Changes, both familiar and otherwise, have hit the Skaneateles football team hard.
Gone are Pat Hackler, Areh Boni, Nate Wellington, Jimmy Liberatore, Jack Carlile, Nate Squires and many other key players (16 seniors in all) that helped win a state Class C championship in 2017 and then made it to the state Class B semifinals a year later.
What’s more, Skaneateles has again switched classes, moving back to Class C after snaring the sectional title against larger schools and plenty of neighborhood rivals last fall.
“We are young and inexperienced at a lot of positions,” said head coach Joe Sindoni. “But we have talent, and our culture is really good.”
Sindoni added that his current group of players mirror what Skaneateles faced in 2016. That same young lineup grew into the powerhouse that won titles, and now their successors have the chance to do the same.
Few players in Central New York face more scrutiny than James Musso, the sophomore taking over at quarterback, where Hackler broke every school record and proved himself one of the finest to ever play that spot in the history of Central New York high school football
But Musso isn’t new to this. He saw action late in plenty of games in 2018 once they were out of reach, and Sindoni said that his intelligence more than augments his athletic ability.
“(James) has got it between the ears,” he said.
Just as important, Musso still has All-State receiver Nick Wamp to throw to. Having caught 64 passes for 1,185 yards and 12 touchdowns a season ago, Wamp could prove more dangerous if defenses try to double-team him.
Wamp said that there’s a lot of hunger among the younger Skaneateles players to maintain the program’s high standard.
“Everybody really wants to win,” he said. “But we have to keep focused on a week-to-week basis.”Tahj Blackiston, Colin Cox, Cody Nesbitt, Max Wamp and Patrick Herr could join the rotation at receiver and, put together, replace the production Wellington took with him to Syracuse University. Nesbitt and Nick Wamp should start in the defensive secondary with Ken Byrne.
On both sides of the ball, Jack Comer takes on big roles that Boni once filled, lining up at running back and moving over to middle linebacker after making 110 tackles at outside linebacker last fall.
“(Areh) showed us what it was like to be a leader,” said Comer. “We learned a lot from him.”
With the likes of Liberatore, Carlile, Squires and Josh McIntyre gone from the front lines, Billy Richards, returning from injury, must lead a new group that includes 290-pound sophomore Trenton Pearson, James Ryan, Alex Goethe, Kris Alvarez and James Falso.
There’s at least one side that’s quite eager to get a shot at Skaneateles in Class C West.
Jordan-Elbridge had a solid 2018 under first-year coach Joe Fiacchi, going 5-2 before a first-round sectional playoff defeat to Utica-Notre Dame.
To a man, J-E players are convinced 2019 will be even better, especially since defenses can’t concentrate their energies on stopping do-everything Jeremiah Sparks, who graduated.
“With the weapons we have, focusing on one player is not an option anymore,” said lineman Ryan Rivenburg.
Head coach Joe Fiacchi said that depth will help, since J-E will field a roster of nearly 30 players, far higher than the 18 that were present when last season concluded. Many were part of an undefeated modified Eagles team that went 7-0 in 2018.
Alex Pond takes over at quarterback, flanked by a pair of three-year starters in the skill spots – Luke Pinckney at running back and Dakota Holbrook at wide receiver. There’s also Eric Ryan and Trent Taylor at the wideout spots, with Tyler Scott and Avente Brown providing further depth behind Pinckney.
And J-E should be quite strong up front. Four starters are back – Rivenburg and Mike Town at guard, Cody Humberstone at tackle and Steve Tripp, who moves from guard to center.
All are part of a seven-man rotation on the front lines, with Rivenburg and Pinckney likely to see a lot of action on the defensive line next to nose guard Anthony Baron.
Brown leads a group of Eagles linebackers that includes Zach Waldon and Tyler Waldron, while Caleb DiCola starts in the secondary at safety next to Scott, with Thomas and Tripp at cornerback.
Fiacchi said his team needs to knock off one of the two C West favorites, Skaneateles or General Brown, to return to the playoffs, this as the Eagles open Friday at Lowville and the Lakers test itself at defending sectional champion Holland Patent.
