August 5, 2018
2017 in Review: The Lions were 11-1, winning the North Jersey Section 2 Group 4 championship by beating Phillipsburg after beating Sayreville and Orange. They scored 328 points for a 27.33 average, while allowing 188 for a 15.67 average. Wins included Bridgewater-Raritan, Voorhees, Hillsborough, and Immaculata, while their lone loss was to Phillipsburg.
Graduation Losses: TE/DE Noah Quental – Stevenson (Md.), LB Eric Dehkes – Carnegie Mellon, OL Jimmy Tordik – Utica, CB Colin Lavigne – Franklin & Marshall, DB Kyle Conover – Wesleyan, QB Matt Busher – Old Dominion for baseball, WR/DB Jared McMahon – Mt. St. Mary’s for lacrosse, WR/DB Connor McMahon – Mt. St. Mary’s for lacrosse
Offense: North Hunterdon runs an up-tempo spread and returns four starters and two others who started some games. The new quarterback will be senior Anthony Hale (6-2, 185). Running back will feature senior Christian Ingenito (5-10, 190), with senior Quadree Smith (5-10, 175) also getting some carries.
Returning at wide receiver is senior Griffin Honthy (5-8, 160). The other wideouts will be senior Connor Woods (6-2, 175), senior Nick Guasta (6-3, 175), and junior Dylan Farina (5-8, 165). Also in the mix are juniors Zibassie Edwards (6-1, 195) and Colin DeCleene (6-1, 170). When an h-back is used, it will be either senior Zachary Atherton (6-1, 210) or junior Anthony Masters (6-0, 185).
Experience is abundant on an all-senior line with three returning starters and two who started some games. Back at center is Jack Stothoff (6-3, 260), Nicholas Paulter (6-1, 250) at guard, and left tackle Sean Seibert (6-3, 250). Jaleel Friedmen (6-2, 255) is the other guard and Matt Spichiger (6-3, 250) is the right tackle. Both started some games and also started on defense.
Defense: The Lions run a 4-2-5 and bring back two starters. Both of those returnees are on the line, with Spichiger at end and Friedmen at tackle. Playing opposite Spichiger is junior Phoenix Gilder (6-3, 240) and Stothoff will play tackle and he rotated in last year.
The two linebackers will be junior Nathan Fossett (5-10, 195) and Masters, while Ingenito will be the rover.
The secondary will have Smith and senior Brett Griffith (5-10, 165) at the corners, Farina at free safety, and junior Jake Taylor (5-9, 165) at strong safety.
Special Teams: Battling at kicker are juniors Ben Pawlowski and Owen Deeming. The punter will be junior Cole Matthews and the main return man will be Honthy.
Schedule:
Friday, 9/7, Scotch Plains at home, 7 PM
Friday, 9/14, Immaculata at home, 7 PM
Saturday, 9/22, at Summit, 1 PM
Friday, 9/28, at Warren Hills, 7 PM
Friday, 10/5, South Plainfield at home, 7 PM
Friday, 10/12, Montgomery at home, 7 PM
Friday, 10/19, at Rahway, 7 PM
Friday, 10/26, Voorhees at home, 7 PM
Concerns: Leadership – they graduated a lot of seniors with leadership. There are a lot of new faces in some positions: who steps up?
Recruiting: Stothoff and Spichiger are Ivy/NESCAC/Centennial prospects. The others may go D3 with a good year.
Coach’s Comments: “We have the core of both lines returning and it’s nice to build around them. We will have a new quarterback who has two years starting experience on the JV team. We have to find our identity as a team and we tell them “it’s their team.” We don’t even mention last year and it’s their turn to leave their mark on North Hunterdon football. – Head Coach Jared Mazzetta