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08/31/2017 12:00 AMOn the heels of a fantastic season in which it notched 10 wins and made it to the semifinals of the Class M State Playoffs, the Valley-Regional Old Lyme football squad is hoping to once again reach those types of heights in the 2017 campaign.
The Warriors only lost one game during the regular season last year and made a huge statement down the stretch by holding their opponents scoreless for four straight weeks leading up to the playoffs. Then Valley opened the postseason strong by posting a resounding 30-12 victory over Berlin. Additionally, 2016 marked the fifth time that Valley-Old Lyme has made the state semifinals in the past seven years.
This year, the Warriors have vastly different personnel and are going to have to adjust their game-plan accordingly. Valley graduated 12 seniors from last season, and many of them were key starters. Coach King is eager to see how this year’s edition of the Warriors will shape up behind some fresh faces meshing with his returning veterans.
“You don’t make it to the semifinals and play three quarters with a top team in the state [St. Joseph] and expect to lose all those kids and come back the same,” Coach King said. “We lost a lot of some of the better players we’ve had in the history of the program, but we’re going in focused on having a winning season and a winning record.”
Among the Warriors’ key graduates from last season were All-Pequot Conference players like guard Mitch Conrad, who was named Valley’s Lineman of the Year; along with quarterback Matt Sapere and running back/linebacker Daniel Stecher, who shared the team’s Offensive Player of the Year Award. Valley also has to deal with the graduation of All-Pequot, All-State recipient Garrett Burdick, who was co-MVP with Stecher after grabbing a school record 12 interceptions to go with 11 touchdown receptions and an excellent showing as the club’s kicker. Entering this year, Coach King believes the best approach will be to maintain a balanced attack between the air and the ground and then see how his team adapts.
“We’re going to try to keep it balanced out. The big thing is that what you do from one year to the other depends on the athletes. The schemes, we basically try to stay the same,” said King. “You know what you’re trying to do and accomplish. You don’t want to make wholesale changes, because kids are learning that at the JV level, but some things change.”
Sapere brought a versatile attack to the QB position last season by throwing 23 touchdowns and rushing for 12. This season, the Warriors will look to senior Mike Cullina to handle most of the quarterback duties, and so far he’s impressed.
“Mike has come a long way, and I’ve been really pleased with him,” Coach King said. “He was a starting linebacker last year and Matt’s backup. Mostly, it was the run game with him last year. He’s had a good preseason. He’s worked hard.”
When Sapere handed it off last year, Stetcher was there to take it, and he wound up rushing for 1,184 yards with 12 touchdowns. Valley has a handful of running backs waiting in the wings to carry the ball this year, including seniors Jake Kruszewski and Cole Ensinger, as well as junior Nicholas Braga.
Junior Jason O’Brien is returning to the receiving corps after reeling in five touchdown receptions last season. Valley’s cadre of receivers also includes Jack Bocian, Blaire Allen, Jaelen Arnum, Ernest Jean-Pierre, Ryan Santos, Nick Klomp, Jud O’Brien, Ensinger, and Kruszewski.
“Jason O’Brien’s a great leader for us,” Coach King said. “He should be one of our top receivers this year like he was last season.”
Even with the loss of Conrad, Valley features a pretty experienced line that includes seniors John Visiglio, Jon Balocca, Cole Hamparian, Rob Fusari III, and Ian Neviaser; as well as juniors Garhett Watrous, Ben Falivene, and Ian Coughlin.
In terms of his captains for this season, Coach King and his staff are going with a concept they are calling the “inner circle” to determine who will handle those duties on a week-to-week basis.
“Right now, we have what we call the inner circle. We have 10 young men in the circle, and each week going into the game, we have a pool of players that we are going to pick from,” Coach King said. “If something happens, they decide the discipline and what goes on. If there’s a problem, the kids go to the inner circle first and come to coaches after. We are going to draw from that this year.”
King’s coaching staff consists of Kevin Woods (offensive coordinator), Bobby Sanchez (defensive coordinator), Anthony Pagano (assistant offensive coordinator), Steve Woods (special teams/offensive assistant), Hill Gbunblee (offensive assistant), Jake Bocian (defensive assistant), Brandon Woodcock (assistant coach), and Pete Woodcock (assistant coach). King wants to continue working with his assistant coaches to help his athletes become better young men, in addition to putting victories in the books.
“One of the big things for us is to teach any type of learning experience for these kids as they move onto college and life,” he said. “Hopefully, the things we try to teach them will stay with them, like how to be a good person in the community, a family man, good husband—basic things like that we try to teach.”
2017 Valley Regional-Old Lyme Warriors Football Schedule
Saturday, Sept. 9: at Ellington at 1 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 15: vs. Morgan at Valley Regional High School at 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 23: vs. Coginchaug/Hale-Ray at Old Lyme High School at 1 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 6: vs. Old Saybrook-Westbrook at Valley Regional High School at 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 14: at Nonnewaug at noon
Friday, Oct. 20: at North Branford at 6:30 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 27: at Cromwell-Portland at Pierson Park at 6 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 3: vs. Rockville at Valley Regional High School at 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 11: at Lewis Mills at 1 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 17: at Haddam-Killingworth at 6:30 p.m.