2010 Preview: Sachem East Football

Collectively, Sachem East's football team doesn't care how its season ends as long as they finish in the top eight in Suffolk County's Division I. This would mean they clinch a playoff spot for the second time in school history.

Managing expectations hasn't been a priority for Sachem East head coach Brian Harvey because after finishing 1-7 last year, up is the only direction for the Flaming Arrows to head.

While the roster is loaded with inexperience, there are multiple veterans at key positions. These players will help guide East into a journey of football against some of the lesser talented teams in the division. Strength of schedule will be a major factor in East's potential success.

RELATED: Check out the new Inside the Arrows football blog

Record last year: 1-7

Head coach: Brian Harvey (fifth season)

Venue: Sachem High School East Field

Division pre-season ranking: 11 out of 14 in Division I

Top players

• Matt Berlingieri, senior TE/DE
• Lucas Brum, senior LT/NG
• Steven Casali, sophomore FB/LB
• Tom Ryan, junior C/DE
• Kyle Starke, senior QB/S

Position breakdown

Offense

Quarterback: Senior Kyle Starke is making his first career start at quarterback September 11 at Central Islip. He would fit nicely as a receiver on East's roster, but the team needed his passing and mobile pocket presence, which figures highly into the team's play calling.

Running back/half back: Steven Casali is only a sophomore, but his nickname says it all. The team calls him "man child" for his freakish strength and size. He'll be the single back in East's offense. "Pound for pound, he's the strongest and toughest kid on the team," Harvey said. "We're going to run and hopefully run some more to set up the pass." Look for juniors Billy Merone and Tom Ryan to be the two wing backs.

Wide Receiver: Senior Nick Pryor and junior Mark Ortiz will catch most of the balls thrown.

Tight end: Junior John Carroll and senior Matthew Berlingieri will play the end positions on offense.

Offensive line: It's filled with young and old players. Senior left tackle Lucas Brum has started every game since his sophomore season and at 300 pounds he's a tank. Sophomore Michael Marchello will play left guard. Junior Tom Ryan is slotted to play center. Senior James Hockenjos will play right guard and senior Joe Mignone is a returning right tackle.

Defense

Defensive line: The d-line will rotate with players from the offensive line. Brum will play the nose guard position and Justin Plantz will also be on this side of the ball.

Linebackers: Casali and Joe Ryan are the inside backers. Tom Ryan is on the outside. Ryan Welwood and Rob Bruno are strong safeties.

Defensive back: Junior Ryan Mellon will play free-safety. Zach Diaz, Mark Ortiz, Greg Markfelder and Merone will play corner. "Our secondary is going to be versatile," Harvey said. "We'll move our d-backs around. We have pretty skilled guys."

Special teams

Kicker: Eric Link, a soccer player at East, will kick for the football team this year. Owen Martin, who plays club soccer outside of school, is the backup.

Key Losses: Both Chris DiIorio (C.W. Post) and Mike Westerhaus (Bryant). They were both leaders and key role players for East over the last three seasons.

Expectations: "You always have to be positive and always be uplifting," Harvey said. "We do have a lot of juniors playing for us from a very successful 7-1 JV team. We have some quality seniors that will help us out. We're hoping to get out of the gate here with a couple wins. Our goal is the playoffs. We don't care where we finish, at the end of the season we just want to be in the top eight."

From the Players

Lucas Brum on 2010: "It's the best we've had since I started on varsity. More and more people have been getting in each day and everyone is really improving. We have our goals set high."

Matt Berlingieri: "It's all a mind game. Most of us are in good enough shape. We come here together and have to work hard and be strong mentally and have heart. If you have those two things you'll find yourself in a good place."

2010 Schedule

• Week 1: Saturday September 11 @ Central Islip
• Week 2: Thursday September 16 vs. Patchogue-Medford
• Week 3: Friday September 24 @ Lindenhurst
• Week 4: Friday October 1 @ Walt Whitman
• Week 5: Saturday October 9 vs. Commack
• Week 6: Saturday October 16 @ Connetquot
• Week 7: Friday October 22 vs. Brentwood
• Week 8: Friday October 29 vs. Ward Melville

Check Sachem Patch all season long for major coverage of Sachem football. There will be countless profiles, notebooks, stories, photo galleries, videos and historical look-back pieces about the program every week.