Senior backfield will be key for Spartans’ success
HAMILTON >> The Steinert football team carries a fourgame winning streak into the season. Unfortunately for the Spartans, they no longer carry many of the guys who helped forge that streak.
“We’ve got a lot to replace from last year,” said coach Dan Caruso, whose team is coming off a 5-5 campaign. “We lost our entire offensive line and our entire defensive backfield. Coming into camp it’s like, ‘OK, who’s gonna win jobs?’ We’ve got open competition everywhere and who’s gonna step up?”
The line took a big hit when its only returning starter, Christian Lucas, suffered a season-ending knee injury when a wave caught him off guard at the Jersey shore and knocked him into the sand the wrong way.
“I feel bad for him, he works hard,” Caruso said. “We’ll miss his ability, but we’ll especially miss his attitude.”
As camp drew to a close, the offensive line included senior left tackle Nic Mondello, sophomore left guard Duvel Joasil, junior center Cameron Kemler, junior right guard Ezekiel Breza and senior right tackle Jack Hardiman. All are returning varsity players but none were regulars last year. Savion Cooper and 6-6 sophomore Emanuel Gatson could rotate in.
Junior Josh James is at tight end, the slot receiver is senior Matt Lambert and outside receivers are senior Griffin Hewitt and Sherief Guinyard, who is the first freshman to start the season on varsity in Caruso’s 12 seasons at the helm.
“He was with us throughout the summer and we brought him into camp,” Caruso said. “He is a physically mature freshman. He’s about 6-3, he can run, he can catch, he has good ball skills and has a lot of experience playing football. The main thing about him is his football IQ. He has a very good football IQ.”
Senior Nick Wright returns at quarterback and senior Will Laster is back at running back. Wright was thrust into the position just before opening day last year and responded by throwing for 860 yards and eight touchdowns with 13 interceptions. This year he enters knowing he is the man.
“Nick Wright has worked hard, he’s prepared and he knows what to expect,” Caruso said. “This time last year he thought he was playing wide receiver and safety. He’s had a full year to prepare, he’s stepping up his leadership and coming into his own.”
Laster returns after rushing for 507 yards and six touchdowns.
“Will is gonna be our playmaker,” Caruso said. “We expect Will to be a thousandyard rusher. He’s a big strong guy and he worked hard in the offseason on his explosiveness. It all depends on the line. Our line has the ability, it’s bigger than most of the lines we’ve had, but they’ve got to get game tested.”
The place kicker is junior Brian Mingle, while junior Jody Young is the punter.
Defensively, James and senior Jordan Allwood are at ends while Cooper and senior Ronnie Kinnunen are the tackles. Hardiman will rotate in. The most experienced part of the defense will be at linebacker with seniors Chris Nitti and Griffin Hewitt and juniors Cody Young and Deklin Smith.
“The strength of our defense is our front seven,” Caruso said. “Especially our defensive line. We return three starters from a very good defensive line.”
The secondary is a different story with all newcomers, including seniors Matt Lambert, Dylan Zoltanski and Laster and sophomores Jayden Johnson and Jake Seals. Their exact roles are still undefined.
“We’ve got some youth we really do have to depend on,” Caruso said. “We have to grow up quick. We have good senior leadership, but our season will be determined by how the youth guys step up and play. The main thing we have to preach, especially to the seniors, is don’t try to do too much. Just do your job. If everyone does your job, we’re in good shape.”
The youth will have to grow up fast, as the toughest part of the Spartans’ schedule is in the first month.
“It’s a situation where I’m not gonna look at it in terms of we can do this or that,” Caruso said. “Our goal is always to win our division and make the playoffs, but we have to take it a game a time and make a push to get better each week and limit our mistakes.”