2013 JV Football - A Look Back

As a parent of a player and an all around football fan I was looking forward to the 2013 season after the 2012 JV team went 5-3. I was especially excited because as I have said before this group that would now be sophomores was one I had great deal of knowledge and experience with from my time coaching.  I have always had a great deal of affection for this group because they all ways played hard but were also fun to be around with many characters.  There was not a super star, no one who others teams would talk about, just a group of hard working dedicated players.  This was displayed immediately after the 2012 season ended and my son talked about the weight room.  These young men from the class 0f 2016 put in a great effort in the weight room.  Most of the starting linemen were members of either the 500 or 600 pound club.  Many of the skill players were also putting in the time getting ready for the next season.  The big question was how much help would the team get from the incoming freshman class.  This would not be known until practice started in August.

Summer practice began and I listened to who was in shape who was not.  The scrimmages began and so did the injuries.  Captain Sean Burke broke his thumb in practice and sophomore Tom Beach broke his collar bone in a drill.  Sophomore Quarterback Ray Weber broke his collar bone in a scrimmage and was lost for the season.  A number of concussions were happened and with new rules in place regarding the treatment of concussions several players were lost for extended times.

Through all of the injuries the team began to take shape and the season opened at Smithtown West.  It was not pretty but the toughness and never say die attitude displayed all season had its first test.  It took a late game blocked field goal returned for a touchdown to provide a 13-9 victory.  The next game was even uglier the mistakes were numerous and the Lions found themselves trailing 22-8 late in the fourth quarter.  Freshman quarterback Kevin Cunningham led the comeback and the Lions had the 23-22 victory over Bay Shore.

The next two games led by the offensive line "The Big Dogs" were easy victories of 27-0 over Smithtown East and 27-7 over North Babylon.  Perennial rival East Islip was the next to feel the wrath of the Lions and team was 5-0 with a 35-14 victory. Next for the Lions was West Babylon but the Eagles were no match for the Big Dogs and a 35-7 victory improved their record to 6-0.

The next opponent was Riverhead.  A historically strong team with only one loss.  The game started out badly and Riverhead jumped out to a lead.  The Lions fought back but came up short and suffered their first loss 16-8.  Finally, The 6-1 Lions were going to play the 7-0 Colts of Half Hollows West.  This was a back and forth contest featuring two very good teams.  The Lions jumped ahead but the Colts scored twice to take a 14-7 lead.  The Lions tied and Colts scored again.  Once again the Lions fought back to tie only to have the Colts score one more time.  The Lions were driving deep in Colts territory trying to score again but a fumble ended the drive and the game.  The season ended with a record of 6-2 and both losses were by one touchdown only.

This year's team was very sophomore heavy.  Freshman Drew Cestaro and Kevin DiCapua were part of the starting rotation.  DiCapua after rough start kicking at Smithtown West was perfect the rest of the season kicking extra points. There were other freshman who contributed, Antonio Alicea showed flashes returning kicks until he was injured.  Dillion Carrino and Jake Richter also made contributions.  Kevin Cunningham may have made the biggest contribution by freshman with his off the bench performance in the Bay Shore.  With the number of easy victories the second team players saw a great deal of action and that experience is important for next year. 

The members of this team have nothing to hang their heads about and should be proud of their record and season.  The hard work and dedication was clear and as I keep saying there is a mental toughness with this group that I admire. I wish the sophomores moving up to the varsity good luck and hope the coaching staff reads this because this a great group they are getting.  To the returning members of the JV Lions I also wish you all the best of luck and hope to see you in the 2015 season.