LANSINGBURGH AND AVERILL PARK SQUARE OFF TO OPEN SEASON
TROY, N. Y. » For just the second time in Jeff Pasinella’s two decades at Lansingburgh, there’s a participation problem. When the Knights take the field on Friday at 7 p. m. against Averill Park to open the season, there will be around 20 varsity players on Lansingburgh’s side.
Usually there’s almost double that number. But Pasinella and those on his team know that it will be on them to find success and build back up the program.
“I’m not looking for any sympathy or anything,” Pasinella said. “I know there are other teams in the section that have been battling this for the last 5- 10 years. Our kids are tough. They’re going to battle right to the very end. We’re going to be suiting a bunch of JV guys.”
Eric Thompson III will be in charge of the offense at quarterback for the Knights after being an All- State wide receiver last season. The Knights are switching from Class A to Class B this season, the fifth year in a row the program has changed classifications. As a part of Class A last season, the Knights went 5- 5, including a 33- 21 loss to theWarriors. They’ll be playing a team on Friday that went to the Class A Super Bowl a season ago.
Averill Park had its first really successful season in more thana decade before bowing out to Burnt Hills in the title game. They lost some important pieces thatwere crucial to that run, but still feel like last season will be part of the building blocks to a Class A title this year.
“A lot of times, you don’t really know what you have until you play that first game,” head coach Zach Gobel said. “I think really what we look at was last season was a lot of fun for us. We enjoyed it. We had a good number of guys back. We’re really focused on what this group is going to bring.
The impact players that Gobelwill look to are captains CooperWillis ( OL and DL) and Kyle Netheroctt ( RB and LB). Garrett Wagner, Carl Nitz, Gavin Ryan are a few more than Gobel pointed toward.
Gobel said he got to watch Lansingburgh’s quarterback at an offseason scrimmage and was really impressed with the way he played. Last season’s game between the two schools was tight for the first three quarters before Averill Park pulled away.
The matchup between the two Troy- area programs might be between programs facing different outlooks on the season, but it doesn’t temper the intrigue that the game itself presents.
“I know they’re a little bit down on numbers,” Gobel said of Lansingburgh. “But the guys they have are good players. I imagine they’re going to be a contender in the Bs and it’s going to be a tough game on Friday night.”