ONONDAGA COUNTY – Both Fayetteville-Manlius and Christian Brothers Academy football achieved plenty in 2022, getting all the way to their respective Section III championship games at the JMA Dome, only to be stopped there.
That can’t happen in 2023.
The Hornets, in Class A a season ago, return to AA this fall and will compete in the sectional playoffs there, a tough task given the level of competition it will face and its own roster turnover.
Stars on both sides of the ball are gone, including T.J. Conley, who ran for 2,366 yards and 28 touchdowns, and George LaCombe, who had 684 yards and 11 TD’s and, on defense led F-M in tackles and also recovered a pair of fumbles. LaCombe missed the sectional final defeat to West Genesee due to injury.
Offensively, F-M hopes to show far more balance with its passing game led by junior quarterback Jack Hearn, and can gain optimism from a solid group of returning starters on both the offensive and defensive lines led by senior Andrew Dabulewicz.
Two other seniors, Vincent Hunt and Joe Sullivan, said the team’s intense off-season workouts were all geared to the increased competition it know it will face from large-school opponents.
That includes CBA, who visits F-M on Sept. 22 and, by that point, will have a good idea if it can maintain the strong form that resulted in a Class AA sectional final appearance after taking the state Class A crown in 2021.
Much attention will center on senior two-way star Syair Torrence, who is headed for Syracuse University next fall and is a standout wide receiver and defensive back.
Porter Matt had to start the sectional final against Cicero-North Syracuse when Jordan Rae got injured. Now Matt gets a full season under center, hoping to get close to Rae’s totals of 2,362 yards and 29 TD passes with Torrence and a deep group of skill players including senior running back Jamier Handford.
Another big change involves Jamesville-DeWitt, who was 1-6 a year in the Independent division but now is situated in Class B-2, with a new head coach and an entirely new offense and defense.
John Barlow took over in July after serving as offensive coordinator in 2022 and spending eight total years in the J-D program. He said there’s a greater energy around the team this season and that players are fully committed to “taking ownership”, as he put it, of what happens on the field.
It helps to have nearly the entire offensive line back. Bryce Dadey and Bryce Wheeler are at tackle, while Kevin Vigneault works at center between guards Anthony Virag and Hayden Fleet.
All of them will work on the Red Rams’ defensive front, too, ahead of linebackers Ben Felasco and Roman Spack, who also starts at fullback behind Felasco and Antonio Murphy. Junior Anthony Guidone takes over at quarterback, looking to throw to the likes of Guet Majak and Salatha Willis.
Now in his second season at East Syracuse Minoa, head coach Brad Keysor said the key to turning his program around is rediscovering the physical, tough formula that worked so well during Kevin DeParde’s long tenure and will get tested quickly by a game this weekend against pre-season Class A favorite Whitesboro.
As with J-D, there’s a lot back for the Spartans, from quarterback Nick Commisso Mikah Combs, Jay-Neil McDuffie, Damon Jones and Avery McMullen in the skill spots.
They work behind an ESM offensive line that returns both tackles and both guards. The quartet of Owen Lesko, Mike Munger, Andrew LaMarche and Tyler Saunders are joined by possible centers Colin Caiello and Mirzet Omerovic.
With that kind of depth on the defensive line, the Spartans can afford going with a 3-3 defensive look. K’Mari Jones, at linebacker, works in front of a secondary that could include sophomore Phil Moore and Caiden Scott.
Still playing eight-man football, Bishop Grimes comes off a sectional semifinal appearance in 2022.
The Cobras lost quarterback and leading tackler Bruno Kinsey, but return top receiver Dario Nicotra, who caught 43 passes for 668 yards last fall, along with the likes of Jackson Fudge and Dan Shaw. Grimes opens its season Sept. 9 at home against Clinton.
