Pawling Football Summer Camp

Coach Carl Ferraro is emphasizing that players must report for fall practice on August 20 in order to be eligible for the first game on September 8, and in order to be eligible for the first scrimmage on September 1, 2007.

Players must participate in the September 1 scrimmage in order to be eligible for the opening game of the season on Saturday, September 8 at home against Haldane.

Pawling has a very strong chance for a very good season with games against Haldane, Bronxville, Dobbs Ferry, Dover, Lincoln Hall and Croton, but coach Ferraro says the team can only expect to have success if everyone is there right from the beginning on August 20. Ferraro said that with just six games determining Pawling’s fate in the postseason playoffs, the Tigers cannot afford to start off against Haldane with a depleted lineup due to players being ineligible because of a failure to be there to start practice on August 20.

Coaches Carl and Pop Ferraro conducted the annual Ferraro Football Summer Camp last week, with what the coaches considered a very good turnout of 24 players who will be expected to contribute for the Tigers in the upcoming 2007 season.

“It was an excellent turnout for us at summer camp,” Carl Ferraro said. “The kids did very well, paid attention, worked hard and learned a lot. We had Kennedy and Immaculate at the camp this year, both very good football teams, and I thought we were very competitive with both of them. I was very pleased with the players at summer camp this year.”

Players in the camp: Nick Cato, Cody Clarkson, Anthony Reda, Ken Bauer, Doug Leonaggeo, Jon Sora, Marc Tarczali, P.J. Pancio, Zach Soechtig, Chris Mayes, Bill Vitro, Roy Gordineer, Luke Testa, Nico Musella, Erik Clayton, Rob Osborne, Dan Fennell, Mike McKenna, Mike Hom, Chris Johnson, Zach Grover, Marc Reiner, Brandon Reinert and Rob Schmidt. Of the players the coaches expect to play in the fall, only Dylan Rieger was unavailable for the camp, and he is expected to be there with his teammates when fall camp opens on August 20.

Carl Ferraro said that the team is capable of having excellent depth this year in the skill players, the quarterbacks, running backs and receivers.

In the offensive and defensive lines, Ferraro said that he has excellent experience and leadership in Nick Cato, Cody Clarkson and Ken Bauer, and good talent but little experience behind them.

“We have four or five good running backs and a good crew of receivers,” Ferraro said. “We have good speed and skill, and we have enough guys there to move people in and out and stay fresh. We may even have enough people that we can play some guys on offense and some on defense, and not make them play both ways for the entire game. There is an excellent chance for all of those guys to get playing time this year, and they give us a great chance to keep people fresh, especially at the end of the game.”

And as the all-important position of quarterback, Ferraro said, “Looking ahead from last year, we knew P.J. Pancio was going to play well for us this year, and he looked very good in the summer camp. He is bigger and stronger, and he is doing a great job of making his reads, making the right decision, and then getting the ball to the right receiver. He played the full game at Valhalla last year, and a good part of two other games, so he has good experience. We are working with Rob Osborne to get him to learn the position. Chris Johnson throws the ball very well and he can step in at quarterback for us if we need him.”

The line is less settled, and Ferraro says he needs people to step up for the Tigers in this area.

“We have outstanding players in Nick Cato, Cody Clarkson and Ken Bauer, but we are looking for the rest of the line to take shape,” Ferraro said. “The guys behind them have very little experience. There is excellent talent there, but they are all young. If this were next year, and all these guys had a year of varsity experience behind them, I would say that we would have an outstanding group of linemen. But we need these guys to step up this year.

“The way for them to look at fall camp is that it is an excellent opportunity for them to get playing time right away. The guys that pay attention, whether they are in on the play or waiting their turn, the guys that pay attention and learn their assignments are the guys who are going to play. You have to be aggressive, but you also have to know your assignments.

“We need to go at least eight deep in the interior line, with a center, guard and tackle behind the starters who are ready to play. We need to go at least ten deep if you include the tight ends. And what we would like to see is twelve deep across the line, to give us the opportunity to replace injuries, and play a lot of people in order to keep everyone fresh. But that will depend on our young guys, how well they pay attention, and how hard they work in fall practice.”