Name the season, and the narrative for the East Syracuse Minoa football team remains constant, and maddening.
Each September and October, the Spartans win a lot, establishing itself as a contender, only to watch by November as someone else holds a Section III Class A championship banner.
Not since 2011 have the Spartans claimed a sectional title, and has fell in the semifinals or finals each of the last five years. In 2017, the dream ended on a goal-line stand in a 20-19 defeat to eventual champion Whitesboro.
As if that wasn’t enough, the reshuffling of Class A for the 2018 season brought in two more powerful contenders, Central Square and Auburn, joining a group that already included ESM, Whitesboro, Jamesville-DeWitt, Indian River and Carthage.
“It (Class A) got much stronger,” said Spartans head coach Kevin DeParde. “There’s not many weeks off now. We will have to be on our game all the time.”
Yet the Spartans are ready for it, boasting a 32-man roster entirely composed of seniors and juniors who have gone through plenty of battles and are hungry to end ESM’s seven-year title drought.
At the heart of the roster is an offensive line with five players who started as sophomores in 2016 and are now in their third season together.
Robbie Nicholson (250 pounds), Tony Russo (260 pounds), Devin Harrigan (265 pounds), E.J. Buck (325 pounds) and Jordan Peach (215 pounds) make up that line, and their leadership goes beyond the chemistry naturally gained from working together. They also have to deal with the distinct cadences and rhythm of two different quarterbacks.
Dan Garris and Dante Cocaggnia are both going to take snaps, with Cocaggnia seen as the better thrower and Garris more prone to scramble out of the pocket. There’s no competition for that job, as DeParde said both will take an equal number of snaps.
It helps Garris and Cocaggnia that all three of ESM’s top runners are back – Joe Copp at fullback, Josh Gilkey and Nolan Penoyer at halfback.
Their presence means that, if opponents gang up on the line of scrimmage, the Spartans could find open receivers, with Alex Recor returning to start at wideout and Jacquez Taylor joining him.
ESM will work out of a 3-4 defensive set, with Sal Stassi at nose tackle and Anthony Jackson joining Buck at end. As if his quarterbacking duties were not enough, Garris is also a starter at linebacker, joined by Penoyer and Copp.
There’s plenty of experience in the Spartans’ secondary, whether it’s Trent McKivin returning at cornerback or Brandon Seburn returning at safety. Recor and Taylor will see plenty of action here, too.
Once again, ESM is part of the Kickoff Classic at the Carrier Dome, taking on Honeoye Falls-Lima Friday. That is part of a beefed-up schedule that includes a Sept. 14 trip to Vestal, a Sept. 21 Homecoming battle with Auburn and, to close the regular season Oct. 12, a trip to J-D, the Spartans looking to avenge last year’s overtime defeat to the Red Rams.
DeParde said that, with all of the proven players on hand, “the ceiling is higher”. Given recent history, ESM does not need to improve much to turn end-of-season frustration into something far more fun and fruitful.
