West football players of all shapes, sizes, positions, and talents have come to Morristown High from all over Sussex, Passaic and Morris counties.
It has been Casey Flynn’s job to make it all work in time for the Robeson Classic at East Orange on Tuesday night at 7.
So far, so good – especially on D.
“Our defense is good,” raved Flynn the West head coach. “They’ve risen to the challenge. (Former New Providence head coach and current Delbarton assistant coach) Chet Parlavecchio is the DC and he put together a tremendous game plan where the kids don’t have to think too much. Just fly around and have fun.”
Blitzing is not permitted, as per game rules – but that hasn’t stopped such players as Christian Meletta (Passaic Valley), Michael Moro (Passaic Tech), Michael Certo (Hopatcong), Dagon Crispin (West Milford), Prince Joshua (Pope John) and Nick Parkinson (Butler) from making a name for themselves in the early going.
That will come in handy against an East team with standout players from Essex, Union and Hudson counties.
“The defense has done a tremendous job,” Flynn said. “We took a real deep look at this when we put together the team. Tim Fell (the West’s GM and Delbarton assistant) had representatives from Passaic County come into the meeting. When we asked, they gave us a true assessment. We put on their film and sometimes we came to the roster limit and we might do side-by-side film and see who shows out between two kids. There was a lot of film time with Tim Fell in the early spring.
“We tell the kids, ‘Here are the requirements. Here is what is expected. If you want to play more, be at the majority of practices. You’ll then play a little bit more.’ We always tell them, ‘Your best ability is your availability.’”
Flynn loves what he has seen of the three quarterbacks who will play for the West. Jack Brex (Kittatinny), David Smith (Butler) and Aydin Deane (West Milford) are all elusive, can throw, and read defenses.
“They all bring a dual threat ability to their position,” Flynn said. “They all have strong arms. They all read very well. If you’re a quarterback who is what we call a Plus 1 in the running game … It gives defenses a hard time. All are runners and can throw the ball and read a defense really well.”
All three will play, but Flynn said whoever is playing the best by game’s end will get the ball with the game on the line.
“We’ll evaluate that in the game and see who has been hot in the game,” he said. “Whoever has made the better throws and protects the ball the best. We told the kids, ‘Come the fourth quarter, if it is tight, we will go with who we are most comfortable with.’”
Thus far, the running game has been led by Jerron Martress (High Point) and Dante Rosato (Hanover Park). The O-Line, led by Butler’s Cole Benicasa, has gelled quickly.
“The line has been everybody doing everything together,” Flynn said. “There has not been one true standout. They all come in and put their hardhat on and go to work. I put the O-Line on the spot right away. We will only be successful when this group here is successful and they have bought into that.”
One of the interesting developments has been wide receiver Dylan Roemmele (Pequannock), who starred as a running back but who will play at FDU-Florham as a receiver.
“We tell kids like that, ‘Hey listen, you’re playing college football and you haven’t been doing anything on the football field lately, so this is your start,’” Flynn said. “We’ll challenge and raise the bar and expect a lot more out of them. These kids are all representing their school. You don’t want to represent your school in the wrong way. And for some kids, this is the next step.”
Brex, Smith and Deane will have several strong receivers to throw to in Connor Hoebee and Ethan Slfonso (both of Wallkill Valley), Ty’Ree Gunthrope (Manchester), and Jose Trinidad.
“They all look good,” Flynn said. “We have a strong receiving corps and it complements our running backs.”
The West has gotten in five workouts after Memorial Day at Morristown High. Flynn loves the bond the group has formed in such a short time.
“They give each other respect and they cheer each other on,” Flynn said. “They congratulate each other. They have come together very quickly.
“We threw the kitchen sink at them right from the start. ‘Here is what you need to do in order to be successful against a really good team.’ We will continue to work on those specific aspects the days leading up to the game. We have been running the same stuff from Day One on.”
One of the areas Flynn has stressed is conditioning. When the players all met for the first time in early spring, he demanded that they show up ready to get to work.
“One of the big keys is the conditioning factor,” he said. “A lot of guys, if they’re playing in college and aren’t doing any spring sports, they’re just lifting. We have to be the better conditioned team. These games are never blowouts. They are always tight. It comes down to conditioning. They need to go that extra play in the fourth quarter.
“I’d love to say we can get them into shape, but that would make me the world’s greatest conditioning coach because it takes more time. The kids knew from the beginning … we’re gonna run not to build stamina, but to challenge the support they’ll have for their teammates.
“We even put a little scrimmage together to get their feel of hitting back. We are excited.”
Here are the West players participating in the game:
Boonton-Jack McLaughlin
Butler-Cole Benicasa, Peyton Kiburz, Nick Parkinson.
Chatham-Charlie Murray.
Dover-Bradyn Brown
Hackettstown-Matt Tyburczy.
Hanover Park-Dante Rosato, Gianmarco Canziani, Angelo Chirichiello
High Point-Roben Rivera, Conner Hemmer, Jerron Martress.
Hopatcong-Michael Certo.
Kittatinny-Niko Martinez, Jack Brex.
Madison-Dylan Staar.
Manchester-Max Martinez, Ty’ree Gunthrope, Allam Abdelrehim.
Morris Catholic-Isaiah Francois, LaQuan Worthy
Morristown-Jahaziel Torres, Jake Brough.
Parsippany-Mostafa Abdelhamed.
Passaic Tech-Michael Moro, Nicholas Dragone, Jose Trinidad.
Passaic Valley-Christian Meletta, Richard Breitwieser.
Paterson Eastside-Nehemiah Boreland, Tarik Maddo.
Paterson Kennedy-Noel Pimentel.
Pequannock-Dylan Roemmele.
Pope John-Prince Joshua.
Wallkill Valley-Ethan Alfonso, Connor Hoebee.
Wayne Hills-Evan Taibl.
West Milford- Nick Triverio, Aydin Deane, Jeff Papienuk, Mark Schinasi, Dagon Crispin
