For much of the new millennium, the Westhill football team could count on a string of winning records and post-season appearances, feeding off the vast success of so many other athletic programs at the school.
All of that stopped in 2016. A late-spring coaching change (Jamie Casullo stepped down, replaced by Adam Griffo) didn’t give the Warriors a full off-season of continuity, and then injuries hit hard during the season, leading to a 2-6 record. By the time the campaign ended, Westhill had less than 20 healthy players on hand.
This fall might produce something different. Returning players all said that the team broke down into a group of individuals as 2016 wore on, but that the chemistry was restored in the off-season through an increased commitment to conditioning.
Help arrived on the coaching front, too, from an unlikely source.
In July, Griffo brought on, as an offensive coordinator, none other than Joe Fiacchi, who had coached one of Westhill’s main rivals, Marcellus, for the last 14 years before getting replaced by Nick Patterson.
Between Fiacchi and long-time defensive coordinator Chuck Cassidy, the Warriors have more than 40 years of experience just with its assistant coaches. Griffo said that wisdom should pay off with a better on-field product this fall.
“These kids have learned the new system really fast,” said Griffo. “They’re smart kids who have caught on quickly to what we are doing and, more importantly, why we are doing it.”
It is Fiacchi’s task to liven up Westhill’s passing attack, and he’s got an experienced hand in senior quarterback Zavion Barrott, who is eager to get started after a concussion sidelined him for the second half of the 2016 campaign.
Griffo said that no player on the roster is more excited to have Fiacchi on hand than Barrott, because the offense is more centered around Barrott’s multiple skills and is also far less complicated to learn.
When Barrott throws the ball, he won’t have Casey Rogers as a main target, but he will have speedy receiver Tom Howard on hand, along with Chris Holt and Wyatt Lavigne, with some attention also drawn to Dante Furco, who could prove explosive on kick and punt returns.
Reilly McNitt, who made a big impact as a freshman linebacker, now adds to his duties as he joins Marcus Welch in Westhill’s backfield. Welch was productive last fall, gaining 858 yards and averaging more than six yards per carry.
Welch and McNitt hope to flourish behind an offensive line that, in 2016, was young and had to learn plenty on the job. Corey Frassica, a senior guard, anchors that line, while tackles Brandon Milham and Evan Ballard also return, joined at center by Ben Helfeld.
Improvement is needed on the defensive side, too. Though Rogers is gone, Jared Zion comes back to join Frassica and Ballard on a solid front line. McNitt made 27 tackles after getting called up late in his freshman year. He’s part of a strong group of linebackers that also features Owen Rodgers and Trevor O’Hearn.
Between them, Barrott and Howard cover most of the ground on the field, so it will be tough to pass on either of them. Add Holt, Furco and Jon Gwilt, and Westhill should have a first-rate secondary.
Even at the kicker’s spot, the Warriors should improve. Mark Vaughan worked hard in the off-season, even spending a week working with Syracuse University’s Cole Murphy on technique and form.
Though it opens Friday at Cortland, Westhill has four of its remaining six regular-season games at home, including the last two, where the Warriors attempt to avenge last year’s defeat to Solvay and then, on Oct. 13, have the highly-anticipated visit from Marcellus, reuniting Fiacchi with the Mustangs he coached for so long.
With plenty of athletes familiar with winning from other sports at Westhill, Griffo said he hopes that attitude translates into gridiron success.
