CAZENOVIA – Something is new with the Cazenovia football team, though it’s a thing to which it doesn’t want to get too accustomed.
After decades spent establishing a high standard and making most opponents chase them, it’s the Lakers’ turn to embrace a status altered by an early playoff exit in 2019 and a 1-3 record last spring.
“It’s good to be the underdog sometimes,” said head coach Kyle Martin.
Cazenovia’s rare recent struggles provided a different message, though, to its players, such as returning offensive linemen Dylan Lyrek, who said that nearly losing football in 2020-21 due to COVID-19 made him realize how special playing the sport was for him and his teammates.
“Now we don’t take it for granted,” said Lyrek.
A.J. Rothfeld, a returning starter on both sides, agree. “We’re all in and everybody is ready to go,” he said.
Part of that readiness was having J.P. Hoak back under center. An injury kept the quarterback out of two games in the spring, but now Hoak is fully healed and ready to start his junior campaign.
One guarantee is that Hoak will constantly look to get the ball to a talented group of receivers. Andrew Kent, a sectional track and field champion holding school records in multiple events, is a big-play threat alongside Chris Vechiarelli.
Rothfeld is a versatile weapon, too, who could line up at receiver or join Peter McCole and sophomore Christian Schug in the backfield behind an offensive line that returns four of its five starters.
Lyrek lines up at tackle on one side, with Jed Olkowski on the other side, flanked by guards Andrew Falso and Victor Anderson. Sophomore Miles Weiler takes over at center.
Long dominant on the defensive side of the ball, the Lakers return an experienced front seven, anchored by Rothfeld at middle linebacker, with McCole and Schug at the other linebacker spots.
By far, the most interesting move on defense is seeing Kent move back to defensive end after spending the spring in the secondary. Martin said that adding Kent’s speed to the front line should make for a more dangerous pass rush.
Olkowski is the other defensive end, with Lyrek and senior Dom Hedgeus at the tackle spots, while a young secondary includes Vechiarelli joined by senior D.J. Frost and sophomore Taven Reilley.
This intriguing mix of veterans and newcomers includes plenty of athleticism and just two players (Anderson and Aidan Bailey) weighing more than 230 pounds, so most opponents will have somewhat of a size advantage.
Now in the Class C-1 division, Cazenovia opens next Friday at Solvay, who also moved down from Class B after it won the 2019 sectional title. The Lakers’ lone non-league game is against the last Class C sectional champions, Lowville, in the Sept. 18 home opener at Buckley-Volo Field.
By then, Cazenovia might have a much better idea whether its place as a hungry challenger, rather than a favored target, is temporary or not.
