All of the history, all of the accolades and all of the milestones of the 2017 Cicero-North Syracuse football season are now in the past.
Sure, it was great to earn the program’s first-ever Section III Class AA championship and advance to the state semifinals, and it was fun to finally put a sectional title stamp on the once-empty banner in the C-NS gymnasium a few hundred yards away from Bragman Stadium.
Winning and success brought some perks, with the team breaking out four different uniforms (white, green, blue and black) and two different helmets (blue and black) to wear this fall, not to mention a large inflatable tunnel to run through before the kickoff.
Once all of the hype ends and fashion is noted, though, it comes back to football, and the larger question of whether the Northstars can possibly replicate the dominance it enjoyed a season ago.
“It’s a whole new year and whole new group of guys”, said head coach Dave Kline. “But there’s the same intensity and they’re having fun. They’re learning about our system and growing up fast.”
To a degree, Kline is correct in noting that it’s a different roster. Gone are Erik Pride, Tyler Days, Peyton Watts, Lukas Merluzzi, Lorenzo Thompson, Reis Spicer, John Catania and Adam Mosher from last fall’s offensive unit that proved close to unstoppable.
So a lot hinges on the work of senior quarterback Conner Hayes. Having started since late in his freshman year, Hayes (5-foot-10, 175 pounds) has a complete grasp of the offense, and must display more playmaking capability without as many proven skill players around him.
“He’s starting to get to the point of reading defenses better, and we’re putting more on him to take command of all that we are doing,” said Kline.
In order to take pressure off Kline, running backs like Jaiquawn McGriff, Da-Ron Brown and CBA transfer Hassan Bridges-Beyah will need to provide the kind of production that Pride did, and receivers Nate Geloff and Shy’rel Broadwater must get open in the manner of Days, Merluzzi and Watts.
Those players, along with H-backs Josh Lawrence, Jack Collins and Toryan Jones, are counting on a brand-new offensive line that’s missing Thompson, Spicer, Catania and Mosher, with 300-pound senior Brady Mills the lone returning starter.
Mills and Matt Hogan line up at tackle, joined by new guards Kyere Cox and Robb Ottaviano, and another new face, Drew Alvarez, is at center.
Of far less concern is the other side of the ball. Indeed, the key to C-NS’s title defense might be just that – defense.
It starts in the secondary, where multiple state indoor and outdoor track champion Jeremiah Willis is drawing plenty of college attention as a cornerback. Geloff joins him at corner, with Bridges-Beyah at free safety and Jordan Seltzer at strong safety.
In front of them, all three starters are back at linebacker, with Lawrence, Collins and Jack McDonald firmly entrenched and McGriff helping out when C-NS goes to a 3-3 look. Up front, Elijah Knight and Jaden Cockerell are at end, with Mills and Julian Zavaglia a formidable pair of tackles.
Having a great defensive unit gives Hayes ample time to work in both his new backs and receivers and work on communication with the line. Kline said these players need to develop and, more importantly, stay on the field, for staying relatively injury-free had a lot to do with how well 2017 went.
Every opponent will target the Northstars, starting with CBA next Friday and continuing with the “Star Wars Cup” game at Liverpool Sept. 7 before a tough AA-2 division slate that keeps Baldwinsville and picks up eager challengers like West Genesee and Fayetteville-Manlius.
With the multiple uniforms and other frills on hand, the show at C-NS will guarantee to look great. Whether it translates to another autumn of on-field greatness is another matter.
