At this point, the Chittenango football team doesn’t need to learn how to win games – that’s something it has done on a fairly regular basis throughout this decade since settling into the Section III Class B ranks.
It’s just the championships that remain elusive.
Not since 2011 have the Bears claimed a sectional title, and three times since then Chittenango has got derailed by its powerful neighbors from Cazenovia, either in the finals or, in last season’s case, a 37-14 defeat in the semifinal round.
“It was a good season,” said lineman Sam Hill. “But anything less than a championship is not satisfying.”
The latest defeat to the Lakers brought an abrupt end to an otherwise successful first season for Curt Kielbasa as the Bears’ head coach. Now, with 14 seniors gone from last year’s 6-3 side, Chittenango gets going again, with plenty of experience mixed in with new blood from a JV squad that went 8-1 in 2016.
According to Kielbasa, the bigger challenge for these young players is not learning a new scheme, since the varsity offense and defense largely resembles its JV counterparts, but is instead having younger and older players mesh well.
Eddie Houle, a senior, takes over at quarterback after Cooper Young graduated. Houle is described by teammates as a gym rat who, since last November, parked himself in the weight room to improve his strength. JuniorBrian Lamaitis, the JV starter a year ago, backs up Houle.
Griffin Smith is the top returning back, and will get more carries since fellow back Antonio Cutrie, set to be a senior centerpiece this year, transferred to Pennsylvania’s Wyoming Seminary to further his career in his top sport, wrestling.
And while Christian Cerio is gone, his younger brother, Francis, is ready to step in at tailback to help Smith, with fullbacks Connor Caposin and Dakota Diable part of a deep backfield rotation.
The most difficult part on offense is finding anyone that can match the production of Hunter Hendrix, who’s now at St. Lawrence University. To address that issue, the Bears moved Brian Coe, at 6-foot-1 and 220 pounds, from guard to tight end, where he could prove to be Houle’s favorite target.
Hill, at tackle, anchors an offensive line where Nolan Allen returns at guard. To fill out the line, Chittenango will have the likes of Alex Van Patten, Leon Broniszewski and Hunter White on hand.
Van Patten, Broniszewski and Allen are all returning starters on the defensive line, part of a 4-3 alignment where the Bears are in need of some depth, even though the linebacker position is set with Coe, Diable, Keith Spurgeon and Gabe Haley leading that group.
Houle might see full-time action both ways if he starts at safety, where he joins Smith in a secondary that features returning starter Jacob Burgan and Francis Cerio.
Kielbasa said it takes some pressure off his team to open with back-to-back road games, at Institute of Technology Central and Westhill. Then the Bears have its home opener Sept. 15 against Cortland, the start of an interesting three-game stretch that includes a visit from Route 5 neighbors Canastota on Sept. 22 and a visit to defending Class B West division champion Homer at month’s end.
Smith said his team has lofty ambitions, far beyond just getting the best of Cazenovia should those sides meet again in the playoffs. “Every team wants a state championship,” he said.
Kielbasa wouldn’t go that far, but did praise his team’s efforts so far. “Our kids are working hard every day,” he said. “If they do, good things will happen.”
