Printer Friendly Version - North Haven Football Featuring Fresh Faces This Fall

Senior captain Devan Brockamer and the North Haven football squad are ready to get the 2018 campaign underway. The young Indians will get their first test when they travel to West Haven for their season opener at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 7. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

The North Haven football team will feature a plethora of fresh faces when the Indians take the field for the 2018 season. Head Coach Anthony Sagnella’s squad graduated a huge class of quality seniors from last year’s team that went 8-3 and qualified for the Class L State Playoffs. Among the key graduations were All-State selections Mark Montano, who rushed for 1,375 yards and 16 touchdowns as the team’s quarterback; Zack Orth, who scored 15 TDs as a fullback and made 118 tackles at linebacker; and Eric Milliard, a two-way lineman who anchored the offensive line as a guard. These are just a few of the top producers who’ve bid farewell to the Indians, leaving the team with a great deal of inexperience on both sides of the ball.

Still, this is the North Haven football team—a team that’s finished with a winning record in 10 of the last 12 years and made the playoffs seven times during the span. So, you know the Indians aren’t going to simply settle for a rebuilding season. Sagnella realizes that there are going to be some bumps in the road, but he wants to see his athletes stay the course, and pave their way toward another successful campaign.

“Every year is a challenge to utilize the people you have and figure out the best way to complement their abilities. When you lose some of the productive players and dominating personalities like we’ve had in our program over the years, there is a need and an opportunity for other people to step up,” said Sagnella, whose team opens the season at fellow SCC Tier 1 opponent West Haven at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 7. “We have a lot of juniors on the field, and those kids mostly played JV ball, so they are getting baptism by fire right now. I think the potential is there for us to be a very good football team, but there will be some growing pains. That’s just a fact.”

As the Indians dive into the fray, they will be led by a quintet of senior captains who are looking to turn those growing pains into big-time gains this fall. North Haven’s senior captains are running back/cornerback Devan Brockamer, blocking back/linebacker Vinny DePalma, offensive/defensive lineman Eli Doheny, running back/linebacker Nick Dodge, and quarterback/defensive back Shamus Meehan.

“They are kids who understand what the program’s expectations are, and they are excellent leaders,” Sagnella said. “Each guy brings something different to the table, and that’s what I like best about all of them together. They complement each other well.”

Meehan is taking the reins as North Haven’s quarterback this year on the heels of a junior season that saw him pass for 256 yards and two touchdowns in a backup role. Sagnella said that Meehan “has a good arm and is fairly mobile,” adding that he also has “credibility with his teammates,” because he works so hard.

Senior Noah Pastore, who’s slated to be one of the Indians’ primary running backs after rushing for seven TDs last year, may also see some time at the QB position. Unfortunately, Meehan, Pastore, and junior backup quarterback Justin White are all sidelined with injuries right now, leading to some uncertainty about who’s going to be taking the snaps during Week 1.

North Haven has been bitten by the injury bug in the early goings this season. Senior running back/linebacker Anthony Bello and fellow senior Alex Ciaburro, a running back/defensive back, are both out for the year with injuries. Senior guard Eli Doheny, the team’s only returning starter on the offensive line, is also out with an injury right now.

Despite these setbacks, Coach Sagnella said the Indians are punching their timecards every day and remain focused on improving as a unit.

“The injuries are affecting us, but it’s part of the game. We have to continue to work hard every day, and other guys have to take advantage of their opportunities. I feel bad for the kids who are missing time, especially the seniors, but there’s nothing you can do about it,” said Sagnella. “But these kids have been resilient and patient, and they are pushing forward. A football season is a marathon, not a sprint. We have an opportunity to get better every day, and that is what our goal is in the short term.”

In addition to Pastore, North Haven’s running back corps features Brockamer, who ran for 367 yards and six touchdowns last season, along with Dodge, senior Albert Hooks, and juniors Corey Hooks, Jeff Williston, and Max Augustine.

The Indians have four juniors at tight-end position this year: Noah Perillie, Josh Blumenthal, Joe Urtel, and Joe Vitale. Junior Kyle Rollier is a wide receiver on the squad.

