Football Team Looks for Touchdowns

Last year was supposed to be tough, but it turned out a lot harder than the Lancers imagined. 

After winning the Group 4 North 1 State title in 2008, Livingston was battered and suffered through a 0-9 season in 2009.  This year, head coach Barry Kostibos is looking to make amends.

For Kostibos, key to success this season will come from the team staying healthy. Livingston had many — too many, in fact — injuries last season.  Livingston needs to keep bodies on the field, especially against powerhouses like Montclair and Seton Hall Prep.

So far, there haven't been many injuries.  But one key player, top junior running back Abe Choe, will miss the opener against Millburn on Sunday because of an injury.  Last season, Choe ran for 350 yards. Kostibos is hoping that he will be back for the second game against Passaic.

"When we are healthy, we have a lot of guys who can play," said Kostibos, who's in his second year as head coach.

Kostibos is hoping that all of the players who didn't get much playing time last season because of injuries won't start of slow this year.  

"After all of the injuries last year, some of them are starting to develop and meld this year as seniors when they should have been doing that last season as juniors," said Kostibos about the lost time in 2009.

But on the positive side, the Lancers graduated only a handful of players and have 22 seniors on the squad this season.

Along with Choe, who had a couple of touchdowns in 2009, the Lancers have junior quarterback Andrew Egner, who also had a couple of touchdown passes.

Egner showed what he could do in  his best game of the 2009 season coming in the tough 23-14 loss to Bloomfield. In that game, Egner threw for 260 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including one of his prime targets this season in senior split end Dan Abrahams. Overall, Egner threw for 850 yards last season.

"He's got a good arm and has good vision and can see down the field," said Kostibos about his signal caller who leads an offense that plays the Wing-T and a double slot shut gun.

One of the most versatile players on the team is senior Nick Grande. He is expected to pick-up the slack while Choe is injured and will get plenty of carries.

"We want to get him on the field," said Kostibos about Grande, who has played quarterback in the past.

Another player that was hurt last season, but is back this year, is senior running back Anthony Cappuccino. Other players expected to get time in the back field are seniors Matt Flynn, Tommy Johnson and Clint Callahan.

In Livingston's offense, the half backs and the tight ends/split ends make the catches. The top two ends are Abrahams and senior Alex Webster. Abrahams is the top receiver back with 22 receptions for 290 yards.

The Lancers have some returnees to block upfront for Egner and Choe. Junior left tackle Luke Leshinsky, who is 6-feet-4 and 250 pounds, and senior left guard Anthony Fischer will return along with senior center Brent Blanck-Singer.

The top newcomers on the offensive line are senior Craig Lewis at left guard and senior Beau Langdon at left tackle. Kostibos though said that senior Todd Waldenberg is battling for the left guard spot and senior Scott Hochberg is looking for time at left tackle.

Leshinsky, Langdon and Waldenberg are the defensive line at tackle, along with Lewis and Hochberg at defensive end.

Blanck-Singer leads the linebacking corps at middle linebacker, while junior Chase Larangera mans outside linebacker and both Grande and Flynn take care of the outside linebacker slots as part of the 4-4 defense (four linemen and four linebackers).

The defensive backfield will have Webster and Callahan at the cornerback spots while Cappuccino holds down the free safety position.

In terms of special teams, Webster handles the punting while Cappuccino takes the place kicking duties.

During preseason and scrimmage play, Kostibos has been happy with the defense but he needs to see improvement from the offense.

"We got to develop chemistry," said Kostibos. "The defense is ahead of offense. The key is we have to meld on offense."

Livingston has a tough schedule ahead.   On October 9, they face Montclair, one of the better teams in North Jersey.  Later in October, they will battle Seton Hall Prep.  The Lancers are hoping to win as many games as possible outside of those two and to qualify for the state playoffs.

Livingston 2010 Football Schedule
(Games at 1 p.m. unless noted)

Sept. 12        Millburn
Sept. 19        Passaic
Sept. 24       East Orange Campus, 7 p.m.
Oct. 1             Irvington
Oct. 9             at Montclair, 2:30 p.m.
Oct. 15           West Side, 7 p.m.
Oct. 23          at Seton Hall Prep
Oct. 29          Bloomfield, 7 p.m.
Nov. 6           at West Orange, 2 p.m.