New Paltz High faces void at quarterback
Jimmy Verney’s departure poses challenge for Huguenots as they return to Class A
There are plenty of pieces from last year’s team for New Paltz to work with. A big piece, though, is missing and the Huguenots’ season may rest on filling that space.
“You can’t replace Jimmy Verney,” New Paltz coach Tom Tegeler said about the Freeman’s two-time Player of the Year. He ran for 2,860 yards and threw for 2,423 more with a combined 50 touchdowns from 2016-17.
“That’s going to be a difficult spot all season long, but we have a lot of returners in other positions where we got to coach them up and get the ball to the people like Kenny Verney, Mike Pisciotta, and Jordan Cook,” said Tegeler, whose team went 8-2 in 2017.
The Hugies lost twice to Marlboro, including a 27-25 thriller in the Section 9, Class B title game.
After a two-year stint in B, New Paltz is back in Class A — and the schedule doesn’t get any easier.
“It’s a very, very, very challenging league,” said Tegeler, whose squad faces Cornwall, Minisink Valley, Warwick, Roosevelt, Wallkill and Sau-
gerties. “It’s just going to be a grind. I think the key for us is just getting into the playoffs and then coach’em up. We have to get into the playoffs. We take pride in getting into the playoffs.”
Ironically, the Hugies open the season right where they left off. They are playing the Dukes in a nonleague tilt Friday, Aug. 31, at Marlboro.
New Paltz lost Verney along with Freeman AllStar linebacker Brian Kenney.
“The physicality of Brian Kenney and the exceptional ability of Jimmy Verney will be greatly missed,” Tegeler said.
The Hugies are still solid on defense, returning nine starters. Anchoring the unit is another Freeman All-Star in Kenny Verney, Jimmy Verney’s cousin. The younger Verney led the team in tackles (94) with Kenney. A big factor will be finding a happy medium with Verney’s twoway ability.
“Kenny can do it all,” Tegeler said. “Kenny can be a receiver. He can run. He’s going to be definitely the focus. You got to be very careful. In my opinion, he’s the best linebacker in the league. We don’t want to exploit him so he’s not 100 percent on defense, so you want to use him sparingly and not diminish his defensive ability.
“Our real strength is our defense. I think we look very good defensively. We have the skill positions all over,” he said. “I think our growth will have to come on the offensive side of the ball.
“Right now we’re going quarterback-by-committee,” said Tegeler, who is particularly looking at junior Aidan Hoffman and newcomer Ethan Smith. “We’re going to eventually commit to somebody. I’m not going to run two quarterbacks. Right now, Aidan’s taken the lead at the position.
“They have to get (receivers) the ball and get them the ball in the right place, the right time and make the reads. Offenses have really grown to where you can’t just put the ball down 50 times a day. You got to do multiple things and that’s hard for a junior that hasn’t played. We’re getting there.
“We’re really working hard on finding that sweet spot in that rhythm for a quarterback. Getting into a rhythm and making him real comfortable,” Tegeler added. “We don’t want to put some guy in a situation where he can’t succeed, so we might have to dumb things down and really take pride in our special teams and defense. We got some skill players. There’s no doubt about it.”
New Paltz’s backfield is loaded with Verney, fellow senior Pisciotta, juniors Cook and Anthony DiMarco, plus newcomer Tyrese Turner.
All-Star Max Lunati and his 6-foot-3, 310-pound frame has graduated, lightening the Hugie line.
“We have very athletic linemen. We don’t have any big thumpers, but we’re like 6-2, 190 across the board,” Tegeler said. “We got to put them in the right spot, too. We’re not the biggest team in Section 9 by any means.”
New Paltz has plenty of talent. The key will be get the offense on track.
“We have some speed. We have some guys that can catch the ball. We have some running backs, a good kicking game (Danny Drewnowski),” Tegeler said. “We have a lot of things. We just got to fine tune some things.”
SCHEDULE
AUG. — 31. at Marlboro, 7 p.m. SEPT. — 7, BURKE CATHOLIC, 6:30 p.m.; 14, at Wallkill, 7 p.m.; 21, SAUGERTIES, 7 p.m.; 28, MONTICELLO, 5 p.m. OCT. — 6, EAST SYRACUSEMINOA, 6:30 p.m.; 13, at Goshen, 1 p.m. Home games in CAPS.