TEAM PREVIEW: West Deptford
2015 In Review: The Eagles were 11-1, losing to Cedar Creek in the South Jersey Group 2 finals after beating Buena and Overbrook. They scored 483 points for a 40.25 average, while allowing 133 for an 11.08 average, including two shutouts. Wins included Haddonfield, Collingswood, Paulsboro, and Woodbury.
Departures: QB/DE Nick Diaco - Colgate, WR Paz Gismondi - lacrosse at Widener
Offense: West Deptford runs a hybrid Wing-T in the gun, returning six starters and another who played. The quarterback will be either senior Ryan Baglivo (5-foot-10, 189) or senior Kingsway transfer Peter Orio (6-foot-1, 210). Returning at fullback is senior Gio Gismondi (5-foot-7, 190) and he will be backed up by senior Elijah Pratt (5-foot-10, 210), a starter on defense last year. Halfback returns sophomore Kenny Lim (5-foot-11, 180) and senior Quran Dozier (6-foot-1, 190). Also in the equation is senior Anthony Seas (5-foot-8, 195), a Kingsway transfer who rushed for 1,300 yards as a sophomore and 1,100 last year.
Split tned will have both seniors Desmond Colon (6-foot-1, 180) and Ebe Nasir (5-foot-9, 170), with Colon seeing time last year. Returning at tight end is senior Kyle Garrison (5-foot-10, 220). In the running for time are senior Justin Foster (6-foot-3, 220) and sophomore Jason Collier (6-foot-7, 250).
Two starters are back on the line in senior left tackle John Maguire (6-foot-2-½, 295) and senior left guard Ryan Jupin (5-foot-11, 220). At right tackle, senior James Young (6-foot-3, 250) started a few games last year. At right guard is senior Mike Flaherty (5-foot-10, 215) and senior Justin Roane (5-foot-7, 240) will be the center. Battling for time are junior Tyler Cobb (6-foot-2, 230) at tackle and center. , while senior Nick Novak (5-foot-11, 205) will fill in at guard.
Defense: The Eagles run a 5-2 and return seven starters and another two who played. Maguire returns at tackle and Pratt is back at nose guard. Young will be the other tackle, where he saw time, while Roane will rotate with them. Orio and Novak will be the ends, while Foster saw time there last year.
At linebacker, senior Mike Oldt (5-foot-10, 215) and Garrison return.
The secondary has Gismondi back at corner, while Colon and junior Darren McKeown (5-foot-9, 175) return as the safeties. Lim will be the other corner. Seas will rotate at safety and Baglivo at cornerback.
Special Teams: Back at kicker is junior Mike Bilodeau and senior Chris Leporati returns at punter. Also back at long snapper is Gismondi. The return men will likely be Baglivo, Seas, and Dozier.
Schedule:
Friday, 9/9, Audubon at home, 7PM
Friday, 9/16, at Willingboro, 7PM
Saturday, 9/24, at Overbrook, 10:30AM
9/30-10/1, Bye Week
Friday, 10/7, Sterling at home, 7PM
Friday, 10/14, Woodstown at home, 7PM
Friday, 10/21, at Haddonfield, 7PM
Friday, 10/28, Cinnaminson at home, 7PM
Friday, 11/4, at Collingswood, 7PM
Friday, 11/25, Paulsboro at home, 7PM
Concerns: Depth on both lines. Health is also important.
Recruits: Maguire has interest from Navy, Lehigh, Lafayette, and Bucknell. Seas is a 1-AA prospect, while Dozier is 1-AA or 1-A - he had interest from a few 1-A schools, but once he tore the ACL, the interest cooled.
In the junior class, Orio will play somewhere as a linebacker and Lim is the leading sophomore.
Coach’s Comments: “Expectations are high and we’re excited. We have a very good nucleus of 23 seniors, with seven starters back on each side of the ball, plus our kicker, punter, and long snapper. We also have two transfers, who started at Group 5 schools. It’s been a very productive off-season, there’s good size up front, and depth at the skill players.” - Head Coach Clyde Folsom