Stillwater will display a new-look unit this season
Warriors lost several key players to graduation after Class C Super Bowl crown
Spring football is a concept no one ever expected to take place at the scholastic level in New York state, but the coronavirus pandemic changed all that. The normal mid-august start to practice has been replaced by March practice and games held as winter changes into spring.
Back in the last contested season in 2019, Stillwater made school history on the gridiron by winning the Section II Class C Super Bowl. Three of the mainstays of that squad were seniors Brian Mcneil, James Galarneau and Mason Seymour. All three were named Times Union Small School first team selections, and Mcneil was named Defensive Player of the Year.
Mcneil, Galarneau and Seymour were four-year varsity stars and helped Stillwater produce a 32-7 record over their four seasons on the varsity roster — the best stretch of success in school history.
“Obviously, we have big question marks in many of the spots,” Stillwater coach Ian Godfrey said. “We also have the most numbers we have had since I have been here with 43 kids varsity and JV. I think we have a lot of talent. We are junior, sophomore and freshman heavy, but I am excited. Enthusiastic is a word we throw around a lot. These kids love to be here and it has been a fun couple of weeks with them.”
Stillwater handed Cambridge/ Salem its first shutout loss in 12 years by capturing the Section II Class C title with a 21-0 victory at Lansingburgh. The Warriors won the first football sectional title in school history and finished 10-1 overall after dropping a 10-2 state quarterfinal verdict against Gouverneur. The Warriors will begin Fall Season II play Saturday
at home against Lake George/ Hadley-luzerne, a squad featuring senior quarterback Cole Clarke.
On a roster now relatively devoid of seniors, Godfrey will be counting on a trio of 12th graders to excel this season in Hayden Brown (WR/DB), Rhett Mercier (OL/LB) and Isaac Cutler (RB/FS/K). Helping to make up for the loss in the backfield from Seymour’s graduation will be junior Caleb Dyer, who will also play outside linebacker, and sophomore CJ Mcneil.
Stillwater needs to replace four of five starters on the offensive line. Anthony Cocozzo, the son of former NFL lineman Joe Cocozzo, is a freshman center. He will be joined on the new offensive front by sophomores Mike Campion, Mike Davis and Jon Kearns.
“We’ve got a young team and that presents some unique challenges,” Godfrey said.
The Warriors will feature the brother combination of Tyler Paffen
(senior) and Colby Paffen (sophomore) splitting the duties at quarterback. Galarneau, who took over the starting job early in his sophomore season, ran for 1,521 yards (17 touchdowns) and passed for 708 yards (10 touchdowns) during his senior season. Tyler Paffen will provide more rushing yards, and Colby Paffen will be more of the passing threat of the duo.
The Class C ranks, perhaps more than any other classification, were hit hard by graduation. Godfrey is interested to see how the seven-week spring season will unfold.
“Everybody has to find answers. There is going to be a ton of new names flying around the league,” Godfrey said. “The good part of us is we’re going to be young. We will have players that will be gaining valuable experience and I think we will be very competitive.”