High School Football 2009

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OOTBALL

2009

A special supplement to The Daily Star and the Cooperstown Crier on Thursday, September 10, 2009

an Walton make it three straight?

Star photo by P.J. Harmer

Walton’s Phil Hanley rushed for 1,278 yards last season as Walton won its second straight Section Four Class D championship. The Warriors are back in Class C and will have to get through a brutal Division V schedule to win a third consecutive crown.

See Walton preview on Page 18.

More FootballPreviews Inside

B-G

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Cooperstown

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Delhi

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Sidney

Page 12

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UV/E

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Unatego

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OHS lookingto take nextstep in Class B

Star photo by Julie Lewis

Cory Hunter punts duringFriday’s game against Maine-Endwell at Lloyd F.Baker Field. Despite beingshut out, 28-0, in theiropener, the Yellowjacketsseek a spot in the SectionFour playoffs.

HS preview, Page 2

By P.J. Harmer

Staff Writer

It’s time to see wherethe next generation of football players can takeneonta High.OHS ﬁnished 4-5 lastseason but earned bigvictories over ChenangoForks and rival Norwich.The Yellowjackets havelost some key parts, how-ever, in Daily Star Playerof the Year Brendan Pid-geon and First Team All-Stars Jon Lancto (offen-sive line), Dalton Smith(defensive line) and MattMarcewicz (defensiveback).Daily Star second-teamers Ian Kelley (de-fensive line) and PhilWright (linebacker) alsoare gone.Pidgeon, a two-waystarter who served asneonta’s go-to runningback, rushed for 936 yardsand 12 touchdowns on 161carries in 2008. Now play-ing at the University of Rochester, Pidgeon alsoformed a hard-hitting tan-dem with Wright at line-backer last season andled OHS with 115 tackles.The big names may behistory, but fourth-yearHS coach Adam Hooversaid this year’s squadmight be more well-rounded than last year’steam. That’s because themajority of this group hasbeen in his system fromthe start.“It’s rare to get a guywith the size, speed andathleticism with whatBrendan brought to thetable last year,” Hooversaid. “(The other backs)don’t have all the partshe had, but put them to-gether and they stack uppretty well.”The line is crucialhere, though, becausethose backs will needenough time to get thingsgoing on offense. Thesame holds true for seniorquarterback Dan Broe (5-foot-11, 151 pounds), whocompleted 30 of 86 passesfor 508 yards and threetouchdowns last year.Broe, who was inter-cepted nine times in 2008,will have his top targetback this season. SeniorKasey Hogan (6-4, 163)caught six passes for 167yards last year, but he mayhave more chances thistime around as Hooversaid the Jackets plan to goto the air a little more.“We think (Broe) canadd a little to our offense,not only with his arm butwith his ability to run,”Hoover said. “We think wecan get some guys the ballout in space. We think wecan cause some problemsfor teams.“We want to throwore,” he continued. “Wehave three guys, who if wecan get the ball to them,they can go. If we get Broesome time, I think we canthrow it around a littlebit. ... Ideally, if we’reable to do it, I could seeus throwing 15-20 times agame. That’s pending wecan have the protection.”Broe threw 20 timesFriday night but complet-ed six for 95 yards in a 28-0 loss to visiting Maine-Endwell that opened theSection Four Footballonference season forboth teams. The offensiveline had an up-and-downight as Broe had lots of time or hardly any at allto throw.“They did a good jobpressuring us, but wealso made some mentalistakes on the protec-tion where we were slid-ing and one guy forgot,”Hoover said. “He noticedit right away, but by thetime you take your step,it’s too late. We also hadsome passes I think we’llormally catch.”neonta has some timeto get ready for its Divi-sion III schedule, whichfeatures Chenango Val-ley, Norwich, Susquehan-a Valley and Windsor.And last year’s winsover perennial powerhenango Forks andlongtime rival Norwichonly improved the team’soutlook for 2009, Hooversaid.“It gives us conﬁdence,but at the same time, wehave to know we have

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ONEONTA HIGH YELLOWJACKETS

Oneonta High must rebound from graduations of several key players

ime for next generation to step up

Photo by Cheryl Clough

Senior Dan Broe returns at quarterback after leading Oneonta High to a 4-5 record last season. Broe completed 30 of 86 passes for508 yards and three touchdowns last season, but he was intercepted nine times.

