Anyway, I've got a couple updates here followed by an announcement that you all should be pretty interested with.
- There's a small injury on the Woodland side of things that we're waiting to find the full extent of. I'm not going to throw it out there unless it becomes some huge news, but hopefully he'll be all set for the season. I know he's been held out of lifting until this point.
- In a look toward next season, Jack DeBiase has a chance to break the Hawks' all-time career rushing record. Pat Krakowski currently holds the record with 3,602 career yards and DeBiase is sitting at 2,063 yards after posting 1,376 last season. He won't be catching Krakowski in the career touchdown category (Pat had 66 scores while Jack sits at 27), but he could move into second if he can pass Jeff Jones' 51 career scores. DeBiase is already second on the career rushing list.
- The questions for the Hawks will be on both lines and quarterback. The running game will be one of, if not the, best in the NVL with DeBiase and Chris D'Occhio along with wingbacks Jake Pinho and Craig Genz, but quarterback is still up in the air. There has been talk of DeBiase as signal-caller, soon-to-be junior Scott Lang handing the ball off, or even one of the underclassmen. Not to go unnoticed, either, is the fact that the last Kingsley--Tanner--will be a freshman next fall. They would love to get him in there, but he doesn't have the size to compete at the moment. The lines both lost all but one starter each way, so DeBiase will need to hope the trenches are replenished.
- On the offensive front, the plan is to stick with the Wing-T, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if the quarterback situation forces them to move to a single-wing with the triple-option or I've even heard some talk of a spread offense with DeBiase at quarterback. Wing-T remains the odds-on favorite.
And finally, for those of you who have seen a copy of Citizen's News in the last few months, you know I've been working on the All-Decade teams for both Woodland and Naugatuck, and they're finally done. You'll be able to see them starting this Friday on www.mycitizensnews.com. Both schools' football squads are the highlights and they came out pretty darn well.
So as I bring that up, I know our board is full of Ansonia fans along with some others. I challenge you to come up with your own All-Decade teams and post them here. I went with the following lineups:
- quarterback, four skill positions (combination of running backs and wide receivers, at least one of each), tight end, five offensive linemen
- a front seven (including at least three linemen and two linebackers, which may be hybrids), four defensive backs
- kicker, punter, kick returner
I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with. I'll post Woodland's and Naugy's here when the full All-Decade squads are officially released Friday.
