Cobucci to Orchestrate Offense for Hastings Football

For the better part of the last decade, Hastings has been pigeonholed as a football team that relies heavily on its running game.

They've been perceived as a team that eats up the clock in shark-sized bites and controls the tempo of the game with heavy use of workhorses in the backfield.

But with the emergence of quarterback Loca Cobucci, who has started since his freshman year at Hastings, the team has embraced the aerial game.

Cobucci, a 6-foot-3, 175-pound gunslinger, is partially responsible for altering the perception of the program that once competed relying only on the ground game.

And Cobucci has engineered the passing game the past few years.

As a junior in 2009, he threw for 1,100 yards. He fired in 11 touchdown passes and had just two interceptions. Cobucci handled the running aspect as well, breaking quarterback sneaks and running in three touchdowns.  With his impressive skills, Cobucci helped steer coach Joe Vaccaro's Yellow Jackets to a 6-2 record, which culminated with an exasperating, 35-7 drubbing at the hands of eventual New York State champions Bronxville in the Section I semi-finals.

While the Jackets lost their final game on a big stage, against a loaded Bronxville squad featuring an immense offensive line, Hastings must overcome the loss of 2010 graduates Luke D'Alessandro, Josh Gorlick, Trey Stewart, and Kevin Flaherty.

Cobucci said the loss of that formidable core presents a gap for this year's team, but the Jackets will be playing to finish what those four started.

"They were all so important to us," said Cobucci, who is a pre-season Super 11 candidate.

"They motivated us and they had such great work ethic. Of course, it's a very big loss toward this season as we only have a couple seniors with good game experience," he said. We're going to make sure we're all working hard collectively to keep alive what they left behind."

One player counted on to help cushion those losses is junior wide receiver Brandon Abrahante.

Abrahante played a significant role as a sophomore and will likely emerge into Cobucci's go-to-guy from the start. The slot receiver had several big receptions for 30 yards and beyond last season. Abrahante also plays halfback and should get his fair share of carries.

Another top player is the 6-foot-1 Keenan Charles, whose big hands and blink-quick speed make him appear blurred to spectators as he runs down the field.

"He's definitely the fastest receiver I've ever played with," said Cobucci. "I've been playing with him since he was a freshman and so we know each other's game pretty well now."

Hastings will execute the running game with players such as Sam Aigen and Sango "Dallas" Park, a transfer by way of Stuyvesant High School in New York City.

Cobucci will have other options for his deft passing game in veteran slot receiver Joe Tarricone and promising newcomer Matt Adipietro.

Adipietro, a junior, competed in the annual 7-on-7 challenge at Rye this summer. He hauled in seven touchdown passes in the summer clinic and left Rye having etched a name for himself.

"I'm looking for big things from him," said Cobucci of Adipietro, his teammate in both basketball and baseball.

"He's got great hands and he's very fast. It's his first year playing football, but he impressed a lot of people at the 7-on-7 in Rye."

On the other side of the ball, Hastings' defense will be anchored by Ali Marpet. Marpet is the most physically imposing player on the roster. He enters his senior season bearing the burden of leader.

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound tackle was an All-League selection last year and will be put to the task of shutting down the high-powered offenses of Bronxville, Tuckahoe, and Rivertowns rival Dobbs Ferry.

"We have a chance to win every game, but we can also lose every game," said Cobucci.

"It's a very competitive league that we're in. It's on us to work as hard as we can and get back to Bronxville. The bar is set high. We know we have talent, we just need that talent to translate onto the field."

Linebacker Steve Liberati, an All-League honorable mention last year, is also flushed into a prominent role. Liberati, a senior, has started since his freshman season and the Jackets will need every ounce of his bullish style.

The defense is also expecting an immediate impact from defensive tackle/guard Anthony Milici, a 6-foot, 260-pound behemoth. The junior got his varsity teeth cut last season, starting a few games. He has raw talent and could be a major figure at the forefront.

Exactly when Hastings' football team became a threat is still open to debate. Most people date it back to the fall of 2006, when quarterback Pete Fishman was playing. 

Cobucci, then an eighth grader learning the intricacies of the game, was at every one of those home games. He traipsed along the sidelines and passed out water while observing the bigger stage.

Coach Vaccaro, who starred at Hastings in the 1980s, switched from a Wing-T to a spread offense before Cobucci's varsity arrival in 2007.

And Cobucci, who established a school record for passing yards in a season his sophomore year, has reaped the rewards of the change.

The Jackets' 2010 campaign officially opens up on the morning of Aug. 20, as the players report for double sessions at Reynolds Field.