On the offensive line, juniors Kyle Maruca and Jack Priebe join Doheny at the guard position, while junior Pat DaSilva will play center. Juniors Joe Ranciato and Luke Maruca are playing tackle.

With the graduation of the omnipresent Montano, who carried the ball 184 times last year, Sagnella said the Indians’ plan was to go with a more balanced attack on offense this season. However, the windfall of injuries has put a crimp in that plan—at least for the time being.

“Our hope was to be more diverse with the run and the pass, but the injuries that we’ve had have set us back a little bit,” said Sagnella. “We’re a little behind where we thought we would be, and so you’re probably going to see a more traditional North Haven offense featuring the running game in the beginning of the season, and then maybe we’ll diversify the offense as the season goes on.”

On the other side of the ball, cornerback Brockamer is the only returning starter in North Haven’s secondary. Albert Hooks, Corey Hooks, Urtel, Rollier, White, senior Nick Carras, sophomore James Loda, and sophomore David Pace are also defensive backs for the Indians.

Dodge returns as a starting linebacker for North Haven. DePalma, who started on the line last year, will start at linebacker this season. Pastore, Perillie, Augustine, and Priebe also play the linebacker position, along with senior Lou Mineri and sophomore Pat Lillis.

Senior Darren Major returns with the most experience on the defensive line. Other defensive linemen for the Indians include Kyle Maurca, Luke Maruca, DaSliva, Blumenthal, Doheny, Vitale, and Ranciato, in addition to seniors Ken Santiago and Brandon Sanzone, plus juniors Matt Mullen, Dominic Borrelli, Chris Xu, and Frank Squeglia.

Sophomore Chase DiCarlo will once again be kicking the extra points and any field goals this season, in addition to taking on the punting and kickoff duties. Last year, DiCarlo hit 38 extra points, as well as a 27-yard field goal that lifted the Indians to a three-point win against Cheshire.

“Chase had a very positive offseason, and I’ve been impressed with him,” Sagnella said. “His kicking leg is stronger, and he’s kicking field goals from about 30 yards out right now. I’m very happy with his progress.”

The other athletes in North Haven’s senior class are two-way lineman Hanny Akil, running back/linebacker Kevin Anasoulis, wide receiver/defensive back Robert Farley, running back/linebacker Dainer Guzman, and running back/defensive back Marcus Moore.

Sagnella is entering season No. 22 as North Haven’s head coach. Sagnella will be assisted by Alex Velardi (defensive coordinator), Mike Ricciardelli (offensive coordinator), Keith Wolkovitz (special teams coordinator/tight ends), Chris Grillo (co-JV head coach), Mark Zurlis (co-JV head coach/linebackers), Ralph Inorio (centers/linebackers), Tom Grillo (equipment manager/game films), Mike Proto (academic advisor/associate head coach), Pete Harkins (assistant to the defensive coordinator), Deron Bayer (coordinator of scouting), Marc Russo (quality control), Ray Ciarleglio (quarterbacks/defensive backs), Anthony Giamattei (wide receivers/linebackers), Kevin Mozealous (offensive linemen/defensive linemen), Tom Grillo (equipment manager), and Miguel Rodriguez (practice films).

• North Haven is once again competing in SCC Tier 1 with Cheshire, Fairfield Prep, Notre Dame-West Haven, Shelton, West Haven, and Xavier. Last year, the Indians finished with a record of 3-2 in SCC Tier 1 play.

• The teams in SCC Tier 2 are Amity, Hand, Foran, Hamden, Harding, Hillhouse, and Cross. The SCC’s Tier 3 teams are Bassick, Branford, East Haven, Guilford, Law, Lyman Hall, and Sheehan.

• Last year, North Haven recorded victories against Harding (54-35), Cheshire (17-14), Creed-Career-Whitney (49-14), Pomperaug (42-14), Xavier (50-49 in overtime), Foran (60-14), Fairfield Prep (35-28), and Amity (46-7).

Quarterback Shamus Meehan is one of five senior captains on the Indians’ football team this season, joining Devan Brockamer, Vinny DePalma, Eli Doheny, and Nick Dodge in that esteemed leadership role. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier