Motivation is not difficult to find, and in the case of the Cicero-North Syracuse football team, it comes in many forms – including text messages.
In the lead-up to the 2016 season, second-year head coach Dave Kline sent to his players a text that featured a picture taken in the C-NS gymnasium. All of the school’s varsity programs are represented by their own banners, and all of them contain the Section III and other championships won by those teams – except one.
It’s the football banner, which by its empty space under the “Sectional” heading denotes the fact that the Northstars have never claimed a sectional championship since consolidation in the early 1980s.
That empty space, said Kline, “reminds them of our goal”, which is fairly simple – to fill that void with a long-awaited title.
The first day of practice on Aug. 15 was far from the first time this group of players was together. Beyond the usual off-season weight-room work, most of these players competed for C-NS’s track and field team during the spring, working on skills like speed and quickness.
“I wanted them to go compete against somebody,” said Kline, adding that the feeling of competition is universal, regardless of the sport.
For Kline’s second season at the helm, C-NS is taking a different approach. To some degree, it had to, since the Northstars had to replace a big, physical offensive line, most of which graduated.
“They laid the foundation for us,” said senior wide receiver Landry Rogers. “We just need to get the right mindset to apply it.”
And if the mindset wasn’t there, C-NS’s coaches have preached it plenty during August practices, increasing the intensity – and the players are intense, too, determined to pull the Northstars out of the middle of the AA pack into something more.
“We want them to see our passion for the game, and then feed off of it,” said Kline.
It helps to have Conner Hayes under center. Hayes is that rarity, a sophomore starting quarterback with a full year of experience. During his freshman campaign, Hayes absorbed plenty of lessons about how to handle game situations. Then, in the off-season, Hayes filled out a bit more, and now checks in at 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds.
More importantly, said Kline, he is starting to master the finer points of the game. Rogers said that Hayes’ physical and mental maturity should make him a more dangerous field general, and given the new line in front of him, Hayes is likely to take off from the pocket.
Within that revamped offensive line, Lorenzo Thompson (250 pounds) lines up at right tackle, next to right guard Adam Mosher (250 pounds). Rocco Rachetta (230 pounds) works at center, flanked at left guard by Kaleb Woodcock (240 pounds) and left tackle Reis Spicer (280 pounds).
Kline said the talent on this line is similar to last year’s group, but that it will take some time to get them into a good rhythm. That’s important to C-NS’s group of running backs, which includes junior Erik Pride, back from the leg injury he suffered last fall when heading toward a 1,000-yard year, and sophomore Jeremiah Willis.
When Hayes throws the ball, Rogers will be a main target, but he’s far from C-NS’s only good receiver. Lukas Merrluzzi, Tyler Days, Peyton Watts and Omar Mere all are on hand, giving the Northstars a deep rotation of pass-catchers.
On the defensive side, C-NS often lines up with just three linemen and three linebackers. Kline said this happens so that his team can confuse opposing offenses, who won’t know if some of the defensive backs will move up for run coverage of stay back in pass coverage.
Woodcock returns at defensive end, with Shonny Williams at nose guard and Andrew Delore at the other end spot. C-NS can also rotate in Thompson, DaeQuan Rucker and Jacob Messie to give the starters a breather.
Kyle Cody, a starting fullback last fall, anchors the linebacker corps, flanked by Antonio Owens and Cameron Amberiatti in the starting spots. Meanwhile, Josh Lawrence and Tom Flynn could join them, or blend into a secondary where Days and Jaiquawn McGriff are featured at cornerback, with Rogers and Watts at safety. Andrew Viera is handling all of the kicking duties.
C-NS will get started by facing the team Kline once coached, Henninger, Thursday night in the Kickoff Classic at the Carrier Dome. Two weeks later, on Sept. 16, rival Liverpool shows up at Bragman Stadium for the “Star Wars” game, also symbolic because the Warriors have been the Northstars each of the last two seasons in the sectional playoffs.
In a reconfigured AA-1 division, the C-NS game with Liverpool counts in the league standings. Three of the five league games are at home, though the Northstars must visit Nottingham on Sept. 30 and Baldwinsville on Oct. 7.
Most of these opponents, if not all of them, must be conquered if C-NS wants to change the status of that empty banner hanging in its gym.
