Thursday, August 27, 2009
BY KEITH IDEC
D.J. Nimphius doesn’t hesitate to say that he has no idea what to make of the River Dell football team.
The Golden Hawks sixth-year coach has to fill 15 of 22 starting spots on offense and defense. His defense was hit harder, as the unit must account for the losses of tackle Sean O’Neill, safety Kevin Sonnet and linebacker Anthony DiBella, first-, second- and third-team All-Bergen selections, respectively.
If you think you’ve heard Nimphius say something similar, just last year he also was skeptical about a team that was coming off a 12-0 season capped by a North 1, Group 2 championship. River Dell lost more than a dozen all-league selections from its 2007 roster, so Nimphius understandably had reservations.
Now Nimphius hopes he is as pleasantly surprised by this team as he was by the squad that started the 2008 season 10-0 before falling to eventual State champion Jefferson, 12-7, in the second round of the sectional playoffs.
“I don’t know who we’re going to be,” said Nimphius, whose team is ranked No. 15 in the North Jersey Preseason Top 25. “I said that last year, too. When you’re going with different people every year, because you’re graduating kids, you don’t know how they’re going to do once you get out there. When the rubber meets the road, I don’t know how they’re going to be. We’ll have to wait and see.”
Nimphius knows, though, that he can count on his senior quarterback.
Garrett Avitabile was River Dell’s leading rusher (904 yards, three touchdowns) as a junior. He also threw for 964 yards and nine scores, and was intercepted just twice.
The Golden Hawks might run the ball as much as they did last year (3,308 yards) if running backs Mike Purciello (376 yards), a junior, and senior Mike Weber can complement Avitabile the way B.J. Fowler (836 yards, eight touchdowns) and Dan Chiarello (662 yards) did as seniors.
They’ll run behind a line that features seniors John Sarelli Jr. and Alex Midera, and junior Bob Croonquist, all returning starters. Strong safety Tom May and linebacker Tim Trochanowski are among the four starters back for a defense that permitted only 4.7 points per game in 2008.
They’ll all be tested immediately. River Dell will open its season at home Sept. 11 against formidable Ridgefield Park.
“It’s about how you get out of the gate,” Nimphius said. “If we can understand that it’s one rep at a time, we’ll be OK. It’s going to take some time. It’s a work in progress.”