Perhaps the best thing that ever happened to the Bishop Grimes football program was stepping out of the Section III Class D fray after winning just one game in that league from 2011 to 2013.
Simply put, things were rough – but when the Cobras joined the National Football Foundation division a season ago, it embarked on a magical campaign that included several late-game come-from-behind victories and a 7-3 run all the way to the Carrier Dome, where it lost in the NFF final to LaFayette.
Topping that might prove difficult in 2015, for several reasons. The success meant that Grimes is moving back into the Class D West division, rejoining the likes of Weedsport, Onondaga, Sandy Creek and Cato-Meridian.
Also, a coaching change took place during the summer. Anthony Talarico, after just two seasons at the helm, stepped down, and in July assistant coach Jason Wait was promoted to the top spot just one year after joining the program.
Wait didn’t hesitate when he said that the move to NFF may have saved the program from sliding toward oblivion, but what happens next may prove just as pivotal.
“You’ve got to create the culture of winning, and you want that spark for your school, and we started it last year,” said Wait.
Nine seniors from the 2014 team graduated. The current 21-man varsity roster has just two seniors, with more than 25 seventh, eighth and ninth-graders part of the modified team. So the potential to grow is there – if it can sustain some level of success.
Raf Drummond and Anthony Talarico are the two seniors on the squad. Talarico starts at fullback and linebacker and, according to Wait, “will be a tough man to bring down.”
As for Drummond, he returns after sitting out last season. He will line up at tailback behind Talarico on the offense, and then next to him at linebacker on the defense.
Both will trust a sophomore to run the offense. Jordan Newman’s feats as a freshman, including the last-second touchdown to complete the comeback win over Little Falls, are already well-known, and he threw for more than 1,000 yards overall in 2014.
When Newman throws it, he’ll look for Dom Delvecchio, the team’s fastest player, at wide receiver, along with Liam Cavanaugh, while protected by a line that features Chris Jaime and Scott McPherson, who, like all of the linemen, will also need to play 48 minutes a game.
One player drawing rave reviews is Greg Przybyszewski, who returns to star on the offensive line and, on defense, could star at linebacker or free safety.
After the opener against Tully on Saturday, Grimes hosts Bishop Ludden on Sept. 12, a game that Wait said he hopes grows in stature if the two sides continue it in the years ahead.
“It will be nice to have a rivalry game,” he said.
Wait said that the current players feel a responsibility for leaving the Grimes program in better condition, bolstered by a pep talk that several of the graduating seniors gave during the first week of practice when they returned to the school.
“They talked about staying together through times,” said Wait, who hopes that those struggles are now a permanent part of the Cobras’ past.
