They are the defending champions. They have been a longtime power. They are supposed to be intimidating. But the Kennedy Knights, according to new head coach Terry Mansfield, don’t fit the type.
“We are young and inexperienced,” Mansfield said. “It’s been a grind so far. We’re not where we want to be.”
Neither is Mansfield. In addition to losing most of its key players from a year ago, Kennedy is also without Jerry Horowitz, who guided the program to five PSAL titles.
“I’m doing this as a favor to him,” Mansfield said. “We’re just going to try and get better and hold our own.”
JFK won’t be bad, but it won’t repeat, either. Like a lot of PSAL teams this season, the Knights are faced with a daunting schedule based on last year’s success and with many new faces to deal with the challenge. Kennedy will be led by junior QB Adam Gaddie and classmate RB Eddie Johnson to help replace last season’s multi-faceted attack. They will find out quickly how well that works out when they open the season tomorrow at Curtis.
After routinely advancing far into the playoffs the past several seasons, Curtis is also in a new position. The Warriors have many untested players at important positions. Most telling, however, will be how they cope with the loss of Steve Gregory, who, after two years of powering Curtis with his speed on both sides of the ball, is at Syracuse. Head coach Fred Olivieri will look to running back Calvin Johnson to pick up some of the slack. “We relied on Steve so much,” Olivieri said. “I don’t know what we’re going to do without him.”
The same can be said at Canarsie, where coach Mike Camardese is dealing with the loss of Leon Williams, who is now at Miami (Fla). “You don’t replace someone like Leon,” Camardese said. “You just have to find ways to do things differently.”
The Chiefs were bounced in the semifinals a year ago and to advance that far again, they will need linebacker Denard Nimmons and QB John Harvey to have solid senior years.
Wagner’s Al Paturzo expects to win it all every season, but he isn’t overly optimistic about this one. “We’re not as good as I thought we were,” Paturzo said. “We’re not deep enough.”
Most teams would usually love to have Paturzo’s problems, but the Falcons lost their dynamic back from last year, Ramael Myers, who was virtually unstoppable. They also lost their leader on defense, LB Lee Boos. If Wagner is to return to the championship game, QB Kasey Nunez, junior RB Constant Richardson and WR Harrison Tindale will have to rise above expectations.
Clinton will be led by a pair of studs, RB Ramon Guzman and WR Dequan Mobley. Syracuse has been in touch with both. Lineman Yariel Londono is also impressive.
Lehman is coming off its worst season in over a decade, but Carmine Colasanto’s gang appears to be back. A terrific offensive line should open huge holes for Matthew King. QB Desmond Maxwell played well near the end of last year.
Sheepshead Bay was supposed to be good in 2000, but not good enough to knock off Canarsie in the quarterfinals, which is what the Sharks did. They should be formidable again, especially with senior linebackers Glenroy Watkins (who is being looked at by Big 10 schools) and Ed Lindsay. On offense, QB Sam Garcia and RB Adeboyego Akingba will carry the load. Largely on the back of Adebayo Adedapo, New Utrecht got all the way to the semifinals a year ago. He’s at C.W. Post and coach Alan Balkan will rely on running back T.J. Matthews and hotly recruited lineman Darnell Watson to duplicate the success.
Tottenville coach Jim Munson is apprehensive about this season, particularly because he no longer has stellar QB Jayson Davis. In his spot this year will be junior Lou Curcio, who played shortstop for the champion Pirates in the spring.
Lincoln had its best season since the early ’90s last year. Now, led by running back Kamar Cousins, the Railsplitters face an arduous schedule . . . For the first time in 78 years, Brooklyn Tech has a home field. And with players like tight end Aaron Robinson, free safety Walter Clark and running back Virgil Avery, the Engineers should make it an intimidating place to play.
Port Richmond has plans to make noise in the playoffs. To do that, the Red Raiders will need twins Jeff and Greg Kaufmann to get them there . . . Bayside will rely on a trio of backs, led by C.J. Okogeri . . . Fort Hamilton surprised many, including head coach Vinny Laino, by making the playoffs a year ago. Linebacker Luis Soto and wide receiver Mike Meggett hope to bring the Tigers back . . . August Martin will try to get to the playoffs with Anthony Pittman . . . Kareem Thompson leads South Shore.
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