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to work hard,” Hoover said.“Those wins didn’t come easyand we have to be prepared towork to get those types of wins.That showed us we can competewith anybody out there, whichis a good thing.“The step we have to take iswe have to play the full 48 min-utes,” he said. “Last year weplayed well for a half or threequarters, and once for even 46minutes. We have to play allof them. ... We’ve been talkingabout finishing games. If we dothat, it’s not a stretch to see usin the playoffs. If we don’t dothat, we could have not-so-goodof a year.”Division play begins in WeekFour for the Jackets, whichgives their offensive line timeto mature.Senior David Schulte (6-2, 189), a Daily Star second-teamer last year, anchors theoffensive line at right guard. Jesse Wolf-Gould (6-5, 275),who started at tackle last year,takes over at center and seniorPat Jeffries (5-10, 164) will beat left guard.Senior Buddy Bemis (6-2,232) and senior Derek Wright (6-1, 191) are battling for the left-tackle spot, but senior KennySmith (5-10, 241) seems to haveright tackle all to himself.Senior halfbacks DougDiMartin (5-10, 153) and CoryHunter (6-0, 169) will start inthe backfield, and senior Jus-tin Borggreen (5-9, 170) and ju-nior Logan Pondolfino (5-9, 152)should see plenty of time athalfback.Sophomore Bryce Wooden(6-2, 196), senior Ian Clemons (5-9, 144) and junior Zach Vaccaro(5-8, 183) are also options to runthe ball. Junior Michael Gilmore (6-4,194), who caught three passesfor 71 yards last season, alsois back and will join Hogan asa tight end. Hoover said sopho-more Anthony Delgado (6-0,175) also will see time as a tightend.“They can catch and if theycan get in space, they can runpretty well,” Hoover said.Wooden and Delgado willtake over for Pidgeon andWright at inside linebacker,where junior Dan Hodne (6-0,206) will be in the mix.“We don’t have that leader-ship at linebacker,” Hooversaid. “But we have guys who areconfident. ... They are a littletentative when it comes to mak-ing defensive calls. That willcome with experience. They’llgain the confidence.”Schulte, Borggreen and Jeffries will be at either end.Hoover said he’s hoping to ro-tate the three in the two de-fensive end spots to keep themfresh. Junior Dakota Smith (6-1,195) will be at left tackle. Se-nior Thomas Neapolitano (6-1,206), Vaccaro and junior Dave Johnson (5-11, 256) could all seetime at right tackle.Oneonta’s outside lineback-ers will be Gilmore and Hunter.DiMartin and Pondolfino willplay cornerback, with Clemonsalso seeing time. Hogan is atsafety.“Defensively, we have ex-perience all around exceptthe two middle linebackers,”Hoover said. “If those guys playthe way they can and take careof their responsibilities, they’lldo a nice job. There will proba-bly be some growing pains, butyou’ll have that.”

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.J. Harmer can be reachedt pharmer@thedailystar.com or 07-432-1000, ext. 229.

‘We want to throw more. ... I think we can throw it around a little bit. ... Ideally, if we’re able to do it, I could see us throwing 15-20 times a game. That’s pending we an have the protection.’

— Fourth-year Oneonta High football coach Adam Hoover

Star photo by Brit Worgan

Oneonta High center Jesse Wolf-Gould gets ready to snap the ball to Dan Broe during an August practice at Oneonta High. Therelatively new offensive line should make or break Oneonta this season.