The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Canastota aiming for sustained success
Athletic Raiders look to remain ‘confident, not arrogant’
CANASTOTA, N.Y. » The Canastota football team has seen plenty of success in head coach Tom Congden’s tenure, typically finishing at or near the top of their division and advancing to a Section III Class C championship game in 2015.
Now in his sixth year, Congden’s focus is on sustaining that level of excellence.
“We have the talent but we’ve got to get better each day,” he said at Wednesday’s practice. “Be confident but not arrogant. The difference between confident and arrogant is when you become arrogant you kind of forget what got you there. The hard work, the selflessness, the dedication, the sacrifice, stuff like that.”
Congden has a key group of returning Raiders that are used to his system. Ben Marshall, Doug Simmons, Brandon Otts, Chris Cafarella, Darien Fox, Josh Seamon and Erick Marsh all return looking to keep building on the recent success.
“Work as a team, just improving every day,” said Otts of what the team must do to be successful. “We’re just trying to go 1-0 every week. That’s our goal.”
One of Congden’s keys for his team is to remain a family, something that takes a special meaning for Marsh, whose brother Jeff was a key contributor for Canastota in 2016. Now, the younger brother is looking to fill a big role as the Raiders chase a sectional title.
“It’s pretty big shoes to fill,”
said Marsh. “He was a big asset to the team last year. Now I gotta step up. It sucks that he’s gone but we gotta move on, we gotta progress from there.”
Having another athletic group should help Canastota again this fall. Nick Weber, Nick Rouse, Ray Wilsey, Andrew Marshall, SamDiGeorge, Ethan Findlay, Edquan Brooks, Mike Leibl and Colby Bixby join Congden’s core group of returners, giving the head coach plenty of depth. The combination of returning and incoming talent has led to plenty of position battles leading up to the team’s opener at home on Sept. 1 at 7 p.m.
“A lot of toys,” he said with a laugh. “That’s what coaches want, people who can play and we’ve definitely got them. They’re an athletic group.”