

Montano attempted 23 passes last season and Jack Steinman threw 22. Now a junior, Steinman (6-3, 210) is in a unique position in that he’s slated to see time at both quarterback and tight end. Sagnella hopes that type of versatility will help his offense move the sticks by keeping defenses guessing as to who’s doing what on a given play. The coach also feels confident about his stable of multi-faceted running backs that includes seniors Conner Suraci (fullback), Nick Ponzio, Patrick McKenna, and Paul Brockamer; juniors Tommy Dodge and Max Sullivan; plus sophomore Mark Montano. Sullivan will additionally handle kickoff duties.

The Indians’ primary tight ends are senior Jeremy Imperati, junior Kyle Melillo, and sophomore Steven Erbe.

On the O-line, North Haven is stuffed to the gills with savvy seniors in the starting five. Robert Ralston (5-11, 195) and Patrick Casey (6-1, 260) are the tackles, Shane O’Connor (6-2, 190) is the center, and Anthony Valentino (6-1, 210) and Mike Masnato (5-10, 190) will hold it down at guard. Masnato was an All-SCC and All-State honoree last season. Sagnella also feels confident about the rest of the big guys up front in seniors Kevin Arnold (center/guard), Mike Sgambato (tackle), and Matteo Cirioli (guard); juniors Carson Tebbetts (center), Matt Rademacher (guard), and Paul Murray (tackle); and sophomore Henry Pearson (tackle). Tebbetts is also the long snapper.

In the defensive trenches, Casey will play in the middle of the Indians’ three-man front and be flanked by Masnato, Valentino, and Imperati.

North Haven’s equally experienced linebacker brigade consists of O’Connor, Brockamer (5 sacks), and Suraci (83 tackles) on the outside with Mikos, Ralston, and Melillo patrolling the inside.

The secondary is the one area in which the Indians are a little short on experience. Cornerback Dodge returns with the most and is joined on the edge by Ponzio and senior Nick Campanelli. Mike Montano and Mark Montano are each slated to play safety, as are McKenna, Sullivan, and sophomore Korbin Pecora.

“I think we’ll lean on our front seven for awhile, while we try to develop our secondary, but after a few weeks of preseason, I feel better about our secondary than I did a month ago,” Sagnella said. “Everyone has been working hard and competing and we have athletic ability back there. Someone will rise to the top.”

After converting 29 extra points last year, senior Sabrina Fronte will once again boot ‘em through this season and may also called upon to kick some manageable field goals. North Haven has another senior on its roster in tight end/linebacker Ian Chapelle-Conklin.

This is season No. 19 at the helm for Sagnella and he’s joined on his coaching staff by Ray Ciarleglio (quarterbacks/safeties/JV coach), Alex Velardi (defensive coordinator), Keith Wolkovitz (special teams coordinator/tight ends coach), Marc Russo (freshman coach), and Brian Woodford (strength and conditioning coordinator/quality control coach); and Mike Ricciardelli (running backs/cornerbacks); as well as volunteers Anthony Giammattei (blocking backs/outside linebackers), Tom Reid (centers/nose guards), Rob Pethick (game films), Danny Halloran (game films), Steve Narracci (scout team coordinator/assistant to the head coach), Mike Proto (academic advisor/associate head coach), Chris Grillo (technical video coordinator), Mark Zurlis (freshman assistant), Pete Harkins (assistant to the defensive coordinator), and Deron Bayer (coordinator of scouting).