Schuylerville looking to start strong against Schalmont
SCHUYLERVILLE, N.Y. » After a successful 2016 season, which saw the team go 7-3, Schuylerville is looking to start strong with a non-league matchup against Schalmont on Friday.
Schuylerville coach John Bowen said the offseason has given him the chance to build his team and give them every opportunity to get ready for the season.
“We have given the boys a lot of opportunities for the boys to get faster, stronger and do those kinds of things, the offseason stuff and I am very happy with the summer attendance,” Bowen said. “From that point, heading into the season, the kids have worked very very hard. We did a few different things together back in the spring and we kind of built of that as well and hope to build on that over the course of the season. We are hoping that the work we have put in to this point will pay dividends Friday night.”
The Horses have been getting ready for the season all summer and recently were able to participate in scrimmages last week to test out what the team can do and how much more they need to do to become a successful team.
Bowen said the practices and scrimmages have given him and his coaches the chance to see what his team can do and what they need to work on before the season begins.
“What we try to do, what we try to create with the scrimmages, to the best of our ability, we try to create as much competition as we can,” Bowen said. “We try to put every player in a position to showcase what they are capable of and where they may have deficiencies and that really helps us as coaches, to make decisions as far as playing time, starters and things along those lines. We really just try to create as many situations and competitions as we can over the course of a scrimmage or a practice.”
Schuylerville has many key returners from the successful 7-3 campaign they had last season.
Bowen said getting those guys back should help his team’s chances of success.
“A lot of the key pieces of last season are back with us this year,” Bowen said. “A lot of those guys have come back bigger and strong, sow e are hoping that from the 7-3 team we had a year ago, we still have to replace a couple pieces on defense and a couple on offense, but I think again with the number of boys we have coming back this year, my hope is we are able to, if everyone of those guys comes back a better version of where they were a year ago, we should be in good shape.”
To start the season, Schuylerville will get a
The Horses have been getting ready for the season all summer and recently were able to participate in scrimmages last week to test out what the team can do and how much more they need to do to become a successful team.
tough matchup, facing off against a non-division opponent in Schalmont, a team that uses its speed to keep opponents off balance.
Bowen said his team is ready for a fast-paced, physical matchup.
“Schalmont has for years been a time that likes to create a tempo nightmare for you,” Bowen said. “We have been trying to prepare ourselves for their tempo and pace of play that they want to dictate. Hopefully, we are able to manage that and that is really what it comes down to for us. To be able to weather that storm and then subsequently be able to establish our own tempo and pace throughout the course of the game.”
The Horses have a strong start to the season, facing two teams out of their division in Schalmont and Hudson.
Bowen said that first game will show what his team can do.
“We are expecting some great games,” Bowen said. “We have two great nonleague opponents to start in Hudson and Schalmont. We are looking forward to playing our divisional teams, but right now we got a great non-divisional opponent to start the season off to find out really where we stand.”